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Atlas Obscura10/12/2026

World’s Largest M in Platteville, Wisconsin

Four miles northeast of Platteville, a gigantic white “M” dominates the landscape. At 241 feet high and 214 feet wide, it is the world’s largest “M”.  Set at a 45-degree angle and facing south, the landmark proudly celebrates the region’s mining heritage. The story began in 1924, when Platteville’s engineering club wanted to challenge the Colorado School of Mines. Colorado had already built an “M” on Mount Zion near its campus, and a friendly rivalry simmered between the schools. Platteville may not have enjoyed the same prestige, but its students were ready to make a mark—quite literally. Then…nothing happened for 12 years. In the winter of 1936, engineering students Pat Medley and Alvin Knoerr revived the idea. They climbed Platte Mound and stamped a giant “M” into the snow. Winter weather preserved their handiwork long enough for people miles away to see it. The snowy prank was such a hit that, by the following year, plans were underway to make the “M” permanent. With the landowner’s permission and the university’s support, students got to work. The project required an impressive 400 tons of limestone and was completed in 1937. The “M” has been maintained ever since, receiving periodic upgrades—including cement, lime, and fresh coats of whitewash—to keep it bright, bold, and impossible to miss. The giant letter soon found its way into popular culture. It appeared in the May 23, 1949, edition of Life magazine and has been illuminated with can lights for special occasions. In November 1987, MTV put its own spin on the landmark when 650 students gathered on the mound to form the music channel’s logo. The “M” even helped Platteville become the only city in the country to host Disney’s Mickey’s Hometown Parade on July 4, 1998. To strengthen the city’s bid, members of the Platteville Jaycees recruited about 250 people, dressed them in black, and arranged them into Mickey Mouse ears beside the “M.” Apparently, when Platteville thinks big, it thinks several hundred volunteers big. The “M” can be visited today all year long.  If you are brave you can climb the more than 200 stairs to the top.

Atlas Obscura10/12/2026

Macedonian Tomb of Agios Athanasios in Agios Athanasios, Greece

Encased safely inside a concrete protective shell beneath a 12-metre-high burial mound (tumulus) is a late 4th-century BC Macedonian tomb holding a breathtaking secret: flawlessly preserved, 2,400-year-old fresco paintings.   Though ancient grave robbers stripped the burial chamber of its gold long ago, they left the spectacular artwork untouched. The tomb's facade features a striking pediment guarded by golden-winged griffins. Below them, a brilliantly detailed symposium frieze captures a lively ancient banquet: six garlanded men recline on couches drinking wine, accompanied by female musicians, while a procession of hunters, horses, and heavily armed infantry approaches. Flanking the heavy stone doorway are two life-sized, melancholic young guards standing a permanent vigil.

Davar10/12/2026

Approximately 2,000-Year-Old Water Channel Uncovered Near Jerusalem

A 300-meter section of the ancient water channel was uncovered during excavation ahead of the construction of a new neighborhood near Kibbutz Ramat Rachel. The conduit was built in the Hasmonean period, carried water for about 21 km from Solomon's pools to Jerusalem, and was used until roughly a hundred years ago. The find is expected to be incorporated into the new neighborhood, and the Antiquities Authority is promoting the creation of a park along the channel up to the Old City.

Atlas Obscura10/9/2026

Wood Street Steps in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Wood Street Steps are the last surviving examples of 10 or more stairways Philadelphia founder William Penn commissioned along the original Delaware Riverbank.  Why are they important?  Penn felt all citizens should have public access to the river wharves. Some early wealthy Quakers, who owned land there, disagreed. As  part of a 1684 compromise, Penn made sure at least 10 stairways led to the port area near major cross streets ... from Vine Street to  what was originally called Cedar Street  ... and is now known as South Street. Unfortunately, this is the only set of those steps left.

Atlas Obscura10/9/2026

High Shoals Falls in Hiawassee, Georgia

High Shoals Falls is a secluded waterfall. To get there you must access the trailhead on Indian Grave Gap Rd in Hiawassee, Ga. The drive up the mountain is exhilarating. Once you reach the trailhead, you begin descending the mountain. The trail leads you down into a small valley with beautiful scenery and several back country campsites. There are two waterfalls on the trail. The first one is Blue Hole Falls, the smaller of the two. The trail ends at High Shoals Falls where there is a boardwalk to view the falls from. The hike is a moderately challenging 2.4 miles round trip and worth every step.

Atlas Obscura10/8/2026

The Reading Room in Chattanooga, Tennessee

Is there a better pairing than a good book and a great drink? You can find both at this cozy bar on the east side of Chattanooga.  But the books lining the walls of the Reading Room are not just decoration. They are for sale, and their journey began, appropriately enough, at the library. The Reading Room is part neighborhood watering hole, part used bookstore, a combination dreamed up by the owner, Linden Marno-Ferree, after working on both sides of the equation. Before entering the restaurant industry and becoming a bartender, Marno-Ferree worked as a bookseller at Harvard Book Store in Massachusetts and Politics and Prose in Washington, D.C. She eventually began imagining a place that combined the conviviality of a bar with the comfortable solitude of a bookstore. Then she found the perfect partner in the Chattanooga Public Library Foundation. Books supplied through the library partnership fill the Reading Room’s shelves, and a portion of sales goes back to the foundation. The shop currently advertises every book at $8 or less. The result feels more like an eccentric reader's living room than a conventional bookstore. Floor-to-ceiling shelves meet exposed brick, vintage chandeliers, mismatched furniture, and plenty of corners suitable for disappearing into a novel. Drinks range from beer and cocktails to nonalcoholic options, while coffee and tea give daytime readers something to linger over. And there is a modest food menu as well, so there’s no need to put down what you’re reading. Then there is the calendar. The Reading Room describes itself as a community hub for "creatives, free-thinkers, weirdos and regular nice people," and its programming backs that up. Its schedule regularly includes author readings, writers’ and craft nights, bingo, comedy, bookish trivia, drag events, ambient music, and live “Drunk History” performances. It is, in other words, a bookstore where staying until midnight is perfectly reasonable, and a bar where leaving with a used paperback might be the most predictable ending.