Editors' Picks
The Secret Plot to Rescue Napoleon by Submarine
In 1820, one of Britain's most notorious criminals hatched a plan to rescue the emperor from exile on the Atlantic isle of St Helena -- but did he ever try it?
Eleanor Roosevelt and the Soviet Sniper
Lyudmila Pavlichenko was a Soviet sniper credited with 309 kills—and an advocate for women's rights. On a U.S. tour in 1942, she found a friend in the first lady.
For 40 Years, This Russian Family Was Cut Off From All Human Contact, Unaware of WWII
In 1978, Soviet geologists prospecting in the wilds of Siberia discovered a family of six, lost in the taiga
The Incredible Disappearing Evangelist
Aimee Semple McPherson was an American phenomenon even before she went missing for five weeks in 1926.
June 17, 2013
| By Gilbert King
A new documentary shares the story of the 23rd unit’s daring deceptions
May 21, 2013
| By Leah Binkovitz
From prehistory to the present with many episodes in between, the region has a surprisingly meaty history of humans eating humans
April 25, 2013
| By Sarah Everts
Was the man whose assassination began World War I riding in a car destined to bring death to a series of owners?
April 22, 2013
| By Mike Dash
In 1836, three Scottish boys discovered a strange cache of miniature coffins concealed on a hillside above Edinburgh. Who put them there—and why?
April 15, 2013
| By Mike Dash
For years, the KGB secretly spied on visitors to the Hotel Viru in Estonia. A new museum reveals the fascinating time capsule and all the secrets within
April 09, 2013
| By Andrew Curry
Even before there were armchairs, voracious bookworms traveled the world just by reading
March 20, 2013
| By Tony Perrottet
A new film recreates the epic voyage—and revives the controversy over its legendary leader, Thor Heyerdahl
April 2013
| By Franz Lidz
An 1838 journey pushed back the borders of the unknown
April 2013
| By Michael Ruane
Though evidence against his theory grew, Kon-Tiki sailor Thor Heyerdahl never steered from his course
July 2002
| By Richard Conniff
Did he, and other Vikings, really use a brutal method of ritual execution called the "blood eagle"?
March 18, 2013
| By Mike Dash
Harry Selfridge, a London department store owner, may have opened the doors to more than just his retail store when he gave women a chance to power shop
March 13, 2013
| By Amy Henderson
An American whaling ship brought together an oddball crew with a dangerous mission: freeing six Irishmen from a jail in western Australia
March 12, 2013
| By Gilbert King
In 1820, one of Britain's most notorious criminals hatched a plan to rescue the emperor from exile on the Atlantic isle of St Helena -- but did he ever try it?
March 08, 2013
| By Mike Dash
Why Beethoven, Galileo, Napoleon and others never truly rested in peace
March 07, 2013
| By Marina Koren
The whaler Essex was indeed sunk by a whale—and that's only the beginning
March 01, 2013
| By Gilbert King
Lyudmila Pavlichenko was a Soviet sniper credited with 309 kills—and an advocate for women's rights. On a U.S. tour in 1942, she found a friend in the first lady.
February 21, 2013
| By Gilbert King
In 1908, a meteor exploding in mid-air released the energy equivalent to "185 Hiroshima bombs"
February 15, 2013
| By Colin Schultz
Rival towns are vying for the king’s remains and his legacy now that his skeleton has been found 500 years after his death
February 08, 2013
| By Linda Rodriguez McRobbie
The inventor's vision of a global wireless-transmission tower proved to be his undoing
February 04, 2013
| By Gilbert King
In 1978, Soviet geologists prospecting in the wilds of Siberia discovered a family of six, lost in the taiga
January 29, 2013
| By Mike Dash
In 1978, Soviet geologists prospecting in the wilds of Siberia discovered a family of six, lost in the taiga
January 28, 2013
| By Mike Dash
When was the first-ever rocket built?
February 2013
| By Jimmy Stamp
James Idle was only 19 when he became one of the earliest casualties of the First World War. But his senseless death inspired a lifetime of devotion from a 9-year-old girl who watched his funeral
January 18, 2013
| By Mike Dash
Ancient Roman pills, preserved in sealed tin containers on the seafloor, may have been used as eye medicine
January 07, 2013
| By Joseph Stromberg
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