August 12, 2022

UNPRECEDENTED ADVENTURERS  A Historic Swim  By day, Lauren Tischendorf, 39, is a special education assistant principal in Sydney, Australia. But, outside of work hours, Tischendorf dives into the Pacific Ocean as part of an intense open-water swimming regime she’s maintained for years. And in 2021, Tischendorf set her sights on something that had never been done before—to become the first woman to circumnavigate the shark-infested waters around Lord Howe Island.  READ MORE → GASTRO OBSCURA Cook Like an Ancient Mesopotamian Chefs around the globe have attempted to recreate Mesopotamian recipes, the oldest on record, in their home kitchens. In 2018, an interdisciplinary team from Yale and Harvard whipped up a Mesopotamian feast in 2018. All three endeavors had the same source material: a set of four ancient clay tablets in the Yale Babylonian collection. And now, exciting news: You, too, can cook up your own interpretation of Mesopotamian cuisine. READ MORE → BROOKLYN, NEW YORK The Grundhauser Free Superhero Lending Library Located inside of Brooklyn’s Twenty Sided Store, a tabletop gaming shop, the Grundhauser Free Superhero Library is a shrine not just to the heroes of comic books but to the real-life heroes who inspire us. Visitors are invited to leave photos, poems, figurines—anything that will honor the heroes in their lives. READ MORE → ATLAS OBSCURA COURSES Most Wanted: Unrecovered Art of WWII At the end of World War II, the Monuments Men and Women recovered and returned some four million cultural objects, including priceless archival materials and works of art. Still, hundreds of thousands remain missing today. Join the Monuments Men and Women Foundation in examining individual cases of stolen artwork that's been missing since WWII. ENROLL NOW → SURVIVOR STORIES Ada Blackjack When Ada Blackjack set sail in 1921 for a remote speck of land north of Siberia, the petite Inupiat woman was an unlikely Arctic heroine. In her role as the seamstress for an expedition comprising four men and a female cat named Vic, Blackjack was assured that she would be well fed and cared for without needing to participate in the grueling day-to-day work of Arctic survival. But by the time a rescue ship crested the horizon nearly two years later, Blackjack, who would come to be known as “The Female Robinson Crusoe,” was the only member of the party still alive—that is, apart from Vic. READ MORE → NEPAL Mad Honey When bees feed on the pollen of rhododendron flowers, the resulting honey can pack a hallucinogenic punch. It’s called mad honey, and it has a slightly bitter taste and a reddish color. There have been no modern deaths recorded from eating mad honey, but as rhododendrons flourish at high altitudes, and as the bees often nest on sheer cliffs, gathering the honey may be more dangerous than consuming it. In Nepal, honey hunters make dangerous vertical climbs—while enduring stings from enormous bees—to harvest mad honey. READ MORE → SPECIAL OFFER | ATLAS OBSCURA TRIPS Let Your Dream Trip Take Flight Has Japan been on your travel bucket list? Now's your time! For a limited time only, you’ll receive a $350 flight credit when you book any remaining 2022 Atlas Obscura trip! Visit local Sado Island artisans and stay in a traditional Japanese onsen this October. Plan your trip today! Offer expires August 21, 2022. Terms and conditions apply. PLAN YOUR TRIP → HISTORICAL CAREERS The ‘Knocker-Ups’ Industrial-era British and Irish workers relied on an unusual method for rising each morning. In the 19th century and well into the 20th, a human alarm clock known as a “knocker-up” (knocker-upper) would trawl the streets and wake paying customers in time for work. Armed with sticks—or, in the case of Mary Smith, a pea shooter—they tapped on windows or blasted them with dried peas. How effective was this? Eh, depends who you ask. READ MORE → FREDERICKSBURG, VIRGINIA Abandoned Virginia Renaissance Faire Built to create an immersive atmosphere, the Virginia Renaissance Faire attempted to create the illusion of a bustling feudal port. Multiple buildings were erected in the style of medieval European architecture with towers and improbable buildings on stilts. Today, however, all that remains are the tick-infested, moldering husks of those bygone fantasies. READ MORE → SPONSORED BY THE KRAKEN RUM A Rum With Deep Roots The Kraken is a spiced rum blended with natural flavors and a caramel color as dark as the rumors around it. Like the mythological creature that bears its name, The Kraken rum is powerful, enigmatic, and slippery smooth—perfect for a drink to always keep you on your toes, or for an ideal wrap-up to one of the many unique experiences we’re giving away across the country, such as a guided snorkeling tour through the Catalina Islands. LEARN MORE →