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Italy

How Italy Used Human Torpedoes to Attack British Ships

On December 16, 1941, the Italian navy launched a daring attack on three British ships outside Alexandria harbor

Science

New Research

Physics Reveals How to Break Spaghetti Cleanly In Two

Our collective culinary nightmare is over

View the Uffizi’s Ancient Treasures From Afar, in 3D

A new website has digitized 300 objects from the Florence gallery’s Greek and Roman collection

One-fifth of the men who presided over the Roman Empire were assassinated

Why Roman Emperors Were More Likely to Be Assassinated During Droughts

Low rainfall leads to poor harvests, starving troops, more mutinies and higher risk of regicide

Archaeologists unearthed a 14-room home, likely used by a commander of Emperor Hadrian's Praetorian Guard, back in March

Cool Finds

Construction on Rome’s Newest Subway Line Is Revealing a Trove of Ancient Treasures

Archaeologists have unearthed 2,000-year-old barracks, a military commander’s home and thousands of artifacts

These Volcanic, Italian Islands Have Been Beloved by Travelers Since Homeric Times

The Aeolian Islands have been drawing visitors, fictional and real, for centuries

Gentile de Fabriano’s gold-encrusted 1423 “Adoration of the Magi” altarpiece features Arabic script on the Virgin Mary’s and Saint Joseph’s haloes

Two Florence Museums Are Tracing the City’s 500-Year Connection to Islamic Art

The Uffizi explores East-West interactions between the 15th and 17th centuries; the Bargello features donations from 19th- and 20th-century collectors

Cool Finds

New Evidence Smashes Assumptions of Crushing Death for Pompeii Skeleton

Researchers found the intact skull of the skeleton that made headlines for being pinned beneath a giant stone block

A reporter photographs "Statue of a Victorious Youth" on display at the J. Paul Getty Museum.

The Getty Is Fighting to Keep a Rare Greek Bronze

An Italian magistrate has ordered that the statue, which was discovered in the Adriatic Sea by Italian fishermen, be returned to Italy

Theories on the painting's fate include destruction by fire, earthquake, and gnawing rats in an abandoned barn

New Clues Emerge in Search for Stolen Caravaggio

The nativity scene taken from Sicilian chapel in 1969 may have ended up in Switzerland

Cool Finds

This 4,000-Year-Old Jar Contains Italy’s Oldest Olive Oil

Traces of oleic and linoleic acid found on a central Italy jar pushes the timeline of the substance in the region back an estimated 700 years

Europe’s Oldest Known Tree Discovered in Italy

The Heldreich’s pine is 1,230 years old

Agnesi was an Italian mathematician, philosopher, theologian, and humanitarian.

Women Who Shaped History

The 18th-Century Lady Mathematician Who Loved Calculus and God

After writing a groundbreaking math textbook, Maria Agnesi quit math for good

The ‘Mona Lisa’ May Leave the Louvre for the First Time in 44 Years

France’s culture minister said she is ‘seriously considering’ sending da Vinci’s masterpiece on a tour of the country

The mummified remains of a small child that bears evidence of an ancient Hepatitis B infection.

New Research

16th-Century Child Mummy Had Oldest Known Case of Hepatitis B

Long thought to suffer from smallpox, the genome of the 500-year-old mummy shows signs of HPB

Some jewels are on display at the 'Treasures of the Mughals and the Maharajahs' exibithion, at Venice's Doge's Palace, in Venice, Italy, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2018.

Indian Jewels Swiped From Venice Museum in “Movie-Worthy” Heist

The thieves reportedly deactivated the alarm system and walked off with the goods in broad daylight

A Pizza Margherita served up by I Decumani, located on the Via dei Tribunali in Naples.

Mamma Mia!: Naples’ Pizza-Making Process Gets Unesco Heritage Status

The art of pizzaiuolo, as the craft is known, is a cherished tradition that is not easy as pie

New Research

Rare Roman Sundial Uncovered in Italy

Commissioned by a local politician, it sheds light on the relationship between Rome and its outlying territories

Two millennia after it served as a floor on a Roman emperor's ship and decades after it disappeared mysteriously, this mosaic returns to Italy

Roman Mosaic, Long Used as a Coffee Table, Returned To Italy

The mosaic hails from a “pleasure ship” built by the notorious emperor Caligula

Visitors next month will be able to tour the top tiers of Rome's Colosseum

Rome’s Colosseum Is Reopening Its Upper Tiers to Visitors

For the first time in four decades, the public will be able to enter the top levels of Rome’s amphitheater

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