August 10, 2021

Crop Circle Gardens From the air, this garden in the town of Boki Diawe, in northeast Senegal, looks like an eye: wide open, unblinking, and flanked by a smattering of divots dug in the surrounding soil, dark like freckles across a nose. The circular garden—known locally as a tolou keur—is the latest iteration of the project known as The Great Green Wall, which was initially meant to help stave off desertification.  READ MORE → GASTRO OBSCURA Native American Peaches Centuries ago, the Navajo people tended flourishing peach orchards across the Four Corners area, where the states of Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado meet. But in 1863, the U.S. government ordered the Navajo in Four Corners to leave their homelands, with the threat of death and destruction of their harvests. This nearly spelled the end of centuries of cultivation; the vast peach orchards once grew all the way into the Grand Canyon. Today, one woman is on a personal journey to discover what’s left of these orchards. READ MORE → THE ATLAS OBSCURA PODCAST Famous Donkeys Palo Alto is known for a lot of things. It’s home to a lot of elite icons, such as Silicon Valley and Stanford University, for example. But it’s also home to the most famous donkey in the world... from Shrek. Meet Perry the donkey. MANHATTAN, NEW YORK Citigroup Center Stilts In October of 1976, the construction of a 59-story midtown Manhattan skyscraper was completed. This $175 million project, originally called Citicorp Center (now Citigroup Center), was considered an architectural marvel for its unique design, which used four massive stilts to lift the tower over an existing structure. But a design flaw that went unnoticed for several years held catastrophic potential. READ MORE → FROM THE ARCHIVES Happy Little Paintings Somewhere off Route 50 in Herndon, Virginia, next to a LabCorp and across the street from a dentist’s office, there is a warehouse that houses almost every painting ever painted by one of the most recognizable painters in America: Bob Ross. It houses almost every painting, over 1,000 landscapes, ever created on The Joy of Painting. READ MORE → ATLAS OBSCURA EXPERIENCES Special Access: The Entomology Collection The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University in Philadelphia boasts a collection of over four million insects from around the world, representing about 100,000 species. Go behind-the-scenes for a Special Access look at this wonderous collection with Senior Director of Exhibits and Public Spaces, Jennifer Sontchi, and Curator of Entomology, Jon Gelhaus. LEARN MORE → ASHTON-SANDY SPRING, MARYLAND The Triadelphia Bell The city of Triadelphia was founded in 1809 by three brothers-in-law who were married to the Brooke sisters (daughters of Robert Brooke, founder of Brooksville). Triadelphia was an industrial powerhouse, but in 1868, a flood destroyed almost all of its mills, along with many homes. The mills were rebuilt, but were wiped out again in 1889. Today, this bell is one of the last remnants of the lost town. READ MORE → FROM THE ARCHIVES Forest Furniture In 2006, Gavin Munro wanted to branch out into new forms of manufacturing. Enter: an orchard of furniture. The idea was that trees would grow into chairs, tables, and lamps that could be harvested right out of a field. The trees, selected for their ability to grow new sprouts from their stumps, would regenerate. His forest would yield furniture the way an orchard yields apples. READ MORE → ATLAS OBSCURA EXPERIENCES Anchoring the Intrepid Join us tonight for an up-close look at this legendary ship's massive anchor chains, and learn how sailors raised and lowered the famed Intrepid’s two 30,000 pound anchors. The crew also used this space for recreation, and you’ll see how “artistically-minded” crew members left their mark. Jessica Williams, curator of history and collections at the Intrepid Museum, will guide you on a virtual tour of the Intrepid's anchor chain room. LEARN MORE → BROOKLYN, NEW YORK Bay Ridge Gingerbread House Not far from the western shore of Brooklyn sits an unusual house straight out of a fairytale. The exterior is designed out of uncut stone and the asphalt roof undulates like rolling hills, appropriate given that the house was built to conform to the land it was constructed on. READ MORE → KEY WEST, FLORIDA Dry Tortugas Juan Ponce de Leon first stumbled upon this stretch of islands in 1513, back when they were nothing more than clusters of coral inhabited by sea turtles. The Dry Tortugas (“Dry” serving as a warning for mariners of the lack of freshwater in the area) became a popular shipping corridor, but because of its seasonal shallow waters and hazardous weather conditions, it also became a “ship trap,” with shipwrecks and their treasures still resting beneath its waters today. READ MORE → ATLAS OBSCURA TRIPS Pyramids & Petroglyphs of Sudan Join us for an epic overland journey to discover the ancient history of Sudan. Though seldom visited, Sudan is home to some of the most spectacular historical artifacts and archaeological sites—including the majestic pyramids at Meroe and Jebel Barkal. LEARN MORE →