March 11, 2021

Shaky Iceland Southwest Iceland has a track record of centuries of calm. But in a little over a week, more than 17,000 earthquakes have been recorded in the Reykjanes Peninsula. Many of the larger earthquakes have even been felt in Iceland’s capital city, Reykjavík—where over half of the population lives—which lies only 27 kilometers (about 17 miles) away. Is the area about to erupt?  READ MORE → GASTRO OBSCURA Skull-Topped Spoons It’s not really that difficult to imagine why people might have assumed these were funerary spoons. What was it? The engraved skull? Or the message “Live to Die” on one side and “Die to Live” on the other? Either way, the assumption is incorrect—this 17th-century macabre piece of silverware was likely meant for a baby as a christening gift. Who commissioned the silverware? More importantly, why? READ MORE → MANRESA, SPAIN Cave of Saint Ignatius In the 16th century, after being wounded in the defense of Pamplona against French troops and renouncing his military career, Iñigo Lopez de Recalde (St Ignatius) began a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. At a stop in the neighboring city of Manresa in 1522, the young Ignatius decided to live as a hermit in this cavern near the river. This lasted a year, with his visions and transfigurations being recorded in a manual on the meaning of life and divine love. READ MORE → ATLAS OBSCURA EXPERIENCES The Secret to Pie Design Want to polish up your pie design skills? On tonight’s episode of The Secret Arts, renowned author and pie artist Lauren Ko joins us to discuss what it takes to create museum-quality pastries. We'll find out how she finds her inspiration, learn some of her tips for making singular pieces of pie art, and discover how you can start trying it yourself. Don't miss it! GET TICKETS → FROM THE ARCHIVES The Keeper of Boston Light For the past 17 years, Sally Snowman has served as the keeper of Boston Light, a centuries-old lighthouse, out on a freckle of treeless land in Boston Harbor, in Massachusetts. In 2003, after more than three decades as a U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary volunteer, she became its civilian keeper—the first and only woman to become its keeper since 1716. READ MORE → FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA 'The Fountain Of Faith' This massive, expansive fountain sits in a large courtyard in the National Memorial Cemetery. It contains numerous memorials and 37 figures who are said to evoke specific individuals Swedish sculptor Carl Milles knew before they died—his vision of heaven on earth. The piece is considered Milles’s masterwork, taking 12 years to complete. READ MORE → LEXINGTON, MISSISSIPPI Grave of the Lady in Red In the summer of 1969, farmhands on the Egypt Plantation in Cruger, Mississippi discovered an old coffin containing a young woman wearing a red velvet dress, white gloves, and square-toed boots from sometime in the previous century. No one is sure about who the Lady in Red was or why she was buried in a shallow, unmarked grave. READ MORE → FROM THE ARCHIVES The Choctaw-Irish Connection The Choctaw people had been in Oklahoma less than two decades before news spread about an all-consuming famine in Ireland. On March 23, 1847, members of the struggling tribe were asked to make a donation for a group of people they had never met. Incredibly, they did, sparking a 171-year bond between two peoples. READ MORE → ATLAS OBSCURA EXPERIENCES Simone Giertz on Dino 101 What do dinosaurs and robots have in common? Well, that’s Simone Giertz, of course, our special guest on tonight’s Dino 101! Simone is known for her fantastic robot building YouTube channel, which means that we’re going to try and convince her to pick her favourite dino, then perhaps even… build a bad robot model of it? Sky’s the limit. Come join the fun! GET TICKETS →