Thousands attended the afternoon circus show in Hartford, Connecticut, on July 6, 1944. A fire broke out around 2:40 p.m., killing at least 167 people.

How a Deadly Circus Fire on the ‘Day the Clowns Cried’ Traumatized a Community—and Led to Lasting Safety Reforms

On July 6, 1944, a blaze broke out at a Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey show in Hartford, Connecticut. At least 167 people died, and hundreds were injured

Frida Kahlo in 1944

A New Museum Dedicated to Frida Kahlo’s Early Years and Family Life Is Coming to Mexico City

The Museo Casa Kahlo will be located beside the popular Museo Frida Kahlo. It will display letters, artworks and mementos that shed light on the Mexican artist’s childhood

Scientists raced to develop a specialized treatment for KJ Muldoon. 

In a Remarkable First, a Baby With a Rare Disease Receives Personalized Gene Therapy

Researchers say the CRISPR-based technique used could eventually be employed to treat more people with rare genetic diseases

Behind the scenes of "Down the Mine," the pilot episode of "Thomas & Friends"

Cool Finds

You Can Now Watch the Long-Lost Thomas the Tank Engine Pilot Episode for the First Time Ever

Created in 1983, the five-minute episode introduced the signature elements of “Thomas & Friends,” including Ringo Starr’s soothing narration and hand-crafted model trains. But for decades, it collected dust in the archives

Philadelphia children eating a "three-cent dinner" at school, featured in the 1913 book School Feeding: Its History and Practice at Home and Abroad

American Schools Have Been Feeding Children for More Than 100 Years. Here’s How the School Lunch Has Changed

A new exhibition in Philadelphia explores how nutritional science, technological advances and political debates shaped the foods on schoolchildren’s trays

E.H. Shepard illustrated a map of the Hundred Acre Wood for A.A. Milne's The World of Pooh (1957).

See the Imaginative Illustrations on the Endpapers of Children’s Books Like ‘The World of Pooh’ and ‘Blueberries for Sal’

A new exhibition celebrates the often-overlooked endpapers of more than 50 works of children’s literature ranging from the mid-20th century to the present day

Grey, Orange on Maroon, No. 8, Mark Rothko, 1960

Child Scratches Mark Rothko Painting Worth Millions While Visiting Dutch Art Museum

Artworks by the Latvian-American Abstract Expressionist have been damaged before, but repairs have added up to hundreds of thousands of dollars

A 1960s studio portrait of a baby girl wearing a pink dress

Unraveling the Colorful History of Why Girls Wear Pink and Boys Wear Blue

Children used to wear the same white dresses, regardless of gender. But clothing styles and color preferences shifted in the mid-20th century

Ella Jenkins performing circa 1980s

How ‘Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood’ Introduced the ‘First Lady of Children’s Music’ to a Large National Audience

When musician Ella Jenkins appeared on the show, she brought Black diasporic music and her signature songs to televisions across America

The family handed the scarab over to the Israel Antiquities Authority, which plans to display it in an upcoming exhibition.

Cool Finds

Toddler Discovers 3,800-Year-Old Egyptian Amulet While Hiking With Her Family in Israel

The 3-year-old picked up an ancient Canaanite scarab that dates back to the Middle Bronze Age

Newbury is the birthplace of Michael Bond, the British author who wrote the Paddington series.

Judge Reprimands Thieves in Bear Statue Heist: ‘Your Actions Were the Antithesis of Everything Paddington Stands For’

Daniel Heath and William Lawrence, a pair of 22-year-old members of the British Royal Air Force, apologized for stealing a statue of the beloved bear from a park bench

The city of Potosí rests at high altitude in Bolivia.

Can Researchers Find Remedies for the Problems Created by High-Altitude Pregnancies?

In people not adapted to life at altitude, the sparse oxygen can impair fetal growth, causing issues that can last a lifetime

After a trolley conductor accused Alice Stebbins Wells of using her husband's police badge to avoid paying for public transit, the Los Angeles Police Department allowed her to wear a more feminine uniform of her own design, along with a special “Policewoman’s Badge No. 1.”

Women Who Shaped History

Armed With Just a Badge, Los Angeles’ First Policewoman Protected the City’s Most Vulnerable in the Early 20th Century

Appointed in 1910, Alice Stebbins Wells patrolled dance halls, skating rinks, penny arcades and movie theaters, keeping these public spaces free of vice and immorality

A group photo taken at what might have been a memorial or funeral service at the Florida School for Boys in the 1950s

Based on a True Story

The Real Story Behind ‘Nickel Boys’ and the Brutal Florida Reform School That Inspired the Film

Based on a Colson Whitehead novel, the Oscar-nominated movie dramatizes the story of the Florida School for Boys, which traumatized children as young as 5 for more than a century

Though Roosevelt reportedly disliked the nickname “Teddy,” he had a soft spot for his namesake toy, bringing it to official White House functions and displaying it as part of his campaign.  

On This Day in History

Discover How President Theodore Roosevelt Inspired the World’s First Teddy Bear, Which Went on Sale on This Day in 1903

The unlikely origin story of the beloved children’s toy involves a hunting expedition in Onward, Mississippi, and a president who wanted to be a good sportsman

A recently discovered trove of Winnie-the-Pooh materials found new homes in the United States and the United Kingdom after selling at auction.

Cool Finds

Man Finds Rare Trove of Winnie-the-Pooh Drawings and Manuscripts in His Father’s Attic

The papers connected to author A.A. Milne—including original drafts, illustrations, letters, poems and corrected proofs—sold at auction for more than $118,000

A group of Englishmen toss Frisbees in 1966.

On This Day in History

An American Toy Company Produced the World’s First Frisbees, Beloved by Humans and Dogs, on This Day in 1957

The flying disc had humble beginnings but has since become an international phenomenon

A 1913 photograph of Maria Montessori

On This Day in History

How Trailblazing Teacher Maria Montessori Transformed the Realm of Children’s Education

The Italian physician and educator opened her first school in Rome on this day in 1907

Works entering the public domain include The Sound and the Fury, the first recordings of Rhapsody in Blue, Popeye, Tintin and The Broadway Melody.

Happy Public Domain Day! Popeye, ‘Rhapsody in Blue,’ ‘The Sound and the Fury’ and Thousands of Other Captivating Creations Are Finally Free for Everyone to Use

On January 1, 2025, copyrights will expire for books, films, comic strips, musical compositions and other creative works from 1929, as well as sound recordings from 1924

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The Best Books of 2024

The Best Board Games of 2024 Will Excite Players of All Ages

Whether you love cheese, wordplay, “Star Wars” or Japanese culture, this year’s list has something for everyone in what turned out to be a fantastic year for board gamers

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