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CT scan displaying German sword blade with engraved name on it

Renaissance sword reveals a hidden engraving

A colorful vintage poster illustration featuring a large Uncle Sam figure in a stars and stripes outfit, leaning down to adjust the hands of a massive clock with Roman numerals, which has a red center. Below him, a smaller man is running frantically with a small clock showing the time is one hour earlier. The text at the top reads "VICTORY! CONGRESS PASSES DAYLIGHT SAVING BILL." The style is reminiscent of early 20th-century American political or war-time posters.

The U.S. tried permanent daylight saving time—and hated it

Scan of hieroglyphs on Mayan Foundation Rock

Mystery Mayan ruler was no king

Skull of a soldier from the Napoleon army next to a button from a soldier's uniform.

The real killer of Napoleon’s army revealed by DNA testing

Roman skeletons in water well mass grave

Ancient Roman mass grave shows its army’s ethnic diversity

A dramatic, wide-angle photo of a scarecrow standing in a dry cornfield or patch of tall, brown crops at sunset. The scarecrow is dressed in a dark hat and long coat, with a sack covering its head and stick arms outstretched. The sky above is colored with orange and pink clouds.

How scarecrows went from ancient magic to fall horror fodder

Aerial photo of ancient ice storage facility excavation next to photos of a burial jar containing Chinese coins

Ancient underground freezer unearthed at South Korean castle

A fit, shirtless man performs a Pilates exercise on a reformer machine. He is in a deep lunge position, with his arms stretched out to the sides holding the machine's ropes. His body is taut, and he is looking straight ahead in a bright, modern studio.

Fitness & Exercise

Pilates started in a WWI internment camp

By Sara Kiley Watson

A close-up film still showing the face of an actor portraying Dracula, with bloodshot red eyes, blood dripping from his mouth, and pointed fangs visible. To the left, a woman's pale neck and chin, stained with blood, are visible as she is held by the vampire. The lighting is dark and dramatic.

Science Fiction

The spooky (and sweet) history of fake blood

Aerial photo of Teotihuacan city

A lost ancient language may be hiding in plain sight

A small, light blue vintage box of TAMPAX tampons is shown resting on a white surface. The box has blue text that reads "Sanitary Protection + Worn Internally," "TAMPAX," and "Accepted for Advertising by The American Medical Association." A single tampon, wrapped in paper and plastic, leans against the box.

How WWI and WWII revolutionized period products

By Cat Rainsford

a black and white photo of a ship leaning on its side in sea ice

Ernest Shackleton knew ‘Endurance’ had shortcomings, new study says

By Laura Baisas

A vintage photo collage featuring a man in a shirt and tie, intensely focused while looking into the eyepiece of a microscope. The image is overlaid on yellowed old text, likely a magazine or newspaper clipping, with blurred headlines visible in the background.

How a hatter and railroad clerk kickstarted cancer research

By Bill Gourgey

Close up view of bearded vulture

Multi-generational vulture nests hold 700 years of human artifacts

A colorized vintage advertisement featuring two smiling World War II-era pilots, both in flight suits. The pilot on the left is holding up a box of Milky Way candy bars, and the pilot on the right, who is leaning out of a plane cockpit, is looking down and smiling at the box.

How WWII made Hershey and Mars Halloween candy kings

By Diana Hubbell

P-2 Neptune airplane remains in aircraft boneyard

Buy a vintage military airplane for $25

Study diagram of ancient Egyptian cow bone whistle

Ancient Egypt’s cemetery police blew bone whistles made from cow toes

Pile of papers handwritten by Albert Einstein

Particle Physics

Einstein’s handwritten encyclopedia entry could fetch $200,000

A poster with the bold red and yellow text "WEATHER IS A WEAPON" at the center. The poster features a black and white photograph of a rural landscape with telephone poles stretching into the distance. In the top left, a menacing cartoon cloud with a face is visible. A small, separate card at the bottom right encourages people to "buy WAR BONDS."

During WWII, the U.S. government censored the weather

A Paleolithic handaxe with a broken distal end, discovered during the Ayvalık survey

Early humans reached Europe via an Ice Age land bridge from Turkey

A light-toned painting shows a body wrapped in a white shroud lying on a bed or stone slab. Above the body, a translucent, ghostly figure with long hair and a white garment floats away, reaching upward with its arms. A framed window on the left side of the room reveals a blue sky and green hills with a mountain in the distance. The style is soft and ethereal, suggesting the departure of a soul.

Science Fiction

The 21 grams experiment that tried to weigh a human soul

An arid archaeological site with a large, excavated rectangular foundation in the foreground, partially dug into a dirt mound. The site is surrounded by dry, barren land and hills in the distance. A few people are visible, providing a sense of scale, and the background shows a valley with green trees and a clear, hazy sky.

Lost mural reveals ancient Silk Road fire ritual

Ripe grapes growing on plants in vineyard lit by sun

Bronze Age farmers often prioritized wine over olives

Pythagorean theorum illustrated with triangle written in chalk on chalkboard

Forget Pi Day. Today is Pythagorean Triple Square Day.

The front and back of two bottles of Danish lactic acid bacteria from the 1800s.

