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Evelene Spencer was the face of the "Eat More Fish" campaign.

war fare

Remembering America's Forgotten 'Fish Evangelist'

Evelene Spencer was the force behind the wartime campaign that encouraged the country to love fish.

A close look at kelp growing off the California coast reveals its complexity, something Abbott understood well.

seaweed

How the 'First Lady of Seaweed' Changed Science

Isabella Abbott, the first native Hawaiian woman to earn a doctorate in science, rewrote the book on her beloved limu.

Petra Herrera led troops into battle in the Mexican Revolution and later went undercover as a bartender to spy on the opposition.

secret agent women

The Mexican Revolutionary Who Fought for Freedom on the Battlefield and in the Barroom

Before she became a spy, Petra Herrera went undercover as a man.

Heavy rains and wind turned the usually featureless Salar de Uyuni salt flats into a riot of color in late January 2022.

satellite

Wild Weather Has Turned Bolivia's Salt Flats Into a Work of Art

A satellite captures the stunning effects of heavy rain and high winds on a landscape that—coincidentally—is used to calibrate satellites.

Zheng Pingru was about 19 years old when she was recruited to spy on the Japanese forces that occupied Shanghai at the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War.

secret agent women

A Socialite’s Plot to Assassinate a Corrupt Official in Occupied Shanghai

Zheng Pingru’s scheme involved a fabulous fur coat and ended in tragedy.

In the 18th century, Anne Bonny and Mary Read were the two most feared pirate queens of the Caribbean. Here they're shown brandishing their cutlasses in an illustration from the 1724 book A General History of the Pyrates.

female explorers

9 Female Adventurers Who Journeyed Into the Unknown

From the Inupiat seamstress who killed polar bears to the Black motorcycle queen of Miami, these daring women lived life on their own terms.

meat

Podcast: Possum Monument

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.

Pages with etchings from 16th-century cookery books.

secret lives of museums

The Roman Museum With a Taste for Historical Cookbooks

A former pâtissier's culinary collection is now available to the public.

Marguerite Harrison was raised at the turn of the century to be a Baltimore socialite. Instead, she traveled the world as a reporter, filmmaker, explorer, and spy.

secret agent women

The Society Editor Who Just Walked Into Soviet Russia and Started Spying

Marguerite Harrison was the United States’ first female foreign intelligence officer.

The so-called “Nag’s Head Portrait,” possibly of Theodosia Burr Alston.

women's history

The Dramatic Life and Mysterious Death of Theodosia Burr

The fate of Aaron Burr's daughter remains a topic of contention.

mechanical instruments

Podcast: Elephant Clock

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.

corn

Inside LA's First Mexican Food Museum

Or how to channel 5,000 years of history into one exhibit.

Pauline Cushman masqueraded as a Southern woman in search of her lost brother to gain access to a Confederate camp in Tennessee.

secret agent women

A Struggling Actress’s Greatest Role Was as a Real Civil War Spy

Pauline Cushman’s contributions to U.S. war efforts earned her the honorary title of “Major.”

Activist Sylvie Njobati sees the statue of Ngonnso for the first time at the Humboldt Forum in Berlin.

women's history

Ngonnso Will Finally Come Home to Cameroon

The only known depiction of the queen mother of the Nso people was taken to Germany 120 years ago.

african-american

Podcast: Hotel Theresa

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.

Josefine Guerrero carried a map of the minefields in the north of occupied Manila to approaching U.S. troops.

secret agent women

The Invisible, Afflicted Spy Who Led the U.S. Army Into Occupied Manila

As a woman with leprosy, Josefina Guerrero was ignored by Japanese forces as she carried messages of resistance in World War II.

The 14th-century Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption is at the heart of Lviv's Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

soviet

The Multicultural Legacy of Ukraine’s Forgotten Region

Remnants of the nation’s diverse history are littered throughout the historical region known as Galicia.

A replica of the Phaistos Disc, which has fascinated and flummoxed us for more than a century.

typography

Exploring the Enduring Mystery of Crete's Phaistos Disc

A scholar of Aegean civilization considers the inscrutable meaning of the artifact—and its irresistible appeal.

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