November 15, 2021

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Remastering A Lost Craft In 1745, Götheborg, one of the largest ships in the Swedish East India Company’s fleet, was making its way home from China, laden with precious cargo. It was within miles of its destination when it hit a submerged rock and sank onto the riverbed. It lay undisturbed until 1984, when a team of divers began excavating the site. In the early 21st century, a diver, Joakim Severinson began wondering what it would have been like to sail in those days. Enter Götheborg II, an exact replica of the original that was built using techniques from the early 1700s—including an art that hasn’t been practiced for centuries. READ MORE → FROM THE ARCHIVES Is Grapefruit Really That Weird? Short answer: Yes. Right from the moment of its discovery, the grapefruit has been a true oddball. Its journey started in a place where it didn’t belong, and ended up in a lab in a place where it doesn’t grow. Even the name doesn’t make any sense. What gives? READ MORE → ATLAS OBSCURA EXPERIENCES Navigating the NYPL's Rare Maps & Atlas Collection Join us as we explore the New York Public Library's collection of rare maps and atlases. Established in 1898, this collection contains over 433,000 sheet maps and 20,000 books and atlases published between the 16th and 21st centuries. The materials cover all corners of the globe and beyond, from star charts that track celestial bodies to a map of jazz musicians' homes in Queens, New York. GET TICKETS → LAVENHAM, ENGLAND Suffolk's Pink and Crooked Houses The historic villages and towns of Suffolk are filled with wonky wooden beam houses painted an unusual shade known as Suffolk Pink, a tint that’s been used since the 14th century. A lovely colour, yes? Now is when we tell you that this sweet shade had a bloody history. READ MORE → GASTRO OBSCURA The First Chinese-American Cookbook During the early 20th century, Chinese-American dishes became staples across the United States, in no small part thanks to a man named Chin Foin, the wealthiest restaurateur in Chicago’s Chinatown. In an era when Chinese immigrants faced blatant racism and limited social mobility, Chin Foin used food to climb to the top of Chicago’s socioeconomic ladder, right into the heart of elite white society. His restaurant empire forever changed perceptions of Chinese-American cuisine and inspired the first English-language Chinese-American cookbook. READ MORE → ATLAS OBSCURA EXPERIENCES Art & Evolution: Drawing Animals from Life Join nature artist Megan McGrath to explore techniques for drawing animals in the great outdoors—including gesture drawing, which allows us to capture quick likenesses of animals as they move about their world. Sketching animals in their natural habitat allows us a rare opportunity to observe their behavior in real time. GET TICKETS → BARCELONA, SPAIN 'El Petó de la Mort' ('The Kiss of Death') The Poblenou Cemetery, also known as Cementiri de l’Est (East Cemetery), was the first to be built outside the walls in medieval Barcelona after the parish graves were dismantled. Alongside the typical guardian angels and other funerary sculptures adorning the mausoleum in the pantheons section is a sculpture called The Kiss of Death. It stands out for its expressiveness and sense of the macabre: a winged skeleton takes the life of a young male body by means of an allegorical kiss. READ MORE → FROM THE ARCHIVES Cave Homes In 1855, a cluster of cave homes were made in Langenstein, a village of around 2,000 inhabitants in Halberstadt, near Germany’s Harz Mountains. These were carved by 19th-century migrant farmworkers, all in desperate need of housing. In exchange for a little over a month’s salary, they were granted the right to reside in the homes they built for as long as they lived. While the last of the cave dwellers died in 1910, five of the 10 caves have been carefully preserved and are now open to visitors. READ MORE → ATLAS OBSCURA TRIPS Sicily: Hidden Histories of Beauty and Grandeur Discover the hidden histories of Sicily behind the doors of its lavish churches, private palaces, and uncanny catacombs. Explore the island’s enigmatic past, from the Knights Templar to the lavish villas of Bagheria. Participate in a gastronomic workshop and witness the intriguing world of puppet theaters. And did we mention that a duchess will be taking us to a famous food market and a princess will be giving us a tour of her palace? VIEW FULL ITINERARY → PORTLAND, OREGON The Witch's Castle From tales of murder to bathrooms to the site of high school keggers, the ruins that are now known as The Witch’s Castle have lived a number of lives, and none of them were very pleasant. But oddly enough, despite what you might assume, no actual witches were ever associated with this place. READ MORE → DETROIT, MICHIGAN Detroit Salt Mine Some 1,200 feet beneath the streets of Detroit run 100 miles of subterranean roads that span an area of more than 1,500 acres. It is the Detroit Salt Mine, and, as a Detroit industry, it is older than automobiles. As a geological entity, this salt deposit is older even than the dinosaurs. READ MORE → SPONSORED BY MORNING BREW Start Your Day Right There's a reason over 2.8 million people start their day with Morning Brew — the daily email that delivers the latest news from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. 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