130-year-old butter bacteria discovered in Danish basement

Aymara elongated mummy skull

Looted mummy skull mislabeled for over a century

Mountains, river, and forest in Alberta, Canada

A $1 million treasure hunt is underway in Canadian wilderness

Clay sculpture of two frogs from Caral civilization

An ancient frog statue’s secret message

Mayan child tooth with jade gem and two x-ray images of the tooth

Jade gems decorated these Mayan kids’ teeth

Illustration of the Great Fear of 1789

Rumors spread like viruses. The French Revolution proved it.

Surkandarya Valley in Uzbekistan

An Uzbekistan cave holds an ancient agricultural secret

Diver investigating shipwreck underwater

138-year-old shipwreck discovered in Lake Michigan

A stone rock with etched art. On one side, a human figure and probably a dog are pecked in with dots. A bow and arrow are carved above the hand on the right side. On the other side, there is a human figure, an unknown figure, and a large boat.

Lost, ancient cult site unearthed near a Norwegian highway

Cooked shrimp on plate with fork and cilantro

Walmart’s ‘radioactive shrimp’ recall isn’t a reason to fear irradiated food

By Andrew Paul, Laura Baisas

Example of knotted khipu cords next to ruler for siz referenc

Human hair-based recordkeeping was widespread in Incan Empire

A large white mushroom cloud explodes into the upper atmosphere in a vintage photograph of a hydrogen bomb.

When the U.S. almost nuked Alaska—on purpose

By Shoshi Parks

A smiling woman bundled in a dark puffer jacket, grey knitted hood, and fingerless gloves applies lip balm in a green tube to her lips. She has light skin, dark hair, and blue eyes, and her gaze is directed slightly off to the right. The background is blurred, showing an outdoor setting with buildings and trees, suggesting a cool or cold day.

Lip balm’s surprising history from earwax to Lip Smackers

Wooden shipwreck timber on river shore

A pirate ship that exploded in 1748 may have finally been found

Grosse Steckmuschel, Pinna nobilis, Les Ferranelles, Medes Inseln, Costa Brava, Mittelmeer, Spanien | Noble Pen Shell, Pinna nobilis, Les Ferranelles, Medes Islands, Costa Brava, Mediterranean Sea, Spain

From waste to wonder: Revival of ancient Roman ‘golden fiber’ with pen shells

Pompeii street and building ruins on sunny day

After Mount Vesuvius, Pompeii’s ruins housed survivors, wanderers, and treasure hunters

Bow of the USS Preston shipwreck sunk in WWII

13 World War II shipwrecks captured in stunning detail

Neolithic burial pit

Electrical workers uncover 5,000-year-old burial pits in Germany

Illustrations of Ice Age mummy tattoo restorations

Tattoo artists and scientists resurrect a 2,000-year-old mummy’s ink

Hawaiian petroglyphs on sandstone beach with tidal wave

500-year-old petroglyphs resurface on Hawai’i beach

Limestone tomb marker of Polish medieval knight

Medieval knight’s grave discovered under ice cream shop

Tibetan Buddhist pray scroll next to example of its X-ray scan

X-ray scans reveal Buddhist prayers inside tiny Tibetan scrolls

Debbie Harry and Andy Warhol

40 years ago, Andy Warhol helped debut the Commodore Amiga computer

Rib fragment with flint arrowhead embedded in it

The 4,000-year-old mystery of a shepherd’s arrow to the back

Medieval manuscripts like the Cotton MS Vitellius C III highlight uses for herbs that reflect modern-day wellness trends. Image Credit: The British Library.

Dark Age detoxes sometimes resembled TikTok health trends

Roman tile art depicting two lovers with woman's backside blurred

Stolen during WWII, an erotic Roman mosaic returns home

Illustration scroll for The Tale of Genji from Medieval Japan

College students digitized 795 poems from the world’s oldest novel

The XIX copy sculpture of an ancient Roman Emperor - Caligula - Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus

Mad emperor Caligula may have been a big plant guy

Shipwreck bow covered in sea life underwater

Shipwreck fragment linked to one of WWII’s strangest rescue tales

Close up of hand applying acupuncture needles to back

Oldest known steel acupuncture needles discovered in disgraced emperor’s tomb

bald man silouhetted on text

100 years ago, scientists predicted we’d live to 1,000 years old

By Bill Gourgey

Portrait of Galileo Galilei

Ultra-rare first edition book from Galileo heading to auction

Facial reconstruction of the individual from Nuwayrat using 3D scan data of the skull and analysis of the bones.

First complete ancient Egyptian DNA genome reveals his occupation

The city of Dubrovnik, Croatia, seen on sunny day with ship sailing in the bay

18th century shipwreck discovered at ‘Game of Thrones’ filming location

Charlie Chaplin looking through icy window in The Gold Rush

Long-lost Charlie Chaplin film meticulously restored after 100 years

Black and white portrait of Albert Einstein

Einstein’s letter to Japan about atomic bomb fails to sell at auction

Newgrange burial mound on sunny day in Ireland

Incestuous ‘god-kings’ may not have ruled Stone Age Ireland after all

Archeologist digging in building foundation site

Archaeologists unearth cellar in America’s first school for enslaved children

hand holding Spanish 8 Maravedis coin close-up

17th century Spanish coin found in ‘Diamond Don’s RV Park’

Overhead shot of Viking archeological dig site

Construction workers find Viking graves linked to King ‘Bluetooth’