Athens has had numerous fortification walls around the city since ancient times. These walls were mostly made with scavenged material, primarily spoila from the buildings and monuments destroyed by earlier invaders mixed with mudbrick. In the 5th century BCE, Athenian statesman Themistocles feared the Persians would re-invade Athens, so he urged...

 The Copper River and Northwestern Railway completed the Gilahina Trestle in 1911. The main reason for its construction was to transfer mined copper from the mines in Kennecott, Alaska to Cordova. Amazingly, this trestle bridge was completed in just eight days. The bridge contains 273 wooden trestles over 880 feet. The height of the Gilahina Trestle...

In honor of Endangered Species Day, held each year on the third Friday of May, we found some of the world’s most elusive creatures in the Atlas Obscura archive. Meet Puerto Rico’s wide-eyed frogs, Finland’s freshwater seals, and Indonesia’s singing dogs—and the scientists and citizens working to protect them. Puerto Rico’s Most Adorable Frogs Live...

Ty Walker squats on the grassy banks of a 150-foot-long, 10-foot-wide earthen pond lifting a net filled with thrashing young rainbow trout from the churning spring water. He nudges a pair of curious Great Pyrenees away, then carefully drops a dozen fish into a large bucket of water and hoists it onto a scale for his wife, Shannon, to log the results...

Located three blocks from Kemah Boardwalk and the Galveston Bay, Th_Prsv (pronounced “The Preserve”) feels far from urban Houston, although it’s just a 45-minute drive from downtown. Kemah’s chain stores and amusement park rides offer no clues as to the fact that the world’s only Choctaw/Thai restaurant is there, tucked away behind a winery announced...

On a grey and drizzly afternoon in the University of Edinburgh’s opulent graduation hall, J.K. Rowling waited to receive an honorary degree. But before the degree could be conferred, she had to take part in a long-standing tradition. University Principal Timothy O’Shea merrily explained that she, along with all graduating students, must step forward...