Recent Activity

• December 4, 2011 mrobscurity updated the Eisbachwelle
  

  Muenchen, Germany

  Eisbachwelle

  Go surfing on this urban wave, "hacked" by local surfers

  When you think of wave surfing you probably have the sea in mind. But surfing is also possible far away from the sea. One spot of this kind is Eisbachwelle in Munich, an artificial standing wave... »

  Natural Wonders, Watery Wonders | Edited by Alpha, Dylan and 3 others

• February 1, 2011 mrobscurity updated the Fordlândia
  

  Fordlândia

  Henry Ford's failed rubber plantation in the middle of the Amazon rain forest

  During the 1920s Henry Ford was benefiting from a major boom in the automobile industry. His company was selling thousands upon thousands of cars and needed massive amounts of rubber to make... »

  Intriguing Environs, Ghost Towns, Cultures and Civilizations , Architectural Oddities, Horticultural Marvels | Edited by AllisonEng, Nicholas Jackson and 3 others

• January 31, 2011 mrobscurity updated the Caño Cristales
  

  Caño Cristales

  An explosion of natural color known as "the river that ran away from paradise"

  A unique biological wonder, Caño Cristales has been referred as the "river of five colors," "the river that ran away from paradise," and "the most beautiful river in the world." For most of... »

  Watery Wonders, Extraordinary Flora | Edited by Dylan, retorno and 6 others

• January 13, 2011 mrobscurity updated the Christ Church in Jerusalem
  

  Jerusalem, Israel

  Christ Church in Jerusalem

  Oldest Protestant church in the Middle East, designed to resemble a synagogue

  The 19th century was marked by British colonial and evangelical ambitions in lands controlled by the crumbling Ottoman empire. Christ Church was established on land purchased by the Church of... »

  Architectural Oddities, Curious Places of Worship | Edited by oksana_m, mrobscurity and others

• October 16, 2010 mrobscurity updated the The Caryatids of Book Tower
  

  The Caryatids of Book Tower

  38-story baroque tower reflecting Detroit's rise, fall, and possible rise again

  Part of J. Burgess Book Junior’s Washington boulevard redevelopment project, which transformed a run-down area of Detroit into one of the world’s most fashionable streets, the Book Tower was... »

  Architectural Oddities | Edited by Madiha Bataineh, Nicholas Jackson and 2 others

• February 26, 2010 mrobscurity added Barometer World & Museum
  

  Okehampton, United Kingdom

  Barometer World & Museum

  Rare and strange weather predictors, from mercury barometers to leech prognosticators

  Barometer World is the world's foremost seller and repairer of antique and modern mechanisms for determining atmospheric air pressure. A showroom-cum-museum attached to the store features... »

  Weird Weather Phenomena, Unique Collections, Instruments of Science | Edited by Josh, mrobscurity and others

• January 21, 2010 mrobscurity added Bozhou Medicinal Herb Market
  

  Bozhou, China

  Bozhou Medicinal Herb Market

  The largest traditional Chinese medicine market in the world sells ingredients that may make you squirm

  Located at the juncture of two important railway lines in the northwestern corner of Anhui province, the dusty and rusty city of Bozhou is the capital of the Chinese medicinal herb industry.... »

  Pharmacy Museums, Purveyors of Curiosities | Edited by mrobscurity and Dylan

• December 7, 2009 mrobscurity updated the Detroit Salt Mine description
  

  Detroit Salt Mine

  Over a thousand feet beneath the Detroit streets is a subterranean metropolis few are allowed to enter

  Detroit is known for many things: the auto industry, the failure of the auto industry, hockey, Motown, and lately as an example of a city gone to pot. But there is another part of the city far... »

  Natural Wonders, Wonders of Salt, Subterranean Sites | Edited by mrobscurity, A Facebook user and 2 others

