August 16, 2022

TREASURE AHOY (MAYBE)  Portland’s Potential Buried Treasure  In 1862, Portland was the largest city in the new state of Oregon, with a population of almost 3,000, a growing port, and a daily newspaper, the Oregonian, which reported nothing of note on February 14 of that year. That’s when—if a mysterious treasure map is to be believed—someone buried “SIMS.MONEY” five feet deep alongside two graves. No one is certain about the authenticity of the map or who kept it through the 19th century.  READ MORE → GASTRO OBSCURA Portable Soup, Anyone? Also known as “pocket soup” or “veal glue,” portable soup became a breakfast staple among American and European travelers, military, and seafarers. It was a compact and easy-to-preserve food that accompanied some of the most well-known explorers and expeditions of its era, but it—perhaps unsurprisingly—is extremely time-consuming and arduous to make. READ MORE → LONDON, ENGLAND The Vincent Street Fireplace During the Blitz bombings of World War II, much of London was reduced to rubble. A lone reminder still stands of that bombing aftermath. Though the surrounding terrace house was decimated, this small red brick fireplace once belonged to one of the Vincent Street homes that survived the bombing campaign, and has stood as a reminder for more than 80 years. READ MORE → ATLAS OBSCURA COURSES 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 TODAY → ATLAS OBSCURA PUZZLES Moon-or-Sun This week’s logic puzzle comes to us courtesy of Puzzle Communication Nikoli, a cult-favorite puzzle publication from Japan. The puzzle called Moon-or-Sun involves drawing a continuous loop through a grid made up of “rooms”. The loop never crosses itself, branches off, or goes through the same cell twice. It passes through the centers of cells, but does not need to pass through every cell. Think you have what it takes to solve it? PLAY NOW → KAPA'A, HAWAII Pineapple Dump Pier Some 60 years ago, employees of Hawaiian Canneries Company would guide entire railroad cars full of pineapple trimmings to this pier and unload them, spikes and all, into the ocean. These trimmings were the refuse of a Hawaiian industry that led the world in pineapple production in the 1930s and remained a global powerhouse until it began to decline during the 1960s. READ MORE → THE ATLAS OBSCURA PODCAST Grace Hopper’s Bug There’s a bug in the system! No, literally. In this episode, we visit the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., which is home to trailblazing computer scientist Grace Hopper’s actual computer bug. FORAGING ADVICE Gathering “Living Fossils” Consider the gingko, a tree of paradoxes. They drop infamously smelly fruit, yet line city streets; the seeds are delicious, yet underutilized; and it’s commonplace, but also the oldest living tree species on earth, an actual “living fossil” that people regularly walk by without a second thought. The fossil record shows that ginkgo biloba trees existed in their current form as far as the Middle Jurassic Period, or 170 million years ago. READ MORE → RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA Pumping Station House Every neighborhood has that house where no one seems to live. Stories fly around about it, explanations get wilder and wilder. In a neighborhood 15 minutes from downtown Raleigh, the explanation for that house is quite simple: It’s actually a pumping station for the city’s public water utilities. READ MORE → SPECIAL OFFER | ATLAS OBSCURA TRIPS Let Your Dream Trip Take Flight Is a visit to Egypt your dream trip? 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! Climb into King Tut's tomb, gaze at the Great Pyramids, and cruise up the Nile this fall. Plan your trip today! Offer expires August 21, 2022. Terms and conditions apply. PLAN YOUR TRIP →