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Paradisea raggiana is one of the many images at the Galaxy of Knowledge Web site.

Life Lines

"Spirits are taking up residence in the museum; nothing is as it seem, even in this photograph," says game director John Maccabee

Get Your Game On

At the Smithsonian American Art Museum, tech-savvy players gather clues in the alternate reality game “Ghosts of a Chance”

Parade with banner showing head and shoulder portraits of Grover Cleveland, Adlai E. Stevenson and Gov. John Peter Altgeld.

Musical Mudslinging on the Campaign Trail

Before TV came on the scene, presidential candidates relied on campaign songs for negative advertising

Bonnie Erickson with Statler in 1975.

The Woman Behind Miss Piggy

Muppet designer Bonnie Erickson on puppet storytelling and inspiration

An Underwood's long-tongued bat feeds on Mucuna flowers while in flight.

Making History: Bats to the Rescue

Scientists discover insect-eating bats may help sustain forests

Vintage pop-up book.

What’s Up

Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers

Bernini’s Genius

The Baroque master animated 17th-century Rome with his astonishing sculpture and architecture

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Stephen Kinzer on “Inside Iran’s Fury”

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Jeff Wheelwright on “The Secret of San Luis Valley”

Author of "Bernini's Genius," Arthur Lubow.

Arthur Lubow on “Bernini’s Genius”

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Puzzlers

Stonehenge’s purpose and a noble fish’s demise

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October Anniversaries

Momentous or Merely Memorable

Carved sarsens-enormous blocks of hard sandstone-were used to build the towering trilithons that dominate the landscape of Salisbury Plain in southern England. But archaeologists Timothy Darvill and Geoffrey Wainwright believe the smaller so-called bluestones hold the key to unraveling Stonehenge's mystery.

New Light on Stonehenge

The first dig in 44 years inside the stone circle changed our view of why—and even when—the monument was built

At age 107, Frank Buckles proudly wears the French Legion of Honor medal, one of many honors to have come his way lately.

World War I: 100 Years Later

The Last Doughboy of World War I

Frank Buckles lied about his age to serve in World War I

An undated rendering of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address

Ted Sorensen on Abraham Lincoln: A Man of His Words

Kennedy advisor Ted Sorensen found that of all the U.S. presidents, Lincoln had the best speechwriter—himself

"We, The Delaware Boat Veterans, take as our solemn duty before our Creator to make known the truth concerning the Presidential candidate who calls himself George Washington."

Swiftboating George Washington

For politicians, it’s the same olde, same olde story

Meals were delivered to the inmates and they ate in their cells. Food carts ran on tracks along the catwalks in the two story cellblocks.

Eastern State Penitentiary: A Prison With a Past

Philadelphia set the stage for prison reform not only in Pennsylvania, but also the world over

"The lost synagogue" at Eastern State Penitentiary.

The Synagogue at Eastern State Penitentiary

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Given the “Green Light” to Create

Sarah Muehlbauer began sewing coaster-sized circles of wax paper together in her textile design course at the University of Wisconsin-Madison

The toothache tree of North America, Zanthoxylum clava-herculis

Chinese Spices Hijack Your Taste Buds

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