• November 30, 2009 mrobscurity added Mount Loretto Beach Rock Garden
  

  Mount Loretto Beach Rock Garden

  Eccentric stone cairns built on a public New York City beach

  In 1996, the Staten Island Advocate ran a front-page photograph of an odd assortment of stone cairns that had recently appeared on a beach in Mount Loretto State Park. The newspaper asked in its... »

  Outsider Art, Strange Statues | Edited by mrobscurity

• November 10, 2009 mrobscurity added The Astronomical Clock of Besançon
  

  Region Franche-Comte, France

  The Astronomical Clock of Besançon

  One of the world's most complex timepieces

  The astronomical clock of the cathedral of Saint-Jean, located in the center of the old French watchmaking capital of Besançon, is one of the most complicated horological devices in the world.... »

  Inspired Inventions, Astounding Timepieces, Retro-Tech | Edited by Josh and mrobscurity

• November 2, 2009 mrobscurity updated the Merz Apothecary description
  

  Merz Apothecary

  An antiquated German apothecary on Chicago's Northside -- with a branch in the Palmer House Hotel in downtown Chicago

  Before medicines came in pill form, pharmacists at the local apothecary blended mysterious powders and liquids to relieve everyday ailments and serious illnesses. About 20 years after aspirin was... »

  Purveyors of Curiosities | Edited by M Rebekah Otto, mrobscurity and others

• November 2, 2009 mrobscurity updated the Pritzker Military Library description
  

  Pritzker Military Library

  A military library dedicated to the "citizen soldier"

  The citizen soldier has long been an important part of American military history. During the Revolutionary War, the ideal of the citizen soldier stood in opposition to the Hessian mercenaries and... »

  Unique Collections | Edited by M Rebekah Otto and mrobscurity

• August 19, 2009 mrobscurity updated the Calder Mercury Fountain title, subtitle, description and address
  

  Calder Mercury Fountain

  Beautiful but toxic fountain of mercury

  Mercury, also known as quicksilver, is a beautiful, mirror-skinned metal that is liquid at room temperature. Unfortunately, it is also extremely toxic. For many years, the world's greatest... »

  Unusual Monuments | Edited by spopkes, mrobscurity and 2 others

• July 27, 2009 mrobscurity updated the Dinosaur of Ta Prohm coordinates
  

  Siemreab, Cambodia

  Dinosaur of Ta Prohm

  Hoax, mistake, or evidence of dinosaurs in human times?

  Hordes of tourists descend on Cambodia every year for the sole purpose of visiting the temples at Angkor. This magnificent series of temples, carved out of the jungle in the 12th and 13th... »

  Incredible Ruins | Edited by ilbonito, mrobscurity and 2 others

• July 27, 2009 mrobscurity updated the Snake Pagoda of Myanmar coordinates
  

  Paleik, Myanmar

  Snake Pagoda of Myanmar

  These serpents are considered holy and pampered accordingly

  Officially called Yadana Labamuni Hsu-taungpye Paya, this Myanmar pagoda is generally known by another name: Hmwe Paya, or the "Snake Pagoda." This out-of-the-way pagoda near Mandalay is... »

  Curious Places of Worship | Edited by lieblink, mrobscurity and 2 others

• July 27, 2009 mrobscurity updated the Agricultural Museum of Cairo coordinates
  

  Cairo, Egypt

  Agricultural Museum of Cairo

  A huge museum of much more than just agriculture displayed in a princess's palace

  Once the breadbasket of the Roman Empire, Egypt has a long agricultural history, so it's no surprise to find a museum in Cairo dedicated to Egypt's farming past. The surprise lies in what this... »

  Wonder Cabinets, Strange Science, Medical Museums, Unique Collections | Edited by Dylan, Josh and 4 others

• July 23, 2009 mrobscurity updated the Blood Falls address and coordinates
  

  Blood Falls

  Natural time capsule containing an alien ecosystem

  This five-story, blood-red waterfall pours very slowly out of the Taylor Glacier in Antarctica's McMurdo Dry Valleys. When geologists first discovered the frozen waterfall in 1911, they thought... »

