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Suborbital space tourism finally arrives | FCC prepares to run public C-band auction | The big four in the U.S. launch industry — United Launch Alliance, SpaceX, Blue Origin and Northrop Grumman — hope to be one of two providers that will receive five-year contracts later this year to launch national security payloads starting in 2022. | China’s launch rate stays high | The International Space Station is the largest ever crewed object in space.

Everything is a Brand

Glykon in Constanța, Romania

December 29, 2023

In a gallery room of the National History and Archaeology Museum in Constanța, Romania, lives a very old snake. This is the Glykon, an ancient serpent god with a lamb’s snout, human hair, lion’s tail, and snake’s body, all carved out of marble. The Glykon was a protective deity of family and home, and also considered a god of fertility. He was worshiped throughout the Roman Empire’s provinces, particularly near the Black Sea. One of the most striking aspects...

Iola Downtown Square in Iola, Kansas

December 29, 2023

Nearing the town of Iola, Kansas, you’ll pass a billboard that reads “Our square is bigger than yours!” In fact, Iola is home to the largest downtown square in the United States, as determined by the local Chamber of Commerce, and the town has aligned its tourism around its big central tract of land. The downtown square was formalized after the completion of the Allen County Courthouse in 1904, but it wasn’t until recently that the town began to...

2023 Was a Year Full of Mysteries

December 29, 2023

At Atlas Obscura, we’re obsessed with the unknown. Whether it’s a tale of ghostly murder that still induces chills two centuries later or a taxidermy marvel that seems to defy reason, we love a rabbit hole with no clear end in sight. This year, we followed a “huntress of lost treasure” in pursuit of one of the great wedding dresses of history, accompanied scientists looking to uncover the meaning behind thousand-mile-long hexagonal patterns etched into salt flats, and marveled...

Our Favorite New Places of 2023

December 29, 2023

Our understanding of the world and what’s in it changes every day. Basement renovations have uncovered underground cities and entire continents have gone missing (then been found again). In 2023, Atlas Obscura’s community helped us share the stories of more than 2,200 places from every corner of the world. Among them was a big milestone: our database of curious and unusual places grew to more than 25,000 entries. Some of these places are ancient wonders shaped by the movement...

Morro do Pai Inácio in Palmeiras, Brazil

December 29, 2023

Chapada Diamantina is an enormous national park in Brazil, a little larger than the state of Maryland. It consists of mountainous plateaus edged by cliffs, some of which are 2,000 feet high. Trekkers in the area can see vistas of wide-open valleys, waterfalls, swimming holes, and underwater lagoons the color of sapphires. From Lençois, a town that serves as the most popular gateway to the park, it’s about a half-hour drive to the trailhead for Morro Do Pai Inácio...

Most States Start School Too Early in...

December 29, 2023

Louisiana’s state bird is the brown pelican. It should be the early bird. High school students in the Bayou State start school on average at 7:30 a.m. That is much earlier than anywhere else in the United States. But it is doubtful those Louisiana students will catch the worm. Studies show that early school starts contribute to sleep debt in adolescents, which is detrimental to their health, both physical and mental. No earlier than 8:30 a.m. That is why...

Bucket Fountain in Wellington, New Zealand

December 29, 2023

The Bucket Fountain is a kinetic sculpture situated on a pedestrian walkway in Wellington’s Cuba District. A series of colorful buckets fill with water until they tip, spilling water into the pool below. The clumsy movement of the buckets seems to miss the pool and splash a considerable amount of water on anyone who dares to walk too close. Erected in 1969, the fountain was designed by Graham Allardice of Burren and Keen. The sculpture was controversial when it...

The Chapel of St. Catherine in Velha...

December 29, 2023

In Old Goa, near the Church of St. Francis of Assisi, there stands a small structure facing north towards the Mandovi River. This historic building is probably the oldest church in Old Goa. It’s known as the Chapel of St. Catherine. It was constructed immediately after the Portuguese conquest of Goa in 1510. Formerly, on this spot, there stood a gate through which the Portuguese entered the city. Afonso de Albuquerque built the chapel commemorating his entry into Goa...

7 Surprising Traditions to Celebrate the New...

December 29, 2023

How will you celebrate the new year? If you were in Sweden a century ago, you might have chosen a solo walk through a creepy, dark forest. In Chicago this year, you might go for a car rally/urban scavenger hunt (“Creative cheating” encouraged). From the medieval Feast of Fools to origins of “Auld Lang Syne,” here are some fresh ideas from the Atlas Obscura archives. Do Americans Sing ‘Auld Lang Syne’ Because of a Frat Party? by April White...

Fearsome Frau Perchta Is an Ancient Alpine...

December 29, 2023

On the Rauhnächte, the darkest nights of the year, she leads an entourage of women on a wild hunt, accompanied by screeching demons. They fly on distaffs, wooden sticks used in traditional wool-spinning that look very much like brooms. In some tales, she appears as a crone with one webbed foot, like that of a goose or swan, trailed by spirits of unbaptized children, the smallest dragging a pitcher filled with mothers’ tears. In other tellings, she is a...

5 of Our Favorite Podcast Episodes to...

December 29, 2023

With a new year on the horizon, we pause to take stock of all the wonder in world, including some of our favorite classic episodes from the Atlas Obscura podcast. Join us as we reacquaint ourselves with bestselling author Mary Roach, whose take on science is both funny and fascinating, and meet Amir Siraj, a young astrophysicist who may have made the discovery of a lifetime. We’ll also learn about a desert Christmas tradition, a mysterious event in Siberia,...

In 2023, We Illustrated the Darkest Corners...

December 28, 2023

At Atlas Obscura, we’re always curious about the unusual, and that doesn’t always lend itself to photos. So we turn to an amazing army of illustrators to bring readers into our stories. This year, we noticed that many of our favorite illustrations were commissioned to depict the dark and the mysterious—pretty on-brand for us—whether it’s of menacing creatures of the spring, un-jolly characters of Christmas, or myths of the Egyptian underworld. Our artists around the globe took on the...

Casa de Fierro in Iquitos, Peru

December 28, 2023

Iquitos is a city in the heart of the Amazon. It’s unreachable by road, and can only be accessed by water or plane. Which makes it all the more impressive that an iron house arrived in the Peruvian city from France in the late 19th century. This is the Casa de Fierro—literally, “Iron House”—purchased and imported by rubber magnate Julio H. Toots. The city was experiencing a “rubber boom” at the time, and transporting this building to Iquitos’ city...

Panjshanbe Bazaar in Khujand, Tajikistan

December 28, 2023

In the main square of Khujand, a city once central to the Silk Road trading route, sits an elaborately designed bazaar. Across from a pair of elegant mosques, the Panjshanbe Bazaar makes itself known with an enormous powder-pink facade, a neoclassical confection accented with statues of field workers and an elaborate green dome. It’s an excellent example of the blending of architectural styles and historical present across Khujand: a blend of Soviet grandeur and Islamic detail work. The main...

Fort Henry in Swanage, England

December 28, 2023

As the Germans stormed across Europe, fortifications were hurriedly constructed along the south coast of the United Kingdom to defend against invasion. Fort Henry was one of them. From its location overlooking Studland Bay, on a clear day, you could see for miles along the coastline and easily spot ships sailing into the West Solent. Studland Bay was also a favored location for tank training and Fort Henry was frequently used to oversee these exercises. Tanks rolled up and...

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