illuminated manuscripts
Medieval Jews Celebrated Passover With Bird-Human Hybrids
An illuminated manuscript interpreted the prohibition on graven images in a creative way.
All Stories
new york city
Step Into a Midcentury Map of New York, Packed With Weird Local Lore
Dragons, flea circuses, mermaids, and more wonders of the city.
medicine
Found: A Quack’s Medicine Bottles, Buried Behind a Haunted Hotel
Some of the vessels contain tissue samples, while others held a dubious "cancer cure."
story
What Ancient Pee Can Teach Us About the Rise of Agriculture
A conspicuous rise in urine suggests that the Neolithic Revolution took place beyond the Fertile Crescent.
crafts
How to Craft Your Very Own Version of Mexico's 'Dapper Queen of Death'
La Catrina is an icon of Día de Muertos and the focal point of this doll-making workshop.
easter
How Easter Egg Trees Almost Became an American Tradition
Like the Christmas tree, they were probably a German import.
dates
Before the Music Festival, Coachella Valley Promoted Itself With an Arabian Fantasy
Celebrating the local date industry involved a Queen Scheherazade beauty pageant, vendors in veils, and a Taj Mahal.
poison
The First Golden Eagle Tagged in Yellowstone Was Poisoned by Lead Shot
Hopefully it wasn't all in vain.
britain
Found: Mysterious Ritual Burials From the Iron Age
Ancient Britons had a complicated relationship with the dead.
forensics
Researchers Have Recreated the Face of an Ancient Dog
The canine remains were buried in a tomb in Orkney, Scotland, over 4,000 years ago.
san francisco
For Sale: Striking Photos of the San Francisco Earthquake
This trove of images captures the 1906 geological event that brought the city to its knees.
dairy
Lush Island Seeks Intrepid Dairy Farmer With Herd
Is it you?
cowboys
The Company Building Chuck Wagons for Races and Cowboy Cookoffs
A South Dakota shop still builds the iconic wagons.
epidemics
When Doctors Thought ‘Wanderlust’ Was a Psychological Condition
For decades, "pathological tourists" ended up in asylums or worse.
genetics
Stone Age Tombs Were Family Affairs
New research examines the connections between people buried at mysterious megaliths.
festivals
The Village Where They Pelt a Man in a Monster Costume With 30 Tons of Turnips
And nobody is quite sure why.
show & tell
22 Creative Souvenir Collections That Will Inspire You to Start Your Own
How do you make your travel tangible?
astronomy
Scientists Needed to Build a 'Planet-Sized Telescope' to See the Black Hole
But to get a sharper look, we’ll have to journey to space.
