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A worker unloads pipe from a truck during construction of the southern portion of the Keystone XL pipeline.

Keystone XL Pipeline Clears Major Obstacle for Construction

The move is the latest development in the long history of the controversial pipeline

Thanksgiving in the 19th century was less Norman Rockwell, more Mardi Gras.

The First Thanksgiving Parades Were Riots

The Fantastics parades were occasions of sometimes-violent revelry

New Research

This Rock Art May Be the Earliest Depiction of Dogs

The carvings are between 8,000 and 9,000 years old and hint that the creatures may already be heading toward domestication

The image depicts the outlaw Billy the Kid, posing alongside the sheriff who later killed him.

Cool Finds

Rare Photograph of Billy the Kid Found at a Flea Market

The tintype image was purchased for $10 but might be worth millions

A vintage Thanksgiving postcard featuring pardoned turkeys.

Presidents From Lincoln to FDR Kept the Thanksgiving Tradition Going

Lincoln started the process of making it a federal holiday in 1863, crystallizing something that had been around since the days of the Pilgrims

Trending Today

In Attempt to Contact Intelligent Life, Group Sends Musical Signal Toward Planet GJ 273b

Though the chances are slim, the team hopes this latest transmission is just the first of many

A blue shark

Trending Today

Scientists Search for the Most Dangerous Places to Be a Shark

In a bid to stop the populations from dwindling, scientists are turning to big data

A mermaid eats an apple at the bottom of the (artificial) sea in this late 1940s postcard.

The Historic Tail of the Weeki Wachee Mermaids

You can even learn to “mermaid” yourself, if the fancy takes you

The marshmallows are essential, but the sweet potato is the heart of this classic dish.

How Marshmallow-Topped Sweet Potato Casserole Became a Thanksgiving Classic

Sweet potato pudding has been a part of American cuisine for a century

Born in 1888, author Raymond Chandler was best known for his detective novels.

Newly Discovered Raymond Chandler Story Skewers U.S. Healthcare System

It’s titled ‘It’s All Right – He Only Died’

A radio built in the 1930s.

How a New Accent Overturned BBC Tradition and Messed With the Nazis

A man with the name of Wilfred Pickles brought regional dialect to the BBC as part of an anti-Nazi-propaganda strategy

The Magritte Museum in Belgium contained the final piece of the Magritte puzzle.

Cool Finds

Final Piece of Hidden Magritte Masterpiece Found

X-rays have revealed the last bit of “La Pose Enchantee,” which the artist cut up and reused in the early 1930s

Leonardo da Vinci's 'Salvator Mundi'

Why Critics Are Skeptical About the Record-Smashing $450 Million da Vinci

While the sale of “Salvator Mundi” has generated a considerable amount of excitement, there are doubts about its authenticity

The formerly wobbly Millennium Bridge

New Research

What Makes Bridges Wobble? Your Awkward Walk

A new study asks: How many people does it takes to set a pedestrian bridge a-swaying?

Lawsuit Seeks “Personhood” for Three Connecticut Elephants

An animal advocacy group has filed a petition requesting that the elephants be removed from a traveling zoo

“For 20 years, everyone referred to The Dinner Party as ... ‘vaginas on plates,’” Chicago says. “Nobody called it the history of women in western civilization, which of course, is what it is.”

These Fall Exhibitions Explore the Origins of Judy Chicago’s “Dinner Party”

Brooklyn Museum and National Museum of Women in the Arts revisit the artist’s celebration of unrecognized women, female body

A voting sign from the 2008 election.

For a Few Decades in the 18th Century, Women and African-Americans Could Vote in New Jersey

Then some politicians got angry

Mary Martin as Maria von Trapp in a publicity photo for The Sound of Music, the musical that debuted on Broadway on this day in 1959.

The Real-Life Story of Maria von Trapp

“The Sound of Music” was based on the true story of her life, but it took a few liberties

A Leonid meteor in 2009

Leonid Meteor Shower Will Streak Through Skies This Weekend

Expect 10 to 25 shooting stars per hour as the planet passes through the debris of comet Tempel-Tuttle

Artists impression of Ross 128 b

Cool Finds

Earth-Sized Planet Detected Just 11 Light Years Away

Orbiting the star Ross 128, our new planetary neighbor is thought to be temperate, with days up to a balmy 68 degrees Fahrenheit

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