Author: Ms. R.

Except for the beautiful scenery and rich culture, Lindau is also famous for hosting a regular international meeting for Nobel Prize winners. The city sits near the borders of Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, and since 1951 has hosted annual meetings of Nobel laureates and young scientists to foster scientific exchange between different generations, cultures, and disciplines. The platform named Nobelpreisträger-Steg (Nobel Laureate Footbridge) is located in the northeast part of the island. It records the names of all the Nobel laureates who……

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Listen and subscribe on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast apps. In this episode of The Atlas Obscura Podcast, we discover why professional adventurer George Kourounis knew he needed to visit the Cave of the Crystals, located nearly a thousand feet beneath northern Mexico, the moment he saw a photograph from inside the cave. Our podcast is an audio guide to the world’s wondrous, awe-inspiring, strange places. In under 15 minutes, we’ll take you to an incredible……

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In February 2020, the fast food chain McDonalds installed a massive 23,000-pound sculpture of a Quarter Pounder burger at a store location in Rapid City, South Dakota. This event was held to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Quarter Pounder. McDonalds corporate chose this particular location, they claim, because Rapid City residents consume the most Quarter Pounders with Cheese in the nation.  At nine feet tall and is eight feet wide, the bronze burger and its pedestal weigh a……

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The crane operators were careful not to mow over the existing graves as they maneuvered the 17-foot long, gray wooden box toward the 19-foot hole in middle of the Alamo Masonic Cemetery. Inside the box lay the perfectly manicured corpse of the 38-year-old socialite and heiress, Sandra West. Mrs. West was positioned as if reclining in the driver’s seat of her beloved 1964 powder-blue Ferrari 300 America. In accordance with her will, she was dressed in her favorite white……

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The San Rafael Swell is a broad geologic uplift in central Utah that hosts some of the scenic sandstone country for which Utah is famous. Although crossed by Interstate 70, the area is rugged and access to much of it remains difficult because of primitive or nonexistent roads. Of course, the limited access also cuts down on the crowds. In particular, the northern part of the Swell is dominated by the Little Grand Canyon of the San Rafael River……

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Incorporated in 1841 and consecrated in 1844, the Albany Rural Cemetery was founded as a response to the deteriorating condition of old city burying grounds.  The grounds of the new Cemetery were laid out by Major David Bates Douglass, the landscape engineer who had previously designed Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. Miles of carriage roads and paths wound through hills, glades, woods, and ravines giving visitors a chance to admire the scenery and potential plots to purchase. The first burials……

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The tombolo is an uncommon natural feature where a sandbar connects two separate landforms over water. In the Shetland Islands, tombolos are among the best-known natural attractions, especially since, as in the case of St Ninian’s Beach, they often feature powdery, light-colored sand and turquoise waters, making them look as though they are two tropical beaches stuck back-to-back. The tombolo-like formations in Swinister may not be Caribbean-like, but they make up for it in quantity. The word ayres is……

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Kingsley Schoolhouse was built in 1893  to educate students living on local farms of Little Bennett Creek Valley. The school served approximately more than a dozen children. As was the custom in most schoolhouses around that time, students were summoned to school using a bell. The classroom was heated using a wood-burning stove, and students were taught standard subjects such as arithmetic, reading, and writing. A playground with swings and seesaws once stood behind the building but is no……

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This story was originally published on SAPIENS and appears here with permission under a CC BY-ND 4.0 license. Aoron Eipa Emmanuel, 31, is a natural teacher. Talkative and eager to connect, he has worked for years as an educator and is now completing graduate studies. But his path nearly took a different turn. Born into a family of nomads in northwest Kenya, Eipa is a member of the Turkana Indigenous community that lives in the region of the same……

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It is not unusual for people to commemorate visits of royals by placing plaques, statues, or even naming areas after them. In the Skärholmen area, this has been taken to an extreme, as the entire industrial terrain has been named after the former king’s traffic accident.  The accident in question happened on the 28th of September 1946, while King Gustav V and his entourage were on their way home from a day’s hunting at Tullgarn Castle. The road in question……

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