New Research

How the Silk Road Created the Modern Apple

A genetic study shows how wild Kazakhstan apples dispersed by traders combined with other wild species to create today’s popular fruit

Workers use a crane to lift the monument dedicated to U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Brooke Taney from outside Maryland State House, in Annapolis, Maryland, early Friday morning.

Statue of Roger B. Taney Removed From Maryland State House

Taney, the fifth chief justice of the Supreme Court, wrote the majority opinion in the infamous Dred Scott case

Shakespeare wrote 'Macbeth,' which features three witches, during James I's reign, which also was the time of some of England's most famous witch trials.

England’s Witch Trials Were Lawful

It might seem like collective madness today, but the mechanisms for trying witches in England were enshrined in law

Happy National Soft Serve Day!

The Science of Soft Serve

It’s just like regular ice cream–with a few big differences

Artists view of Greenwich Palace

Cool Finds

Part of Henry VIII’s Birthplace Discovered

Workers uncovered two rooms of Greenwich Palace while building a visitors center at the Old Royal Naval College in London

WWII veteran Marvin Strombo, right, and Tatsuya Yasue, an 89-year-old farmer, left, hold a Japanese flag with autographed messages that belonged to Yasue's brother Sadao Yasue, who was killed in the Pacific during World War II.

U.S. Veteran Returns Flag to Family of Dead Japanese Soldier

Marvin Strombo took the flag from the body of Sadao Yasue during the Battle of Saipan, but promised that he would one day return it

Campers near Chaco Canyon, N.M., gather together and look to the east to watch the sun rise on August 17, 1987, as part of the harmonic convergence.

Trending Today

Thirty Years Ago, People Tried to Save the World By Meditating

Believers in the Harmonic Convergence traveled to places like Chaco Canyon and Stonehenge to welcome aliens, the resurrected Maya and wait for world peace

Bishop's long-lasting lipstick was advertised as "kissable."

Chemist Hazel Bishop’s Lipstick Wars

Bishop said her advantage in coming up with cosmetics was that, unlike male chemists, she actually used them

Pierre de Fermat left behind a truly tantalizing hint of a proof when he died—one that mathematicians struggled to complete for centuries.

The Romance of Fermat’s Last Theorem

Fermat left a lot of theorems lying around. Mathematicians proved them all–except one

Carthaginian general Hannibal is legendary for bringing tens of thousands of soldiers, cavalrymen, and thousands of horses, mules and African elephants through the Alps during the Second Punic War.

New Research

Silver Composition in Coins Confirms the Story of the Rise of Rome

Lead isotopes in Roman coins reveal the defeat of Carthage financed Rome’s expansion throughout the Mediterranean

Workers remove the Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson monument in Wyman Park early Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017.

Baltimore Quietly Removes Four Confederate Monuments

Mayor Catherine Pugh said the statues “needed to come down”

The replica bones and teeth in place

Once Plundered by Thieves, Ancient Cave Reopens with 3-D Replicas of Stolen Fossils

It took multiple attempts—and two broken printers—to get the recreations right

Napoleon Bonaparte was born on this day in 1769 in Corsica. As a young man at school, one instructor said that he "has always been distinguished for his application in mathematics."

Napoleon’s Lifelong Interest in Science

Napoleon was a Frenchman of his time, which means he was interested in how science could do good–he just took it farther than most

Thanks to Disney, this story is so ubiquitous that 'Bambi' is a common shorthand for 'baby deer.'

If You Think ‘Bambi’ Seems Too Mature For Kids, You’re Not Wrong

The popular novel was even a Book-of-the-Month Club selection

Florence Harding put up with a lot during her life, including Warren G. Harding's constant philandering.

Florence Harding, Not Eleanor Roosevelt, May Have Created the Modern First Lady

She did things her own way, and helped to set a precedent for the First Ladies who followed her

Big Ben to Fall Silent During Four-Year Renovation Project

It is the longest time that Big Ben has been paused during its 157-year history

The Fruitcake.

Trending Today

Untouched, Century-Old Fruitcake Found In Antarctica

Even generations of penguins refused to touch the concoction believed to have been brought south by the Terra Nova Expedition

Winston Churchill and FDR aboard the HMS 'Prince of Wales,' Churchill's ship, when the Atlantic Charter was released.

Months Before Pearl Harbor, Churchill and Roosevelt Held a Secret Meeting of Alliance

The two leaders met in a warship off the coast of northern Canada to talk strategy

Still image from "Don't Be a Sucker," first released by U.S. War Department in 1943.

WWII Anti-Fascist Film Goes Viral After Charlottesville

“Don’t Be A Sucker,” which was released in 1943, urged viewers to take a stand against divisive, prejudicial rhetoric

Casey stands at bat in a 1912 illustrated version of the poem.

‘Casey at the Bat’ Leaves a Lot of Unanswered Questions

Was there a Casey? Where did he strike out? Does it really matter?

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