January 19, 2021

Vermont’s ‘Snowflake Man’ Wilson Bentley called snowflakes “nature’s wonder gems,” possessing “an infinity of beauty,” and wrote that when they fell, “the mysteries of the upper air are about to reveal themselves.” The self-educated meteorologist was the first person to make a successful picture—“photomicrograph”—of a snowflake in 1885, and the first to claim that no two are alike. Decades later, and following countless advances in microphotography, his laborious images still enchant.  READ MORE → Returning Indigenous Ancestors “Nobody’s ancestors deserve to be taken and to be held away from the communities and from their families.” To the Maori people, the practice of preserving one’s head after death was an act of love and respect. For centuries, these mummified and tattooed Maori heads, called toi moko, have languished in European museums and institutions as a result of New Zealand’s dark colonial past. But today, efforts are finally underway to repatriate the toi moko back to their rightful homeland—though it will take a prolonged process. READ MORE → HERMITAGE, SCOTLAND Hermitage Castle Situated deep in the Liddesdale valley, the site of Hermitage Castle dates back as far as the mid-13th century. Constant instability and wars between England and Scotland meant the castle changed hands many times until 1492. But important as the castle was, in 1566, an event took place here that would cement Hermitage Castle’s place in British history, and it involved the doomed Mary, Queen of Scots. READ MORE → ATLAS OBSCURA EXPERIENCES The Myth of the Chupacabra This week’s Monster of the Month delves into the myth of the chupacabra, or “goat sucker.” First reported in Puerto Rico in March, 1995, the chupacabra has catapulted to the forefront of the cryptid canon in only a few short years. Where did this thing come from? What does it want from us—and our goats? Join author Colin Dickey as he talks bloodsucking fiends and bloodless livestock, tracing the legend of the chupacabra through the Americas. GET TICKETS → For Sale: March on Washington Papers Keen historians may be interested in these documents planning the peaceful 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom—iconic for Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Documents and memos show just how much planning and attention to detail went into ensuring the success of the March. The papers remind marchers to “[e]at a good breakfast before leaving,” while another note urges marchers to remember that “THIS WILL BE A LONG, HARD, HECTIC DAY, AND THE OBJECTIVES OF THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON FOR JOBS AND FREEDOM SHOULD BE KEPT IN MIND SO AS TO PREVENT LOSS OF TEMPER, ETC…” It’s a surprisingly prosaic reminder of the local, personal level at which world history is made. READ MORE → NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA Marie Laveau's Tomb Marie Laveau was a famous and powerful voodoo priestess who lived in New Orleans in the 19th century. Laveau, a hairdresser by trade, sold charms and pouches of gris gris (some combination of herbs, oils, stones, bones, hair, nails, and grave dirt), told fortunes and gave advice to New Orleans residents of every social strata. Some said Laveau even had the power to save condemned prisoners from execution. Renowned in life and revered in death, some say she continues to work her magic from beyond the grave. READ MORE → GASTRO OBSCURA Pepsi and the Soviet Union On April 9, 1990, American newspapers reported that Pepsi had come to a three billion dollar agreement with the Soviet Union, who had long traded Stolichnaya vodka in return for Pepsi concentrate. But this time, Pepsi got 10 Soviet ships, and it wasn’t the first time that Pepsi sold soft drinks in return for a flotilla. The previous year, the company even received warships. This situation—a soft drink conglomerate briefly owning a fairly large navy—was the unusual result of an unusual situation: a communist government buying a product of capitalism from the country it considered its greatest rival. READ MORE → RICHFIELD, UTAH Pando, the Trembling Giant In the Fishlake National Forest in Utah, a giant has lived quietly for the past 80,000 years. The Trembling Giant, or Pando, is an enormous grove of quaking aspens that take the “forest as a single organism” metaphor and makes it literal: the grove really is a single organism. Each of the approximately 47,000 or so trees in the grove is genetically identical and all the trees share a single root system. READ MORE →