Tycho Brahe was extremely wealthy and lived an unusual life that included a pet moose.

Astronomer and Alchemist Tycho Brahe Died Full of Gold

The shiny element was important to Renaissance scientists. Very important

This Christmas, St. Peter's Square has a tree, a nativity scene and a message about refugees.

Trending Today

Pope’s New Nativity Scene Raises Awareness of Worldwide Refugee Crisis

It’s a lavish display complete with a plea for racial tolerance

An ancient grape seed found at the Lake Hula site

New Research

The Paleo Diet May Need a Rewrite, Ancient Humans Feasted on a Wide Variety of Plants

Archaeologists in Israel have counted 55 species of plant foods a an early hominid site on Lake Hula

Ellen Willis in upstate New York in 1970

One of the First Female Rock Critics Battled Sexism and Obscurity To Document the 1970s

Willis was The New Yorker’s first pop music critic, but to her, everything was open for criticism

Graves of Franklin Expedition members on Beechey Island

New Research

Thumbnail Reveals the Final Days of Franklin Expedition Explorer

A synchrotron micro-x-ray sheds new light on the cause that led to one crew member’s death

Now more of the Princeton Battlefield, where Washington and his troops scored a pivotal victory, will be preserved.

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Preservationists Score Victory at Revolutionary War Battlefield

Most of the Princeton battlefield where Washington’s troops fought will be saved from development

People Have Spent Years Trying to Diagnose Mary Todd Lincoln From Beyond the Grave

Abraham Lincoln’s wife has been called a “wildcat,” “menstrual” and “bipolar” among other things

Men smoke pipes and drink on the London streets. Booth's police notebooks reveal the everyday habits of Londoners.

Cool Finds

Explore the Seedy Reality of a London Long Gone

Charles Booth explored the poorest parts of England’s capital—and changed the way social scientists think about the world

This Egon Schiele painting, Portrait of Wally, was looted during World War II and became the subject of a multimillion-dollar lawsuit in the 2000s after it was exhibited in New York.

Trending Today

Reclaiming Nazi-Looted Art Is About to Get Easier

HEAR Act removes legal loopholes that prevented victims of Nazi art plunder to restore what’s rightfully theirs

Robert Noyce (left) and Intel co-founder Gordon Moore in from of the Intel SC1 building in Santa Clara, 1970.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Silicon Valley Owes Its Success To This Tech Genius You’ve Never Heard Of

Robert Noyce was one of the founders of Silicon Valley

A panoramic map of the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, MO.

Cool Finds

The Library of Congress Is Putting Its Map Collection on the Map

A new partnership with the Digital Public Library of America will put three major LOC map collections online

Williams is perhaps best known for his iconic Theme Building, a space-age structure at Los Angeles International Airport.

Trending Today

Why You Should Know Trailblazing Architect Paul Revere Williams

Almost four decades after his death, the African-American architect whose work came to define Los Angeles gets his due

A postcard of the Motel Inn, circa 1940s.

The World’s First Motel Was a Luxury Establishment, Not a Dive

The first motel was supposed to turn into a chain, but it was quickly overtaken by cheaper competitors.

Jasper Forest, a part of Petrified Forest National Park.

Another Weird Facet of America’s Strangest National Park: The Conscience Pile

People mail stolen rocks back to Petrified Forest National Park, but they can’t be returned to their original sites

It isn't pretty, but it made history.

Cool Finds

Someone Paid $46,000 for a Bunch of Mold

Its discovery was an accident, but this scientific sample changed the course of medicine forever

A Standard Stations filling station in California, circa 1939.

Leaded Gas Was a Known Poison the Day It Was Invented

For most of the mid-twentieth century, lead gasoline was considered normal. But lead is a poison, and burning it has had dire consequences

Canada will have plenty of time to get used to Viola Desmond—she'll soon be on the country's $10 bills.

Canada

Canada Will Put Another Woman on Its Currency

An early civil rights heroine makes history (again)

Jeanette Rankin, pictured here in 1917, was the first woman elected to Congress and the only person to cast a vote against entering World War II.

Only One Person Voted Against the United States Entering World War II

Congresswoman Jeanette Rankin’s dedication to pacifism sprang from her personal brand of feminism

Wikipedia has a woman problem—that women themselves can tackle.

Trending Today

Help the BBC Close Wikipedia’s Gender Gap

The Beeb’s hosting an edit-a-thon to improve the online encylopedia’s coverage of women

Cool Finds

The Ancient Origins of Apple Cider

The classic fall drink has a boozy history going back thousands of years

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