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This 1882 engraving of Ragnarok, the Viking doomsday, shows Odin mounted on a horse and fighting the wolf Fenrir.
vikings

7 Stories That Show Just How Metal the Nordics Are

From Viking werewolves to snacking on pickled ram's testicles, Europe's northernmost countries are badass.
Roxanne Hoorn September 27, 2024
To those uneducated in chemical processes, Glazier’s work with metals looked more like magic than science.
crime

How the Alchemist of New England Became a Legendary Counterfeiter

Glazier Wheeler turned his skill for manipulating silver into profitable schemes.
Ryan Shea August 6, 2024
Plymouth, Connecticut

Lock Museum of America

Explore the world's largest collection of locks, keys, handcuffs, and ornate hardware, and crack the code on an antique-filled escape room.
Fountain, Colorado

John Spicer's Confession

The resolution to a case that had gone cold for 120 years, found on an old piece of wood.
West Bridgewater, Massachusetts

Hockomock Swamp

Tales of ghosts, cryptids, and true crime rise from the murky waters of the largest freshwater wetland in Massachusetts.
Omaha, Nebraska

The Museum of Shadows

Haunted dolls, macabre artifacts, and more make up the collection of the “most haunted museum in the world.”
museums

Podcast: Bonnie and Clyde Ambush Museum

A small town museum remembers where the infamous—but often misunderstood—couple’s story ended.
The Podcast Team May 13, 2024
Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, September 2014
islands

Wonder Is Everywhere: A Giant Burger, a Missing Warhol, and More From Around the Web

Get a peek into what we’re obsessed with right now.
April White April 12, 2024
An adaptation of Banksy’s “Flower Bomber,” this image shows a librarian throwing Margaret Atwood’s <em>The Handmaid's Tale.</em>
libraries

6 Badass Librarians Who Changed History

They will not be shushed.
April White April 5, 2024
Okavango Delta, Botswana - August 2, 2022. Western Tourists travelling in a mokoro, along the delta. This type of travel is traditional among the locals of the delta.
museums

Wonder Is Everywhere: Harlem Renaissance, the Return of the Ruby Slippers, and More From Around the Web

Get a peek into what we’re obsessed with right now.
April White March 29, 2024
Rose Mackenberg believed in something beyond the world we see—but she didn't believe the mediums who said they were in touch with it.
crime

The Ghost-Busting 'Girl Detective' Who Awed Houdini

As an undercover investigator, Rose Mackenberg unmasked hundreds of America’s fake psychics.
Nina Strochlic March 14, 2024
crime

Podcast: The Grave of XYZ

A bank robber’s burial site is still six feet deep with mystery.
The Podcast Team March 11, 2024
The latest version of clue includes a more diverse cast that some observers have noted codes as queer.
games

From Family Game to Cult Film to 'Thirst Trap,' Clue Has Been Through It

The latest glow-up of the iconic board game draws on a wealth of cultural touchstones.
Adrienne Raphel March 5, 2024
Hot Springs, Arkansas

Gangster Museum of America

Mobsters came for a soak in the hot springs, and stayed for the illegal gambling and bootlegging.
crime

Podcast: GALS Gone Wild

Hear what happens when a man tried to smuggle in 22 giant African land snails into the United States.
The Podcast Team March 5, 2024
Norval Morrisseau's <em>Migration</em> (1973), at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada.
libraries

Wonder Is Everywhere: Ancient Lipstick, Darwin’s Library, and More From Around the Web

Get a peek into what we’re obsessed with right now.
April White March 1, 2024
The man known as Monsieur de New York sort of kept his identity secret, as executioner was not exactly a position of renown.
crime

The Mystery of Monsieur de New York, Celebrity Hangman

Considered an artist of the gallows, his true identity is shrouded in myth and hyperbole. 
Nina Strochlic February 28, 2024
This diagram from <em>Modern Swindles</em> shows how card cheats work—and what happens to them when they're caught.
objects of intrigue

A Peek Inside a 'Scam Manual' Written to Help Immigrants Avoid Becoming Victims

Early 20th-century migrants from Europe had to be on their guard against marriage brokers, card sharps, ghost mediums, and more.
Nina Strochlic February 20, 2024