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History

The YouTube watch page on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum's South Kensington location

Watch the First-Ever Video Uploaded to YouTube, a Grainy 19-Second Clip Called ‘Me at the Zoo’

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has acquired the site’s very first video, which went live on April 23, 2005

The camera, a Zeiss Ikon Baby Ikonta from the 1930s, and the newly developed images, which were likely taken in the 1950s

Cool Finds

A Man Bought a $13 Camera at a Thrift Shop—and Found 70-Year-Old Film Still Inside. Do You Recognize the Faces in the Photos?

Staffers at a photography shop in England carefully developed the negatives, which depict a ski trip in the Swiss Alps. Now, they’re searching for clues to help identify the people pictured

An ancient Egyptian collar was among the artifacts stolen from the Abbey Museum of Art and Archaeology.

Police Recover Ancient Egyptian Artifacts the Day After a Heist at a Museum in Australia

The looted items included a 2,600-year-old wooden cat figurine, a 3,300-year-old necklace and a mummy mask

Couples kissed beneath the arch for luck, according to local legend.

Couples Have Been Kissing Under the Lovers’ Arch in Italy for Years. On Valentine’s Day, It Collapsed Into the Sea

The iconic rock formation crumbled after days of raging storms. Local officials are calling for new initiatives to help slow coastal erosion in the region

Wreckage of the Lac La Belle was discovered roughly 20 miles off the coast of Wisconsin in 2022

This Luxury Steamer Disappeared on a Stormy Night in 1872. Nearly 150 Years Later to the Day, It Was Found at the Bottom of Lake Michigan

The “Lac La Belle” was discovered 20 miles off the coast of Wisconsin in 2022 after a fisherman offered shipwreck hunters a mysterious clue

A painting by Henri-Paul Motte depicts Carthaginians using elephants during the Battle of Zama in North Africa, which Rome won, ending the Second Punic War.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearthed a 2,200-Year-Old Bone. They Say It Could Be the First Direct Evidence of Hannibal’s Legendary War Elephants

The Carthaginian general famously used elephants during the Punic Wars. But until now, archaeologists had never found skeletal remains linking the animals to the conflict

The sewn hide, pictured from the front and the back, alongside another hide artifact from Cougar Mountain Cave

New Research

These 12,000-Year-Old Scraps of Elk Hide May Be the World’s Oldest Known Examples of Sewing

Indigenous groups in present-day Oregon stitched the fragments together using cord made from plant fiber and animal hair. Experts think they may have been part of a garment, bag, container or portable shelter

The 24-carat Tudor Heart is decorated with a red and white Tudor rose, a pomegranate bush, and the initials “H” and “K.”

Cool Finds

A Metal Detectorist Unearthed This Heart-Shaped Tudor Pendant. Now, the British Museum Has Raised Millions to Put It on Public Display

The only surviving piece of jewelry associated with Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon is now in the museum’s permanent collection after a months-long fundraising campaign

Once treated by humans as prey, horses became key to transportation, warfare, trade and companionship. Their history is intertwined with our own.

Gallop Into the Year of the Horse With These Five Amazing Equine Discoveries

Since their domestication, horses have changed the course of human history. It’s no wonder the Chinese zodiac associates them with prosperity and success

Researchers found the remains of ten individuals in a burial pit near Cambridge, England.

Archaeology Students Unearth an Early Medieval Burial Pit During a Training Dig in England

Likely related to clashes between the kingdoms of Mercia and East Anglia, the site included the remains of a 6-foot-5 man who had undergone brain surgery

This rare broadside copy of the Declaration of Independence will be sold in May.

America's 250th Anniversary

You Can Buy a Rare Broadside Copy of the Declaration of Independence From July 1776

The document, which will head to auction this spring, is one of roughly 125 broadsides from July 1776 known to survive

New research is providing unique insights into the love notes, drawings, jokes and political commentary scratched into the ancient city's walls.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Say They’ve Identified Traces of a 2,000-Year-Old Love Note Still Etched Into a Wall in Ancient Pompeii

Advanced imaging technology has revealed 79 new pieces of graffiti on a wall in the city’s theater district. Until now, these inscriptions had been too faint for the human eye to see

Empress Eugénie's crown was damaged as thieves attempted to remove it from its glass case on October 19, 2025.

Jewel Thieves Dropped This Crushed Crown as They Fled the Louvre. Now, the Historic Headdress Will Be Restored to Its Former Glory

The crown belonging to Empress Eugénie was found on the sidewalk after robbers made away with eight pieces of royal jewelry in October. Officials estimate that the repair will cost nearly $50,000

London's Teddy Baldock, pictured here training in 1928, became world bantamweight champion at just 19.

Masked Thieves Steal Statue of British Boxer Teddy Baldock From a London Park, Leaving Only His Boots Behind

Baldock, a former bantamweight world champion, was the only British boxer to win a world title in the 1920s. The statue had been in Langdon Park since 2014

Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy, painted by Artemisia Gentileschi circa 1625, will be on view at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. beginning in late February.

Women Who Shaped History

The National Gallery of Art Acquires 17th-Century Masterpiece by Baroque Painter Artemisia Gentileschi

“Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy” is the gallery’s first work by the Italian artist, who was one of the most influential female painters of her time

The village of Funes in northern Italy is a popular spot for tourists.

Hundreds of Tourists Flock to This Instagram-Famous Italian Church Every Day. Locals Are Pushing Back Against Visitors Who Seek the Perfect Photo ‘at All Costs’

Beginning in May, travelers visiting Santa Maddalena in the Dolomite Mountains will need to navigate road barriers and parking fees

Volunteers repairing the Cerne Abbas Giant in Dorset, England, in 2019

This Massive Hillside Figure Has Mystified Historians for Centuries. Now, Donations Have Secured the Surrounding Landscape

The National Trust has purchased the land around England’s Cerne Abbas Giant, which will help protect the mysterious chalk figure and nearby wildlife for future generations

The timbers on display in 1954

New Research

Archaeologists Are Finally Unraveling the Secrets of the Shipwreck Discovered 20 Feet Below the Streets of Manhattan

Researchers are opening a new investigation into the timbers, which may have once belonged to the “Tyger,” a Dutch trading vessel that sank in 1613

A woman's firefighting jacket and hood from 1800-50

This New Samurai Exhibition Will Challenge Your Understanding of the Japanese Warrior Class

Silk screens, women’s firefighting robes and a Darth Vader costume are among the more than 280 unexpected items that are on display at the British Museum

Archaeologists discovered a fragment of a reusable slate tablet with letters scratched into the surface.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth a Reusable School Slate Still Covered in the Scribbles of Victorian Children

The slate was found alongside other evidence of young students’ schoolwork and play at the site of a new development in London

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