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History

Aerial view of construction work on the Maya Train on August 31, 2023

First Section of Mexico’s Controversial Maya Train Opens

The rail system, built to connect tourist destinations, has been criticized for endangering archaeological and environmental sites

Safety fencing at Arlington National Cemetery rings the Confederate memorial.

Federal Judge Allows Removal of Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery

The Defense Department had mandated that the monument be dismantled by January 1, 2024

This seventh-century Buddha sculpture was among the artifacts.

The Met Will Repatriate 16 Artifacts to Cambodia and Thailand

The looted objects are tied to the notorious art dealer Douglas Latchford

The 31-inch-tall tree is billed as the "humblest Christmas tree in the world."

103-Year-Old Artificial Christmas Tree Sells for Over $4,000

The tree was originally purchased for 8-year-old Dorothy Grant in 1920

Maritime archaeologists suspect the wreck is the George L. Newman.

Cool Finds

Father and Daughter Discover 152-Year-Old Shipwreck While Fishing in Green Bay

Tim and Henley Wollak found what is likely the wreck of the “George L. Newman,” which sank during the Great Peshtigo Fire of 1871

Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister in Home Alone (1990)

‘Home Alone,’ ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ and More Join the National Film Registry

Twenty-five films were chosen based on their “cultural, historic or aesthetic” importance

Italian opera singing is now among the hundreds of cultural practices officially recognized by UNESCO.

Italian Opera Singing Is Now Protected by the U.N.

UNESCO announced 55 new additions to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage

One side of the device was used to tell the date of Easter Sunday.

This Device Might Be England’s Oldest Dated Scientific Instrument

The 712-year-old artifact is a horary quadrant, a medieval tool used to tell time based on the position of the sun

At this ancient bakery, enslaved individuals and donkeys worked under bleak conditions to grind grain.

Archaeologists Discover Brutal ‘Bakery-Prison’ at Pompeii

Enslaved workers toiled for hours in a dark, cramped space to grind grain for bread

Photographs and other items connected to Florence Nightingale

These May Be the Last Photos Ever Taken of Florence Nightingale

The rare images are among a collection of artifacts connected to the “Lady with the Lamp” that recently sold at auction

Ancient baboon skulls from the site of Gabbanat el-Qurud, known as the Valley of the Monkeys

New Research

Ancient Egyptians Kept Baboons in Captivity and Mummified Their Remains

A new analysis of the animals’ skeletal remains reveals a lack of sunlight and an inadequate diet

Because St. Lucie's hull was raised and repaired, the anchor is all the remains from the 1906 wreck.

Anchor From 1906 Shipwreck Found in Florida

The steamship “St. Lucie” went down in a hurricane, killing 26 passengers on board

The iconic publicity photo was taken by an unknown photographer in 1932.

You Can Recreate the Iconic 1932 ‘Lunch Atop a Skyscraper’ Photo

Visitors will be safely strapped in as they sit atop a beam hundreds of feet above New York City

An illustration of life in medieval Cambridge

New Research

‘Bone Biographies’ Reconstruct Lives of Medieval Cambridge Commoners

Researchers have used skeletal remains to compile information about the lives of ordinary residents of the city

Norman Lear at home in Los Angeles in 1984

Norman Lear Brought Big Issues to the Small Screen

At his peak, the television icon, who died at 101, reached more than 120 million Americans with shows like “All in the Family”

Sandra Day O'Connor, Michael Arthur Worden Evans, circa 1982

Women Who Shaped History

How Sandra Day O’Connor Brought Compromise to the Supreme Court

The first woman justice to serve on the nation’s highest court died on Friday at age 93

A visitor examines artifacts from the exhibition "Crimea: Gold and Secrets of the Black Sea" at the Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam in 2014.

Hundreds of Crimean Treasures Return to Ukraine After Long Legal Battle

When Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, the artifacts were on loan to a museum in the Netherlands

A stela found at Las Capellanías, a necropolis in southern Spain, is changing conceptions around ancient gender roles. 

Cool Finds

This 3,000-Year-Old Stone Slab Found in Spain Is Upending Ideas About Ancient Gender Roles

The newly discovered stela depicts a figure with a headdress, a necklace, swords and male genitalia

The S.S. Dix was part of the "Mosquito Fleet" of vessels that ferried passengers around Puget Sound.

117-Year-Old Shipwreck Found in Puget Sound

The S.S. Dix went down while ferrying passengers between Seattle and Bainbridge Island

Flag design finalist submission F2100

See the Top Contenders for the New Minnesota State Flag

Picked from more than 2,600 submissions, the finalists pay homage to the state’s motto and nickname

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