August 18, 2022

GASTRO OBSCURA  What’s Up With Ketchup, Anyway?  Take a quick look at your fridge. If you have a bottle of ketchup, odds are that it’s from the Heinz brand. But how did Heinz come to dominate the ketchup game? The answer involves learning about catsup wars, a squad of unfortunate folks known as “The Poison Squad,” and savvy press marketing. Saucy history awaits.  READ MORE → SCIENCE PIONEERS Rewriting Insect Science Across his distinguished 33-year career, Charles Henry Turner authored 71 papers and was the first African American to have his research published in the prestigious journal Science. Although his name is barely known today, Turner was a pioneer in studying bees and should be considered among the great entomologists of the 19th and 20th centuries. His pioneering work on insect cognition constituted much of his groundbreaking research on animal behavior. READ MORE → ROME, ITALY Torre Argentina These Roman cats have Largo di Torre Argentina—an ancient temple-complex—all to themselves. Torre Argentina contains part of the famous portico of Pompey, upon whose steps dictator Julius Caesar was betrayed and killed in 44 BCE. Fortunately for us, there are no political coups to be seen here—just some purrfect felines basking in the sun. READ MORE → ATLAS OBSCURA COURSES Crafting Small Things The craft of making miniatures is a centuries-old art form. In this workshop led by artist and miniaturist Amanda Kelly of Panda Miniatures, we’ll learn the basic techniques of crafting miniatures while building a tiny replica of an abandoned site—a small stage upon which some morsel of history or imagined narrative has taken place. ENROLL TODAY → NATURE NIGHTMARES Insect Nesting Dolls Sometimes, nature can be about as wild and wonderful as the most outlandish ghost story. Take, for example, these butterflies, which are filled with wasps, which in turn are filled with parasitic microwasps. The butterflies (and their parasitic freeloaders) arrived on a Finnish island as part of an experiment, but things did not go quite as planned. READ MORE → CHELYABINSK, RUSSIA Chelyabinsk Meteorite On February 15, 2013, an asteroid hurtled towards Earth, shattering when it encountered the thick layer of air around our planet. For a short time, it even shone brighter than the sun. That explosion occurred above the Chelyabinsk Oblast, with fragments of the meteor scattered throughout the southern Ural region. The largest fragment is now displayed in the State History Museum of South Ural. READ MORE → SPECIAL OFFER | ATLAS OBSCURA TRIPS Let Your Dream Trip Take Flight Dreaming about a trip to Florence? 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! Uncover hidden rooms of the Palazzo Vecchio and enjoy a private organ recital in the home of a marquis this October. Plan your trip today! Offer expires August 21, 2022. Terms and conditions apply. PLAN YOUR TRIP → HAUNTING BEAUTY FADS The Tapeworm Diet The Victorian era, roughly the 1830s to 1900, is notorious for its bizarre beauty standards, and the even more bizarre secrets to meeting them. From swallowing ammonia to bathing in arsenic—which they knew to be poisonous— to using figure-molding corsets in a quest for the “perfect” 16-inch waist, there was no limit to what fashionable Victorians would do. Including, apparently, consuming tapeworms. READ MORE → ROME, ITALY The Aventine Keyhole A nondescript green door at the end of a cul-de-sac features a stunningly well-framed, if comically tiny, view consisting of two nation-states and one country, with the dome of St. Peter’s perfectly situated in the center. No one seems to be able to say with certainty whether this was a beautifully planned peepshow—or just a lucky coincidence. READ MORE → SPONSORED BY THE MAINE OFFICE OF TOURISM The Sarah Mead What kind of boat do you need for lobster fishing? These days, you might think of diesel-powered motor boats hauling massive crates of lobster from the deep with mechanized cranes. But for generations, Maine’s lobster industry was a little more lo-fi, relying on strong winds, wooden boats, and calloused hands, all of which you can experience for yourself aboard the Sarah Mead—the very last sailing lobster boat in Maine. LEARN MORE →