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Cool Finds

Jude Sparks and his ancient find

Nine-Year-Old Accidentally Discovers a Stegomastodon Fossil in New Mexico

Jude Sparks was hiking in the desert when he tripped over the ancient creature’s skull

The 1759 cannonball

Cool Finds

Found: 200-Year-Old Cannonball From French and Indian War

Potentially still live, the incendiary device has been moved to a safe location to be neutralized

The hilt of Robert Gould Shaw's sword

Cool Finds

Civil War Hero’s Long-Lost Sword Was Hiding in an Attic

Union Colonel Robert Gould Shaw led the legendary 54th Massachusetts Regiment, one of the first official black military units in the United States

The flea-market Enigma machine

Cool Finds

WWII Enigma Machine Found at Flea Market Sells for $51,000

The legendary coding machine was first unearthed by a mathematician with a careful eye who purchased it for roughly $114

One of the tablets found at the fort

Cool Finds

Cache of Roman Messages Found Near Hadrian’s Wall

The 25 well-preserved wooden tablets include a soldier’s request for time off

The Lenox Madeira

Cool Finds

New Jersey Museum Discovers Stash of Madeira from 1796

Liberty Hall Museum owns the wine and will decide if anyone will be allowed to sample the Revolutionary libation

The Declaration of Independence in its first known newspaper printing on July 6, 1776.

Watch How (Slowly) News of the Declaration of Independence Spread in Real Time

Before social media, TV, radio and even telegraphs, news of America’s independence took a long time to reach some Americans

The pale tiger found in Tamil Nadu

Cool Finds

Stunning Images Capture Rare Pale Tiger in India

An unusual genetic combination likely led to the creature’s exceptionally light coloration

This familiar landscape is always in flux.

Cool Finds

Surf Through Newly Digitized Images to See Rome’s Ever-Changing History

The Eternal City is always evolving. Now, a new web resource shows how

This dwelling housed resistance to Mexico City's new Spanish conquerors.

Cool Finds

Mexico City Dig Uncovers Traces of Aztec Resistance to Spain

For residents of Tenochtitlan, rebellion didn’t just happen on the battlefield

The hearth Hemings may have warmed herself by in Monticello's south wing.

Cool Finds

Sally Hemings Gets Her Own Room at Monticello

A renovation at Thomas Jefferson’s estate will give the slave he likely fathered at least six children with a display in what may have been her quarters

This 1540 painting by Titian has had 11 owners.

Cool Finds

New Website Tracks Paintings Provenance from Brush to Gallery Wall

Mapping Paintings makes it easier to figure out an artwork’s chain of ownership

The Huey Tzompantli

Cool Finds

Aztec “Skull Tower” Contains Remains of Women and Children

The tzompantli were once believed to only contain the skulls of conquered male warriors

Once Upon a Place brings phone booths back to Times Square to tell immigrant stories.

Cool Finds

Phone Booths Are Back in Times Square—And This Time, They’re Telling Immigrant Stories

Once Upon a Place features the oral histories of 70 immigrants

The statues and carvings from Gobekli Tepe were found with fragments of carved skull from thousands of years ago.

New Research

Unprecedented Carved Skulls Discovered at a Stone Age Temple in Turkey

Three carved skull fragments from Gobekli Tepe offer tantalizing hints about the lives of Neolithic people

The ledger will now be stored in the Albany County Hall of Records, shown here.

Cool Finds

Rare Colonial Court Documents Found on eBay

Thanks to a historian’s spidey sense, they’re now housed in a New York archive

Drone image of Shelly Island

Cool Finds

There’s a New Island Off the Coast of North Carolina

“Shelly Island” is a mile long and 300 yards wide, but it’s hard to say how long it’ll be around

Behold, ALMA's image of Betelgeuse

New Research

Detailed Images of a Distant Star Hold Clues to Its Ultimate Fate

Sitting some 640 light years from our planet, the star Betelgeuse is on the verge of supernova

The big tree being prepared for its move in Boise, Idaho.

Cool Finds

Watch a 100-foot-tall Giant Sequoia Get Transplanted in Boise

A gift from John Muir, the beloved tree was transferred to a local park by St. Luke’s Medical Center so the facility can expand

Marvel at the sky from the sky with a special chartered flight.

Cool Finds

Chase August’s Solar Eclipse Aboard This Special Flight

Alaska Airlines will give away one coveted seat on the chartered flight

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