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Erotic art.
Lima, Peru

Larco Museum's Erotic Art

The large collection of pre-Columbian pottery might make you blush.
Floodwall murals.
Paducah, Kentucky

Floodwall Murals

A collection of outdoor art by renowned muralist Robert Dafford depicts the history of a flooded city.
Recolored photo of George White's 1991 cornerstone.
Washington, D.C.

Missing Capitol Building Cornerstone

A promising candidate for the lost rock laid by George Washington was unearthed, but the hunt is still on.
Cows graze in a field of kudzu in 1949.
plants

America's Tumultuous Love Affair With Kudzu

Before the plant was considered a scourge, it was used for decoration, as livestock fodder, and to fight erosion.
Cara Giaimo December 11, 2017
Alamut Castle.
Roudbar Alamout, Iran

Alamut Castle

This ruined fortress was the stronghold for a persecuted medieval leader and his infamous Assassins.
Robert Lawrence, Jr. was chosen to serve in the MOL, an Air Force space program.
space exploration

Remembering the Groundbreaking Life of the First Black Astronaut

Robert Lawrence Jr.'s accomplishments are finally being recognized.
Ashawnta Jackson December 11, 2017
Illustration of a dog from George Turbervile's 1576 <em>Booke of Hunting</em>.
libraries

A 16th-Century Book on Forest Laws Had Alarming Rules About Dogs

"Who may keepe dogges within a forrest?"
Natasha Frost December 8, 2017
A map of the "summer aromas" of Newport, Rhode Island.
maps

Learning About Cities by Mapping Their Smells

The U.K. artist Kate McLean is trying to preserve our olfactory memory.
Vittoria Traverso December 8, 2017
Sir Isaac Newton was an avid wall drawer.
science

Found: A Hidden Drawing in Sir Isaac Newton's Childhood Home

The famed scientist was known for his habit of using walls as sketchpads.
Vittoria Traverso December 8, 2017
Like men's club houses, molly houses were also places people went simply to socialize, gossip, drink and smoke.
history

How the 18th-Century Gay Bar Survived and Thrived in a Deadly Environment

Welcome to the molly house.
Natasha Frost December 8, 2017
Portuguese Fireplace.
Minstead, England

Portuguese Fireplace

This unlikely memorial honors the Canadian and Portuguese laborers who felled trees for the Allies in World War I.
A street sign on Haunted Lane in Bensalem.
Bensalem, Pennsylvania

Haunted Lane

The residents of this ominous-sounding street in Pennsylvania liked its name so much they fought to keep it.
Ada Blackjack, pictured with the rest of the expedition to Wrangel Island.
exploration

Ada Blackjack, the Forgotten Sole Survivor of an Odd Arctic Expedition

In the early 1920s, 23-year-old Blackjack endured a two-year stay on frosty Wrangel Island.
Tessa Hulls December 6, 2017
A close-up view of the marker.
Hartford, Connecticut

Flood 1936 Marker

A tiny memorial for the year the Connecticut River almost destroyed New England.
After decades of discussion, the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse was hauled to higher ground.
lighthouses

The Bumpy Business of Hauling Historical Sites to Safety

When trying to outrun erosion and sea-level rise is the best option.
Jessica Leigh Hester December 5, 2017
Look closely, photographer Cris Benton takes a high altitude kite selfie.
Edwards Air Force Base, California

Edwards AFB Satellite Calibration Targets

These colossal desert barcodes have been fine-tuning spy satellites for decades.
Smokey's Fan Mail, 1979.
Beltsville, Maryland

Smokey Bear Archive

The Forest Service's surprisingly sophisticated collection of wildfire prevention art features America's most beloved bear.
The details of the pictograph panel.
Green River, Utah

Buckhorn Wash Pictograph Panel

This gallery of prehistoric red ochre art lines the wall of a scenic segment in Utah's San Rafael Swell.