  Natural Wonders, Watery Wonders, Martian Landscapes, Fascinating Fauna, Wonders of Salt | Edited by matthewwarrenlee, mrobscurity and 9 others

• July 23, 2009 mrobscurity updated the Da Lat Crazy House title and address
  

  Da Lat, Vietnam

  Da Lat Crazy House

  A Surreal flight of architectural fancy in Vietnam's Central Highlands

  This bizarre guesthouse is one of the landmarks of the city of Da Lat, a mountain resort popular with local honeymooners. In the Crazy House, Antoni Gaudi meets Alice in Wonderland in a fantastic... »

  Odd Accommodations | Edited by ilbonito, mrobscurity and 3 others

• July 22, 2009 mrobscurity updated the Relampago del Catatumbo description
  

  Relampago del Catatumbo

  This everlasting lightning storm may be the world's largest generator of ozone

  There's something strange in the air where the Catatumbo River flows into Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela... For 140 to 160 nights out of the year, for 10 hours at a time, the sky above the river... »

  Weird Weather Phenomena | Edited by wythe, mrobscurity and 2 others

• July 22, 2009 mrobscurity updated the World's Largest Ball of Twine Rolled by One Man description
  

  World's Largest Ball of Twine Rolled by One Man

  17,400 lbs., 12 feet in diameter, and 39 years in the making

  Larger twine balls may exist, but Minnesota farmer Francis Johnson's is the largest rolled by a single individual. His efforts have inspired copycats, but none yet have succeeded in breaking the... »

  Outsider Art | Edited by wythe, mrobscurity and others

• July 22, 2009 mrobscurity updated the The Shanghai Tunnels description
  

  The Shanghai Tunnels

  The seamy, underground secrets of Portland's criminal past

  From 1850 to 1941, Portland was considered one of the most dangerous ports in the world. It earned the moniker "Forbidden City of the West" due to the Shanghaiing trade and the white slavery that... »

  Catacombs, Crypts, & Cemeteries, Subterranean Sites | Edited by jamesb, mrobscurity and 2 others

• July 19, 2009 mrobscurity updated the Globe Museum subtitle, description and address
  

  Vienna, Austria

  Globe Museum

  Handsomely crafted representations of our round planet

  Until the 19th century, globes often came as a pair—a world globe and a matching celestial globe. One can’t help but observe the admirable craft and beauty that was once devoted to these small... »

  Museums and Collections, Unique Collections, Inspired Inventions, Instruments of Science, Marvelous Maps and Measures | Edited by Dylan, Jpsf and 4 others

• July 17, 2009 mrobscurity updated the G-Cans: the World's Largest Drain description
  

  G-Cans: the World's Largest Drain

  The world's largest drain sits below the city of Saitama, Japan

  The G-Cans project (Shutoken Gaikaku Housui Ro, or the Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel) is a massive underground waterway and water storage area built by the Japanese... »

  Subterranean Sites | Edited by Dylan, mrobscurity and 3 others

• July 12, 2009 mrobscurity updated the Nutty Narrows Bridge description and address
  

  Washington, US

  Nutty Narrows Bridge

  Bridge Provides Safe Passage for Squirrels

  The Nutty Narrows Bridge was constructed in 1963 by a local builder, the late Amos Peters, to give squirrels a way to cross Olympia Way, a busy Longview, Washington thoroughfare, without getting... »

  Microminiature art, Inspired Inventions, Architectural Oddities, Follies and Grottoes | Edited by tonkatruk and mrobscurity

• July 12, 2009 mrobscurity updated the Chernobyl's Ghost Cities description
  

  Chornobyl', Ukraine

  Chernobyl's Ghost Cities

  Visit the abandoned towns left by the worst nuclear disaster of all time

  When one thinks of Chernobyl, vacation spot is certainly not the first thing to come to mind. However, more than two decades after the terrible reactor meltdown, tours of the contaminated towns... »

  Disaster Areas, Cultures and Civilizations , Incredible Ruins | Edited by Delireus, mrobscurity and 2 others