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Holidays

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A seabird sits on a Baker Island sign.
islands

Why Ham Radio Fans Want to Spend Next Summer on an Island Full of Bird Poop

Baker Island, in the middle of the Pacific, is also the last place on Earth to ring in the new year.
Cara Giaimo December 29, 2017
This tree was placed a few years ago, and was recently uncovered by a storm.
trees

After the Holidays, Christmas Trees Have More Work to Do

They're sheltering aquatic species, keeping out invasive fish, and holding beaches and swamps together.
Cara Giaimo December 27, 2017
Cinnamon cream cheese–filled King Cake.
Gastro Obscura

King Cake

The Carnival cake comes with a hidden baby Jesus inside.
Gubbio Christmas tree.
Gubbio, Italy

Mount Ingino Christmas Tree

The world's largest "Christmas tree" is illuminated by hundreds of lights stretching 2,000 feet up the slope of Mount Ingino.
Drawing, 1932.
holidays

J.R.R. Tolkien Is Our Favorite Father Christmas

For 23 years he role-played in holiday letters to his children.
Anika Burgess December 21, 2017
Say hello to the Mari Lwyd.
holidays

Each Christmas, the Welsh Try to Outsmart a Horse Skull Puppet

Then they drink.
Eric Grundhauser December 21, 2017
Alan Turing in 1930, long before computer music was even imaginable.
music

Listen to the First Computer-Generated Christmas Carols, From Alan Turing's Lab

"Jingle Bells" and "Good King Wenceslas" haven't sounded like this in a long time.
Natasha Frost December 20, 2017
A kholodet with shredded meat and an egg.
Gastro Obscura

Kholodets

Savory meat jelly with a dollop of spicy mustard is a customary New Year's dish in Russia.
A Kransekake in all its glory.
Gastro Obscura

Kransekake

For special occasions, Norwegians stack 18 rings of cake into a tower.
Light up your day with all the holiday news you might have missed!
holidays

The Week In... Holiday Feats!

A nativity break-out, heirloom string lights, giant Christmas trees, and more.
Eric Grundhauser December 15, 2017
You can eat inside the gingerbread, but you can't eat the gingerbread.
food

Building a Life-Sized Gingerbread House Takes Over 10,000 Cookie Bricks

To be ready by Christmas, you better start baking in August.
Anne Ewbank December 14, 2017
At the Mummers Parade, no one knows who you are.
rites and rituals

Once a Forbidden Tradition, Mummering in Newfoundland Is Alive and Well

See the creative costumes that mummers in St. John's wore this year.
Sarah Laskow December 13, 2017
Santa plotting his route, from a holiday card in the New York Public Library collection.
libraries

The Most Festive Treasures of the New York Public Library's Maps Division

We wish you a mappy Christmas.
Jessica Leigh Hester December 11, 2017
holidays

Atlas Obscura's DIY Holiday Gift Guide

Why blow hundreds of dollars on gifts this season when you can create wonder right at home?
Eric Grundhauser December 8, 2017
fires

Will 2017 Be the Gävle Goat's Lucky Year?

Everyone's favorite arson-prone ungulate is hoping to survive the season, for once.
Cara Giaimo December 5, 2017
A slice of black cake baked by Mrs. Annemarie Charles, from San Fernando, Trinidad.
Gastro Obscura

Black Cake

Fruit soaks in rum for up to a year to make this rich Caribbean Christmas cake.
Massasoit, the leader of the Wampanoag, smokes a pipe with Plymouth Colony governor John Carver.
holidays

The Struggle to Revive the Lost Native Language of Thanksgiving

Sometimes it is not easy to fulfill a prophecy.
Natasha Frost November 22, 2017
Roosevelt dismantles a turkey while Eleanor watches.
politics

For Years, Republican and Democratic States Held Separate Thanksgivings

Before Friendsgiving, there was Franksgiving.
Anne Ewbank November 22, 2017