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“It’s really something very dangerous,” Katia Krafft said of her research. “But it was so fascinating to look at it and to try to be close to see better what is happening.”
volcanoes

Scientist Katia Krafft Stood on the Edge of Active Volcano Craters

The things Krafft and her husband learned getting up close to eruptions advanced volcanology and saved lives.
Tom Ward March 16, 2022
A woman knitting, Washington DC, 1941.
wwi

The Wartime Spies Who Used Knitting as an Espionage Tool

Grandma was just making a sweater. Or was she?
Natalie Zarrelli March 16, 2022
Tookoolito is credited with saving the lives of the crew of the USS <em>Polaris</em>.
women

What Tookoolito Taught Explorers About the Arctic

In the mid-19th century, white ship captains relied on the Inuit woman and her husband to survive the unforgiving conditions of the Northwest Passage.
Tom Ward March 15, 2022
For 17 days in Scotland's remote Cairngorms mountains, British traveler Elise Wortley retraced the journey of early-20th-century writer Nan Shepherd.
female explorers

Returning to the Valley of the Assassins in the Footsteps of Explorer Freya Stark

British adventurer Elise Wortley is about to retrace a historic journey through Iran.
Sarah Durn March 14, 2022
The Keep
Whitby, England

Old Mulgrave Castle

This historic castle was already in ruins by the 13th century.
In 1911, at the age of 61, Annie Peck Smith climbed the 21,083-foot Coropuna volcano in Peru and planted a flag reading "Votes for Women" at the summit.
mountains

Don't Call Annie Smith Peck a Woman Mountain Climber

The 19th-century mountaineer and suffragist competed with men and women alike to find the apex of the Americas.
Michelle Cassidy March 14, 2022
A 1964 public health poster about preventing malaria, painted by Wu Hao.
nobel prize

The Secret Maoist Chinese Operation to Conquer Malaria

A young medical researcher's idea led to a powerful weapon against the disease—and a Nobel Prize.
Jia-Chen Fu March 14, 2022
ancient

Podcast: Kuruvungna Sacred Springs

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
The Podcast Team March 14, 2022
Petra Herrera led troops into battle in the Mexican Revolution and later went undercover as a bartender to spy on the opposition.
spies

The Mexican Revolutionary Who Fought for Freedom on the Battlefield and in the Barroom

Before she became a spy, Petra Herrera went undercover as a man.
April White March 11, 2022
Little Isabella 1.
Douglas, Isle of Man

Groudle Glen Water Wheel

This Victorian water wheel is affectionately nicknamed "Little Isabella."
Zheng Pingru was about 19 years old when she was recruited to spy on the Japanese forces that occupied Shanghai at the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
statues

A Socialite’s Plot to Assassinate a Corrupt Official in Occupied Shanghai

Zheng Pingru’s scheme involved a fabulous fur coat and ended in tragedy.
April White March 10, 2022
Pages with etchings from 16th-century cookery books.
food

The Roman Museum With a Taste for Historical Cookbooks

A former pâtissier's culinary collection is now available to the public.
Eric Millman March 9, 2022
Marguerite Harrison was raised at the turn of the century to be a Baltimore socialite. Instead, she traveled the world as a reporter, filmmaker, explorer, and spy.
prisons

The Society Editor Who Just Walked Into Soviet Russia and Started Spying

Marguerite Harrison was the United States’ first female foreign intelligence officer.
April White March 9, 2022
The so-called “Nag’s Head Portrait,” possibly of Theodosia Burr Alston.
mystery

The Dramatic Life and Mysterious Death of Theodosia Burr

The fate of Aaron Burr's daughter remains a topic of contention.
Hadley Meares March 9, 2022
mechanical instruments

Podcast: Elephant Clock

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
The Podcast Team March 9, 2022
Pauline Cushman masqueraded as a Southern woman in search of her lost brother to gain access to a Confederate camp in Tennessee.
spies

A Struggling Actress’s Greatest Role Was as a Real Civil War Spy

Pauline Cushman’s contributions to U.S. war efforts earned her the honorary title of “Major.”
April White March 8, 2022
Activist Sylvie Njobati sees the statue of Ngonnso for the first time at the Humboldt Forum in Berlin.
museums

Ngonnso Will Finally Come Home to Cameroon

The only known depiction of the queen mother of the Nso people was taken to Germany 120 years ago.
Ye Charlotte Ming July 6, 2022
architecture

Podcast: Hotel Theresa

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
The Podcast Team March 8, 2022