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The crowd stood beneath a large mistletoe installation for the world record attempt on December 13.

Thousands of Couples Gather Under the Mistletoe in Washington, D.C. to Kiss Their Way Into a New World Record

A total of 1,435 couples almost tripled the Guinness World Record for the largest number of people kissing beneath the mistletoe

Ancient ruins displayed at Colosseo-Fori Imperiali, a new subway station near the Colosseum in Rome

You Can Now See 2,000-Year-Old Thermal Baths and Military Barracks Without Ever Leaving Rome’s New Subway Stations

Two recently opened stops by the Colosseum double as museums, showcasing the ancient artifacts and ruins unearthed during their construction

Tête de femme, Pablo Picasso, 1941

Have $117 to Spend? You Could Win a Picasso Painting Worth More Than $1 Million

A moody 1941 portrait of a woman by the Spanish artist will be given to the winner of a charity raffle that’s being staged to fund Alzheimer’s research

Merriam-Webster's word of 2025 is "slop," which first appeared in the 1700s.

Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year for 2025 Is ‘Slop,’ the A.I.-Generated Junk That Fills Our Social Media Feeds

The word describes the onslaught of “digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence”

An exterior view of the famous window and balcony that robbers entered in October

Louvre Robbers Escaped With Less Than a Minute to Spare Due to Major Security Fumbles

An investigation ordered by France’s culture ministry highlighted a number of security failures that made October’s brazen heist possible

The exhibition displays full-size models of Claire Tabouret's stained-glass window designs for Notre-Dame Cathedral.

Notre-Dame Cathedral’s Controversial New Stained-Glass Window Designs Go on Display

The windows, commissioned by the French Ministry of Culture after the devastating 2019 fire, have sparked a debate about historical preservation

Owners and their golden retrievers gather in an attempt to break the world record in the Bosques de Palermo in Buenos Aires on December 8, 2025.

More Than 2,000 Golden Retrievers Gather in an Argentina Park in an Attempt to Break a World Record

The previous informal record had been set during an event in Vancouver last year, which brought together 1,685 goldens

The watch by F.P. Journe that sold for almost $11 million, including fees

Francis Ford Coppola Sells Luxury Watches for Millions Following Losses From ‘Megalopolis’

The filmmaker’s custom F.P. Journe watch, which he helped design in 2014, brought in nearly $11 million at auction

Brazilian police presence in front of the Mário de Andrade Library, where several engravings were stolen in downtown São Paulo on Sunday

Two Armed Thieves Stole Eight Matisse Prints From a São Paulo Library

A robbery at Brazil’s Mário de Andrade Library is the latest daytime heist to shake the art world

Visitors look at Library of Us, an installation by British artist Es Devlin, during Miami Art Week.

This Artist Put 2,500 of Her Favorite Books in a Massive Rotating Library on Miami Beach

The 20-foot-tall installation, titled “Library of Us,” featured titles that hold personal meaning for British artist Es Devlin—who invited visitors to sit on nearby benches and read

Tourists take pictures of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa during the Louvre's reopening following a daylight jewel heist in October.

Weeks After a Brazen Heist, the Louvre Increases Ticket Prices for Non-E.U. Visitors by 45 Percent

Officials say the fee hike will help fund a much-needed overhaul of the museum’s security systems and infrastructure

The Winter Egg was designed by Alma Pihl, one of the few female designers at the House of Fabergé. Czar Nicholas II gifted it to his mother, Maria Feodorovna, in 1913.

Fabergé Egg Gifted by Russia’s Last Czar Breaks World Record, Selling for $30.2 Million at Auction

For the third time in its history, the Winter Egg is now the most valuable Fabergé item ever sold

L’enfant et ses jouets—Gabrielle et le fils de l’artiste, Jean (The Child and His Toys—Gabrielle and the Artist’s Son, Jean), Pierre-Auguste Renoir, circa 1910

This Renoir Painting of the Artist’s Young Son Hadn’t Been Seen for 100 Years. It Just Sold at Auction for $2 Million

The rediscovered artwork, which depicts Jean Renoir with his nanny, Gabrielle Renard, had been held in private hands for many years

The Oxford University Press defines "rage bait" as "online content deliberately designed to elicit anger or outrage by being frustrating, provocative or offensive, typically posted in order to increase traffic to or engagement with a particular web page or social media account."

‘Rage Bait,’ Which Describes Online Content Created to Make Us Mad, Is Oxford’s 2025 Word of the Year

The term “has become shorthand for content designed to elicit anger by being frustrating, offensive or deliberately divisive in nature,” according to experts

Sting discusses the musical arrangement with cast members of The Last Ship in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England, in 2018.

Sting’s Musical ‘The Last Ship’ Docks at the Metropolitan Opera House More Than a Decade After Its Broadway Debut

The reimagined production follows the decline of the shipbuilding industry in Wallsend, England, where Sting grew up

An art handler stands in front of Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer by Gustav Klimt during a press preview at Sotheby's on November 7.

Watch the Record-Breaking Auction of This Gustav Klimt Portrait, Which Just Became the Second Most Expensive Painting Ever Sold

“Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer,” which played a role in protecting the life of its Jewish subject during the Holocaust, sold at Sotheby’s for a historic $236.4 million. It’s also the most expensive modern artwork ever auctioned

A group of 374 bagpipers performed in Melbourne's Federation Square.

Hundreds of Australian Bagpipers Attempt to Set World Record While Playing AC/DC

The performance of “It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock ’n’ Roll)” took place a few days before the band played its first show in Australia in a decade

 Margaret Hamilton wore the hat when she played the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz.

You Can Buy the Wicked Witch’s Hat That Actress Margaret Hamilton Wore in ‘The Wizard of Oz’

Heritage Auctions is selling several pieces of memorabilia connected to the land of Oz, including the witch’s hat from the 1939 film and a 1903 edition of the book signed by Judy Garland

Wales' National Museum in Cardiff, where an artist quietly hung an A.I.-generated work on a gallery wall in October

Artist Sneaks Framed A.I. Portrait and Accompanying Label Onto a Museum’s Gallery Wall

The artificial-intelligence-generated image hung in Wales’ National Museum in Cardiff for a few hours before staffers and museumgoers noticed its presence

Syria's National Museum reopening to visitors in Damascus on January 8

Six Ancient Roman Statues Have Been Stolen From Syria’s National Museum

The theft is a serious loss for the country’s cultural heritage, which had already sustained extensive damage during a long civil war

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