Celebrations

The Cheerwine Festival in Salisbury, North Carolina, is just one of the many food and drink festivals taking place this spring in the American South.

Ten of the South’s Most Mouth-Watering Food Festivals

From Vidalia onions to beer cheese, the American South has culinary celebrations covered

The Watermelon Drop in Vincennes, Indiana

From Opossums to Bologna: Weird Things Cities Drop on New Year's Eve

Who needs a ball? Cities get creative on New Year's Eve by dropping objects that reflect local products and culture

A restaurant in Bishopville, S.C. markets the town’s association to the Lizard Man.

A Search for Mysteries and Monsters in Small Town America

How monster festivals became American pilgrimage sites

From glow-in-the-dark squid to the terrifying stoplight loosejaw, creatures of the deep have evolved their own living light time and time again.

Why Bioluminescence Evolved to Be Red Light, and Blue

The laws of nature constrict living light to a few hues, which also happen to be quite patriotic

Why This Year's Royal Wedding Cake Won't Be a Disgusting Fruitcake

Wedding guests of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry can have their cake – and this time they’ll want to eat it, too

Why Don't We See Fireflies in the Western U.S.?

You asked, we answered

The view of Cape Town from Robben Island, the brutal prison where Nelson Mandela was held for 18 of his 27 years as a political prisoner. Mandela would have turned 100 this July.

Ten Major Anniversaries Worth Traveling For This Year

From Austria to the Appalachian Trail, there’s plenty to celebrate this year

No public domain etchings by Jessie Traill available for this American teen.

Why Americans Missed Out on Public Domain Day (Again)

Aleister Crowley, Dorothy Parker, and René Magritte joined the public domain in 2018, but not in the United States

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

A succulent spread from Petworth-based Japanese restaurant Himitsu, one of the many D.C. vendors that will be represented at IlluminAsia.

You've Never Tasted "Street Food" Like This Before

For its grand reopening, a hub of Asian-American culture serves up a culinary wonderland

Some parents cut a cake, while others release pink or blue balloons from a box.

What Does the Gender Reveal Fad Say About Modern Pregnancy?

A new ritual speaks to anxieties surrounding the medicalization of childbearing

Visit the Real-Life Winterfell Castle for a 'Game of Thrones' Festival

Charleston, South Carolina, was founded in 1670 and is the state's oldest city. The drawing depicts it in 1860.

What Did Independence Day Mean to Southerners About to Secede?

As secession loomed, the Fourth of July took on new significance

This famous Capitol Hill painting shows the June 28, 1776 moment when the first draft of the Declaration of Independence was brought to the Second Continental Congress. Its painter, John Turnbull, was trying to capture the drama of the moment, but the painting isn't historically accurate.

Suggested Alternative Dates for Independence Day

The reason Independence Day is on July 4 isn’t very robust

A statue "is the most efficient and courteous way yet discovered of ensuring a lasting oblivion of the deceased," Joyce said in 1907. Hardly the words of someone who wanted to be remembered long after his death.

Happy Bloomsday! Too Bad James Joyce Would Have Hated This

Joyce infamously disliked the idea of being memorialized

President Truman receives a birthday cake in the Oval Office in 1951. Six years earlier, his birthday coincided with V-E Day.

No U.S. President Has Ever Died in May and Other Weird Trivia About Presidential Lives

Presidential lives are scrutinized for meaning, even when none is readily apparent

The doge's barge, called the Bucentaur, returning to Venice after the "wedding" ceremony. This painting is by eighteenth-century Venetian artist Giovanni Antonio Canal, known as Canaletto.

Venice Has Been Married to the Sea for Over a Thousand Years

Happy anniversary, you crazy kids

A quarter of the U.S. population (including a girl in Moline, Illinois) turned out for the Liberty Bell.

How the Liberty Bell Won the Great War

As it entered World War I, the United States was politically torn and financially challenged. An American icon came to the rescue

A Photographer Captures Papier-Mâché and Politics on Parade in Haiti's Jacmel

Michael Magers photographs high art and cutting cultural critiques during the annual Kanaval celebration

Beginning as a religious feast day, Saint Patrick's Day has become an international celebration of Irish heritage.

The Origins of Chicago's Green River, Shamrock Shakes and Other Surprising Trivia About St. Patrick's Day

From colonial patriots to mass-marketed milkshakes, the Irish religious holiday has morphed into a worldwide celebration

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