valentine's day
The Rude, Cruel, and Insulting 'Vinegar Valentines' of the Victorian Era
Nothing like getting surprise hate mail from a would-be lover on February 14.
All Stories
gymnastics
Watch a German Motorcycle Gymnastics Show From 1934
The performance includes a "crazy scientist."
security
U.S. Presidents Do Have Spending Limits for Securing Private Homes
Thanks, Nixon.
television
Watch the Dramatic Ad That Introduced the First Remote-Control Color TV
It was “the greatest advance in television since color television itself.”
astronauts
NASA Says an Astronaut Threw a Football 564,664 Yards
Why not.
geoglyphs
Humans Probably Altered the Amazon 2,000 Years Earlier Than We Thought
Scientists just published some new evidence.
escape routes
Found: A Gecko That Loses Its Giant Scales if It Is So Much as Touched
Do not grab this gecko.
refugees
The Little-Known Passport That Protected 450,000 Refugees
Between 1922 and 1938, the "Nansen Passport" allowed stateless people to make a new life.
trucks
A Massive Syrup Spill Gums Up a Vermont Highway
What a waffle mess.
america
The Powerful 1940 Map That Depicts America as a Nation of Immigrants
It was produced by the Council Against Intolerance in the lead up to World War II.
news
A Lone Dolphin Keeps Swimming Into Pisa
This is rare.
psychology
Why Men Get More Lint in Their Belly Buttons Than Women
Also: a very brief history of navel-gazing.
mythology
6 Stops on the Hunt for the Holy Grail
Tracing history’s most elusive holy relic will lead you to these real places.
earthships
Earthships, the Ultimate in Off-Grid Architecture
A new spin on a ‘70s sustainability movement.
meteorites
A Bright and Loud Meteor Just Flew Across the Midwest Sky
There's video.
fungus
There's a Lot of Mold Infesting the Mark Twain Museum in Connecticut
It's attached to his old house.
automata
How an Antiquarian Horologist Brings Tiny Machines Back to Life
The minutiae of restoring 18th-century technology.
shipwrecks
Found: A 17th-Century Wreck That Looks Like Sweden’s Most Famous Warship
The Blekinge was launched in 1682 and sunk in 1713.
