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Tutored in several European languages for hours on end and strapped to a steel rod for posture, Consuelo Vanderbilt's childhood was anything but easy.

Could You Have Endured Consuelo Vanderbilt's Upbringing? (4:30)

Just outside North Carolina's Outer Banks is Roanoke Island, the scene of one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in U.S. history: the disappearance of an entire colony of English settlers.

The Colonial Settlement That Vanished Into Thin Air (2:10)

Is a kiss really just a kiss? In this one-minute video, our Ask Smithsonian Host, Eric Schulze, explains why we pucker up.

Ask Smithsonian: Why Do We Kiss? (1:11)

Thousands of massive stone monuments, known as Moai, preside over Easter Island. The way they were carved, using only stone tools, seems unfathomable.

How Were Easter Island's Gigantic Statues Actually Carved? (4:11)