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Mysteries

The object was found by metal detectorists in Norfolk, England.

Cool Finds

This 1,200-Year-Old Artifact Is Stunning—but Nobody Knows What It Is

The intricately decorated silver object was likely created by a highly skilled craftsperson in England

An illustration of Nanotyrannus attacking a juvenile T. rex

Decades-Long Debate on ‘Teenage’ Tyrannosaur Fossils Takes Another Turn

A new paper adds to evidence suggesting a group of disputed fossils, identified by many scientists as young T. rex, are actually another species

Volunteers repairing and refreshing the 180-foot-tall giant in 2019

New Research

This Mysterious Hillside Carving Is Actually Hercules, Researchers Say

England’s 180-foot-tall Cerne Abbas Giant may have served as a landmark for gathering troops

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

The full title of the painting by Clara Peeters is Still life of roses, carnations, tulips, narcissi, irises, love-in-a-mist, larkspur, and other flowers, in a wicker basket, with a butterfly and a cricket.

See the Rediscovered Still Life by Forgotten 17th-Century Master Clara Peeters

The painting by the influential Flemish artist could sell for as much as $883,000 at auction

The charcoal drawings in a secret room under the Medici Chapels Museum in Florence

Did Michelangelo Sketch These Drawings in a Secret Room Below a Florence Chapel?

For the first time, visitors will get to see the intricate sketches that some scholars attribute to the artist

Jean Fouquet's Melun Diptych features two panels, Étienne Chevalier with Saint Stephen on the left, and Virgin and Child Surrounded by Angels on the right.

New Research

Mysterious Stone in 15th-Century Painting Could Be a Prehistoric Tool

Jean Fouquet’s “Melun Diptych” is likely the earliest artistic representation of an Acheulean hand ax

Children Wading (1918), painted by Scottish artist Robert Gemmell Hutchison, was recovered thanks to the Art Loss Register's database.

A Painting Stolen in a Heist 30 Years Ago Has Returned to Glasgow

After vanishing without a trace in 1989, “Children Wading” appeared at an auction house in England

Merchandise inside Banksy's London pop-up, Gross Domestic Product, which the artist created in an attempt to hold onto his trademark during ongoing legal battles with the greeting card company Full Colour Black.

Could This Lawsuit Expose Banksy’s Identity?

The legal battle between the street artist and a greeting card company has been unfolding for several years

John F. Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy ride the presidential limousine through the streets of Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Texas Governor John B. Connally Jr. is seated in front of them.

History of Now

Ex-Secret Service Agent’s Account of JFK’s Assassination Could Cast Doubt on ‘Lone Gunman’ Theory

Paul Landis’ new book refutes the idea that a single bullet injured both the president and Texas Governor John B. Connally Jr.

An aerial view of the dig site at Tel Shimron

Cool Finds

Mysterious 3,800-Year-Old Canaanite Arch and Stairway Unearthed in Israel

Researchers don’t know the purpose of the brick arch, which leads to a set of stairs descending deeper underground

Arthur Brand poses with The Parsonage Garden at Nuenen in Spring, painted by Vincent van Gogh in 1884.

Cool Finds

Stolen van Gogh Painting Worth Millions Returned in an Ikea Bag

Arthur Brand, the “Indiana Jones of the art world,” negotiated the recovery of an 1884 canvas taken from a Dutch museum in March 2020

Scientists came across the golden orb while exploring the seafloor of the Gulf of Alaska with a remotely operated vehicle on August 30.

What Is This Mysterious Golden Orb Scientists Found on the Ocean Floor?

After bringing the four-inch-diameter blob to the surface, researchers still only know that it is “biological in origin”

The wheel of the Trinidad, which sank off the coast of Wisconsin in Lake Michigan in 1881

Cool Finds

Historians Discover ‘Remarkably Intact’ Shipwreck, Undisturbed Beneath Lake Michigan for 142 Years

Built for cross-lake grain trade, the poorly maintained schooner met its watery end in 1881

West Point officials opened the time capsule in a much-hyped livestreamed ceremony.

Cool Finds

A Time Capsule Opened Live on Stage Was Empty. Later, Treasures Emerged From the Silt

Found at West Point, the 200-year-old box concealed six silver coins and a medal

The silver denarius weighs 0.08 ounces (2.4 grams) and is one of the only coins of its kind found in Bremen.

Cool Finds

Boy Playing in Sandbox Finds 1,800-Year-Old Roman Coin

The rare silver denarius was minted during the rule of Marcus Aurelius (161-180 C.E.)

Boston artist Peter Stephenson completed The Wounded Indian in 1850.

‘Wounded Indian’ Sculpture Will Return to Boston—Decades After It Was Supposedly Destroyed

The piece was rediscovered in 1999 at a Virginia museum, which has finally agreed to hand it over

Though historians today generally agree that Harding died of natural causes, suspicions to the contrary lingered for decades.

Why President Warren G. Harding’s Sudden Death Sparked Rumors of Murder and Suicide

The commander in chief’s unexpected death in office 100 years ago fueled decades of conspiracy theories but was most likely the result of a heart attack

The secretive street artist Banksy painted this graffiti mural in London in 2008.

Cool Finds

Is This a Recording of Banksy’s Voice?

A new podcast claims to have unearthed a short interview with the artist that aired on NPR in 2005

An illustration of William Morgan's abduction

The Masonic Murder That Inspired the First Third Party in American Politics

Public outcry over whistleblower William Morgan’s disappearance gave rise to the Anti-Masonic Party, which nominated a candidate for president in 1832

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