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Jeweler Harry Winston donated the famous Hope Diamond—the largest-known deep blue diamond in the world—to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958. It arrived in a plain brown package by registered mail, insured for one million dollars. Surrounded by 16 white pear-shaped and cushion-cut diamonds and hanging from a chain with 45 diamonds, the rare gem attracts 6 million visitors a year to the Natural History Museum.

Diamonds Unearthed

In the final installment of this three-part series, diamond expert Jeffrey Post discusses the histories behind the Smithsonian collection

A late-19th-century sled fashioned from eight buffalo ribs—as simple, utilitarian and elegant as a Shaker chair—was made by members of South Dakota’s Lakota Sioux tribe.

Was a Native American Actress the Inspiration for the Enigmatic Sled in ‘Citizen Kane’?

A sled in the Smithsonian collections just might provide a clue to Hollywood’s most celebrated symbol

"Baltimore had once been a cosmopolitan jewel," writes Frank Deford.

Bleeve It, Hon

The tentative city the sportswriter grew up in has regained a bit of swagger

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Mixing Terrorism and Tourism

In this Q & A, Josh Hammer, author of “Peace at Last?,” discusses the change from war reporting to travel reporting

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Travelin’ Man

Nailing stories from Timbuktu to the Basque Country

Tony Hillerman

Tony Hillerman’s Mile-High Multiculturalism

Creator of savvy Native American sleuths, author Tony Hillerman cherished his Southwestern high desert home

Seemingly dreamed up by Dr. Seuss, Mount Erebus' improbable ice towers form around steaming vents, growing up to 60 feet before collapsing.

Antarctica Erupts!

A trip to Mount Erebus yields a rare, close-up look at one of the world’s weirdest geological marvels

Griswold has reported from the Middle East, West and East Africa and South and Southeast Asia.

An interview with Eliza Griswold, author of “Waging Peace in the Philippines”

Eliza Griswold discusses the U.S. approach on Jolo and applying these lessons to Iraq and Afghanistan

Stolen in 1990 from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, "Christ in the Storm on the Lake of Galille" has not been recovered. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Rembrandt at 400

Astonishing brushwork, wrinkles-and-all honesty, deep compassion. What’s the secret of his enduring genius?

An Almost Mystical Feeling

Master painter Rembrandt was also a talented draftsman and printmaker

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Man of the Century

But 100 years after writing his classic memoir, the question about Henry Adams remains: Which century?

"In his writing," Theroux says, E.B. White (shown on his Maine farm circa 1970) "is the kindest and most rational observer of the world."

Living With Geese

Novelist and gozzard Paul Theroux ruminates about avian misconceptions, anthropomorphism and March of the Penguins as “a travesty of science”

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Last Page: Going Up?

Some brushes with fame are more uplifting than others

An Interview with Stephanie Dickey, author of “Rembrandt at 400”

Stephanie Dickey discusses Rembrandt’s ambition and what it was like to see the paintings in person

"A resilient person is performing competently while in the midst of adversity," says Stuart Hauser, author of Out of the Woods: Tales of Resilient Teens.

Extraordinary Resilience

Psychiatrist Stuart Hauser answers questions about his new book, Out of the Woods, which chronicles four emotionally disturbed teenagers

Preservationists (including Allimam Achahi, far left, and Abdel Kader Haidara) are trying to rescue the city's rare manuscripts from centuries of neglect. "They must be protected," says Haidara.

The Treasures of Timbuktu

Scholars in the fabled African city, once a great center of learning and trade, are racing to save a still emerging cache of ancient manuscripts

After his son David located the Arabia under 30 feet of mud, Bob Hawley (pictured) dug in.

Pay Dirt

When self-taught archaeologists dug up an 1850s steamboat, they brought to light a slice of American life

These whale-oil lamps were found in the Arabia, along with bullwhips, doorknobs, pickles and more.

Time Capsule

A riverboat’s telltale contents included 133-year-old pickles. Want one?

Though concerned about terrorism, Amirah Ali Lidasan (in Cotabato City) of the Moro-Christian People's Alliance, opposes U.S. aid, saying it undercuts Philippine sovereignty.

Waging Peace in the Philippines

With innovative tactics, U.S. forces make headway in the “war on terror”

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December Anniversaries

Momentous or Merely Memorable

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