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The library in the Ava Gardner Museum is filled with portraits painted by Bert Pfeiffer, who vowed to paint one of Ava every year.

The Ava Gardner Museum

What started as a childhood friend’s collection has grown into a full-fledged museum just miles from the movie star’s hometown

The winner of the 1911 Indianapolis 500 averaged about 75 mph, less than half the winning speed in today's race.

One Hundred Years of the Indy 500

A century ago, the first Indianapolis 500 race started in high excitement and ended in a muddle

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Risky Businesses

On track to take off

"We expect a fight every moment," a Confederate private reported from Virginia, where New York's 8th militia, pictured, camped.

June 1861: Anticipating the Onslaught of the Civil War

The “Races at Philippi” and Virginia is split in two and more from what happened in the Civil War in June 1861

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June Anniversaries

Momentous or Merely Memorable

Christie purchased Greenway in 1938. Years later, she recalled the spell that the estate had cast on her: "a white Georgian house of about 1780 or '90, with woods sweeping down to the Dart...the ideal house, a dream house."

Where Agatha Christie Dreamed Up Murder

The birthplace of Poirot and Marple welcomes visitors looking for clues to the best-selling novelist of all time

As a child, Agatha Christie spent countless summer weekends at Beacon Cove, at the northern edge of Torquay, a resort town in the county of Devon, in southwest England.

The Picturesque Torquay, England

The seaside town beckons vacationers and Agatha Christie pilgrims alike

Kenko had little trouble living with the idea that things were getting worse. "The most precious thing in life is its uncertainty," he wrote.

The Timeless Wisdom of Kenko

A 14th-century Japanese essayist’s advice for troubled times runs the gamut from quirky to prescient

At the base of Mount Everest sits Everest ER, a medical clinic that deals with headaches, diarrhea, upper respiratory infections, anxiety and other physical ailments daily.

Inside the ER at Mt. Everest

Dr. Luanne Freer, founder of the mountain’s emergency care center, sees hundreds of patients each climbing season at the foot of the Himalayas

Eileen Collins, the first female pilot and first female commander of a space shuttle mission, photographed by Annie Leibovitz, 1999.

Andy Warhol, Annie Leibovitz, Norman Rockwell Featured in NASA|ART

These famous artists and many others are among those with works in the Air and Space Museum’s newest art exhibit

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, lunar module pilot, walks on the surface of the Moon near the leg of the Lunar Module (LM) "Eagle" during the Apollo 11 exravehicular activity (EVA). Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, commander, took this photograph with a 70mm lunar surface camera. While astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin descended in the Lunar Module (LM) "Eagle" to explore the Sea of Tranquility region of the Moon, astronaut Michael Collins, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) "Columbia" in lunar orbit.

Events May 31-June 3: Space Race, George Ault, Mummies Sneak Peek, Meet a Scientist

The event listings for the week of May 31, 2011

The reconstructed skeleton of "Brontosaurus" from W.D. Matthew's 1915 book Dinosaurs.

Two Views on How to Make a Baby Sauropod

It took a long time—and a new understanding of sauropod lifestyles—to figure out whether they laid eggs or gave birth to live young

Mint chocolate chip ice cream

Inviting Writing: Food and Sickness

The one food I had thought to stock was a half-gallon of ice cream—mint chocolate chip—and once the nausea passed it became my sustenance for the next week

Feral cats can roam over great distances, a new study finds.

The Secret Lives of Feral Cats

Free-roaming, unowned kitties live differently from our beloved pets

Continuum, the 2011 National Design Award winner in the Product Design category, designed the air bladder fit control system for the Reebok Pump sneaker in the late 1980s, among other successful products.

National Design Award Winners Announced

The Cooper-Hewitt’s 2011 National Design Award winners are an impressive group of thinkers

Putting beer koozies to the test.

Science in the Public Interest: The Beer Koozie Test

How well do beer koozies actually work at keeping your beverage cold?

Scientists use satellite images of the kelp canopy (here, as seen from underwater) to track this important ecosystem over time.

A New View Into California’s Kelp Forests

Satellite imagery is providing new insight into an important ecosystem just off the California coast

The horns of Marsh's Bison alticornis, now recognized as those of a ceratopsian dinosaur.

When Triceratops Was a Giant Bison

The giant with the “three-horned face” was originally mistaken for a very different creature

Damai, the Zoo's newest tiger

Roar! A New Tiger Named Damai is Greeting Visitors at the Zoo

An animal keeper of cats and bears discusses the Zoo’s latest addition

Abraham Lincoln's top hat

Weekend Events May 27-30: Lincoln, Spark!Lab, Friendship Dance, Dinosaurs

Weekend Events May 27-30: May 30 is your last chance to see Abraham Lincoln, An Extraordinary Life exhibition at the Museum of American History.

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