maps
Eclipse Maps Entered a Golden Age Thanks to Edmond Halley
In the 18th century, the English astronomer created a new appreciation for these celestial events.
Articles by Sarah Laskow
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Stories
Stories shared by this traveler.
space exploration
Why the April 2024 Total Solar Eclipse May Blow Your Mind
How a jaw-dropping experience like this one can change the rest of your life.
witchcraft
In Poland, Drowning the Pagan Goddess Marzanna Ushers in Spring
A straw effigy of the winter goddess is burned and then submerged in chilly waters.
forests
The Haunting Ghost Forests of Maryland's Eastern Shore
Rising seas are claiming land, changing lives, and transforming our relationship with nature.
cemeteries
The Grim History Hidden Under a Baltimore Parking Lot
After an African-American cemetery was bulldozed, families wondered what happened to the graves.
farms
Why All of Upstate New York Grew Up Eating the Same Barbecue Chicken
The true legacy of the Cornell professor who invented the chicken nugget.
art
Medieval Jews Celebrated Passover With Bird-Human Hybrids
An illuminated manuscript interpreted the prohibition on graven images in a creative way.
natural history
A Rare and Striking Butterfly Is Named for a Pioneering Female Naturalist
Maria Sibylla Merian watched these beautiful insects more closely than anyone else of her time.
underwater
The Mysterious Phenomenon of Seals With Eels in Their Noses
The Hawaiian Monk Seal Research Program found yet another pinniped with an unusual nasal inhabitant.
prohibition
For Sale: Pre-Prohibition Whiskey, Once Hidden in a Vault Behind a Bookcase
Naturally!
geology
How Giant, Intelligent Snails Became a Marker of Our Age
Ages from now, giant snails could be one of the lasting signs of human influence on Earth.
maps
In Its First Decades, The United States Nurtured Schoolgirl Mapmakers
Education for women and emerging nationhood, illustrated with care and charm.
music
Musical Arrangements Made at Auschwitz Have Been Uncovered in an Archive
Polish political prisoners played a song called “The Most Beautiful Time of Life" for the SS.
maps
England, But New: How John Smith's 1616 Map Helped Define America
The name "New England" was like a colonial real estate ad.
libraries
Is There Anybody Out There… Keeping Track of the Weird Stuff We Send Into Space?
This catalog attempts to figure out what we're telling the rest of the universe about ourselves.
military history
Found: Weapons From World War II, Uncovered by a Hurricane
A North Carolina beach had secrets from the 1940s buried deep in the sand.
meteorites
A Massive Meteorite Crater Has Been Hiding Under Greenland's Ice
It ranks in the top 25 largest impact craters ever discovered.
science
The Sun Set Off 4,000 Sea Mines During the Vietnam War
Only now do scientists fully understand just how strong a 1972 solar storm was.
architecture
Why There's No Place Quite Like the American Garage
The garage is a symbol of suburbia, a site of rebellion, and a very strange room.
railroads
Glimpses of Lost Railway Journeys of the Past
A new book collects 33 routes that went off the rails.
extinct animals
What in the World Was a Key-Footed Glyptodon?
It had a shell as big as a car.
Ancient Celts Embalmed the Severed Heads of Their Enemies
New evidence backs up the stories that Greeks told about the fearsome Celtic tribes.
science
Where on Earth Can You Put a Giant Telescope?
Why astronomers keep putting them in the same places.
politics
What It Took to Get Impeached in the 14th Century
You basically had to sell a castle to the enemy.
