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prohibition

In the Early 20th Century, America Was Awash in Incredible Queer Nightlife

Then Prohibition ended, and the closet was born.
Natalie Zarrelli April 14, 2016
royalty

Why the Last Words of Anne Boleyn Remain a Mystery

What she said depends on who's telling the story.
Hadley Meares April 14, 2016
mountains

The Most Famous Orchard in Tajikistan

How does Mirzasho Akobirov produce 52 different types of apples, 37 varieties of pears, and more? TLC.
Joe Schottenfeld April 13, 2016
australia

A Junket to The Most 'Interesting' Town on Earth

How a trip to the Australian outback got weird, and beautiful.
Jessanne Collins April 13, 2016
victorian

Inside the Spark-Filled Home of a Vintage Electric Machine Collector

You get the lights, I'll flip the switch for the Victorian teleport.
Ella Morton April 13, 2016
Two graduate students burned by Foodcam.
food

An Afternoon With MIT's Most Important Invention

The technology alerts users when there are leftovers in the building.
Cara Giaimo April 13, 2016
animals

Tailing an Overnight Doctor at New York's Busiest Animal ER

A sleepover with radioactive cats and malady-riddled French bulldogs.
Tao Tao Holmes April 12, 2016
objects of intrigue

Witch Hunting for Dummies: The 15th-Century Witchcraft Manual

Cornell's witchcraft collection has an original copy of the Malleus Maleficarum, an early witch-hunting handbook.
Sarah Laskow April 12, 2016
geographic markers

Have Fun Trying to Reach the Poles of Inaccessibility

Geography nuts have located the hardest place to get to on every continent and beyond.
Eric Grundhauser April 11, 2016
architecture

The Man Who Began America's Yurt Craze

A Harvard-educated visionary who chose to live in remote New England and spread the gospel of yurts via mail.
Peter Andrey Smith April 11, 2016
space exploration

This 17th Century Map of the Skies is Bursting With Mythological Creatures

Feast your eyes on a stunning, hand-illustrated star chart from 1670.
Urvija Banerji April 11, 2016
nature

Protesters are Rebuilding Thoreau’s Cabin to Block a Gas Pipeline

Henry David Thoreau is helping fight big industry from beyond the grave.
Tao Tao Holmes April 8, 2016
infrastructure

What Are Bollards, and Why Are They So Beautiful?

Once you start looking for bollards, you will find them everywhere.
Sarah Laskow April 8, 2016
A recreation of a duel's aftermath, by photographer Katharine Sheward Stanbery and circa 1900.
duels

The Long Quest to Get Southerners to Stop Dueling

To convince gentlemen to holster their pistols, legislators had to turn dueling into social suicide.
Cara Giaimo April 8, 2016
ships

Solving the Nutritional Mystery of Historical Food at Sea

Was the food really as bad as sailors claimed? There’s only one way to find out.
Matthew Braga April 7, 2016
politics

From Roosevelt to Resolute, the Secrets of All 6 Oval Office Desks

Nothing says "presidential" like a stately hunk of wood polished to a gleam.
Eric Grundhauser April 7, 2016
witchcraft

Take a Peek at the World’s Greatest Witchcraft Movie Poster Collection

Cornell's collection has more than 600 witchy items.
Sarah Laskow April 7, 2016
ships

How Black Pepper Won Europe From a Tastier Pepper

Europe fell in love with long pepper before black pepper came to dominate spice cabinets.
Sarah Laskow April 6, 2016