William Gillette's lost Sherlock Holmes film was an unsolved mystery—until now.

Cool Finds

Mystery Solved: Footage From a Long-Lost Silent Sherlock Holmes Is Found

William Gillette is responsible for how we see Sherlock Holmes—but the loss of his single silent film was an unsolved mystery

Cool Finds

Evidence of a Seating Plan Discovered at the Colosseum

Restoration efforts reveal the red-painted numbers that would help ancient Romans find their status-dictated seats

A stone relief carving of soldiers made in Assyria and now in the British Museum.

New Research

Ancient Assyrian Soldiers Were Haunted by War, Too

A new study finds evidence of trauma experienced by soldiers returning home from combat over 3,000 years ago

Charles Darwin statue at London’s Natural History Museum

Cool Finds

Darwin May Have Experienced Extreme Anxiety

Many attempts have been made to diagnose Darwin’s illness, here’s a well-argued possibility

Cool Finds

How to Mind Your Manners at Silent Movies

Vintage slides give an etiquette lesson to obnoxious silent movie audiences

Turing's journal was kept while he helped build the Bombe Machine, a device used to encrypt Nazi codes.

Cool Finds

Turing’s Secret Notebook Is Up for Auction

The notebooks offer a glimpse into the mind of a codebreaker

Trending Today

King Tut’s Beard Fell Off…And Was Glued Back on With Epoxy

Clumsy curators won’t admit who’s behind the irreparable repair

A fragment from a copy of the Gospel of John, circa 200AD, is displayed at Sotheby's auctioneers in London. Researchers now claim to have found a gospel text that is over 100 years older.

Trending Today

Papyrus Found in a Mummy Mask May Be the Oldest Known Copy of a Gospel

Questions surround the reported discovery of an ancient scrap of the Gospel of Mark

George Washington by Charles Willson Peale

Trending Today

The First State of the Union Address: Way Shorter, Way Less Clapping

In his First Annual Message to Congress, George Washington outlined the country’s most pressing issues and kicked off a flexible annual tradition

The ancient artifact was found in a field and used as a doorstop for years before being identified as a rare ceremonial dirk.

Cool Finds

This 3,500-Year-Old Dagger Made a Really Great Doorstop

One man’s doorstop is another man’s rare, ancient artifact

Le Grand Baigneur (The Large Bather) by Paul Cezanne illustrates the kind of bathing suit that inspired the creation of the modern brief.

Cool Finds

Tighty-Whities First Hit the Market More Than 80 Years Ago

Even a blizzard couldn’t dampen the excitement from the release of the first pair of men’s briefs in 1935

Cool Finds

Beavers Once Parachuted into Idaho’s Backcountry

Strange things can happen when you combine WWII military surplus, innovative thinking and a bunch of beavers in need of a new home

Cool Finds

Read Through Early Drafts of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Speeches

One website gives you a peek into the mind of one of America’s most powerful orators

Cangrande della Scalla was one of the most respected warriors of his day.

Cool Finds

Mummy Feces Solve the Mystery of How Verona’s Most Powerful Man Died

Digging deep for the secret behind a medieval warlord’s mysterious death

Bayard Holmes as a medical student

Cool Finds

Two Men Tried To Cure Schizophrenia by Removing Their Patients’ Intestines

Bayard Holmes and Henry Cotton were separated by a generation, but both thought that mental illness arose from toxins produced within the body

Cool Finds

How a Single Penny Became Worth More Than $2 Million

Fifteen years ago, few would pay $1 million for a coin—no matter how rare. That’s changing.

Hattie Wyatt Caraway on November 6, 1942.

Cool Finds

On This Day in 1932, America Elected Its First Female Senator

This year, a record number of women are serving in Congress; Hattie Wyatt Caraway was the first ever in the Senate

Harvey W. Wiley and his Poison Squad in 1902

Early Food Safety Workers Tested Poisons by Eating Them

They were hailed as heroes and even had a song

The soaring choir at Beauvais Cathedral was first constructed in the 1200s.

New Research

Europe’s Great Gothic Cathedrals Weren’t Built Just of Concrete

The designers and builders of Europe’s great Gothic cathedrals weren’t actually so innovative

Cattle graze on the open range in this shot from ca. 1920-1930.

Cool Finds

The 1887 Blizzard That Changed the American Frontier Forever

A blizzard hit the western open range, causing the “Great Die Up” and transforming America’s agricultural history

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