she was there
Rediscovering Rome’s Female Merchants
As queens or captains, women deftly operated ships across the Red Sea and Mediterranean 2,000 years ago.
All Stories
women of extremes
Miss La La Soared Through Europe as the Victorian Era's Best-Known Aerialist
As a Black woman, the daring circus performer also confronted the racial politics of the times.
reproduction
A Whale of a Tale about a Science Breakthrough Ignored for Decades
In 1981, Helene Marsh and her mentor discovered the truth about a basic biological process—but it took many researchers years to accept it.
mills
Podcast: Ford’s Folly
Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
children
Meet the Pioneering Midwives Who Helped Birth the Gulf South
Marie Grissot and Aimée Potens are just two of the women finally being written back into the history of childbirth.
women of extremes
Scientist Katia Krafft Stood on the Edge of Active Volcano Craters
The things Krafft and her husband learned getting up close to eruptions advanced volcanology and saved lives.
knitting
The Wartime Spies Who Used Knitting as an Espionage Tool
Grandma was just making a sweater. Or was she?
vegetables
Podcast: Rhubarb Triangle
Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
women empowerment
6 Groundbreaking Women You Didn’t Learn About in History Class
Meet the painter, the pilot, the author, and other "firsts" who paved the way.
women of extremes
What Tookoolito Taught Explorers About the Arctic
In the mid-19th century, white ship captains relied on the Inuit woman and her husband to survive the unforgiving conditions of the Northwest Passage.
emus
Emu Dads Raise the Young—Which May Not Even Be Their Offspring
As birds go, these Australian animals are unusual in many ways, including how they divvy up parenting duties.
revolution
Podcast: Haitian Monument
Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
female explorers
Returning to the Valley of the Assassins in the Footsteps of Explorer Freya Stark
British adventurer Elise Wortley is about to retrace a historic journey through Iran.
pi day
5 Forgotten Pies Worth Making for Pi Day
Pie hard with a vengeance.
women of extremes
Don't Call Annie Smith Peck a Woman Mountain Climber
The 19th-century mountaineer and suffragist competed with men and women alike to find the apex of the Americas.
nobel prize
The Secret Maoist Chinese Operation to Conquer Malaria
A young medical researcher's idea led to a powerful weapon against the disease—and a Nobel Prize.
spring
Podcast: Kuruvungna Sacred Springs
Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
women's history
Podcast: Women of the Black Panther Mural
Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
