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Mysteries

“I try not to claim that Washington definitely countenanced” the burning of New York City, says historian Benjamin L. Carp. “However, I do think the evidence is suggestive.”

Untold Stories of American History

Did George Washington Order Rebels to Burn New York City in 1776?

A new book points out that the general was happy when the city burned and expressed regret that more of it was not destroyed during the fire

An employee of the Historical Circle Kesteren at a dig in the Dutch village of Ommeren, where researchers hoped to find treasure German soldiers buried during World War II

What Happened to the Treasure Nazis Buried in This Dutch Village?

The Dutch National Archives released a map supposedly leading to the trove of jewelry, coins and precious stones in January

Between 300 and 500 pounds of uncooked pasta piled up near a creak in Old Bridge, New Jersey.

How Did 500 Pounds of Pasta End Up in the New Jersey Woods?

Since stumbling across the scene, residents of Old Bridge have been perplexed by the pasta puzzle

Researchers uncovered 50 burials dated to roughly the second century C.E.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover Ancient Necropolis Near Parisian Train Station

Residents of Lutetia buried their dead at Saint-Jacques between the first and fourth centuries C.E.

The heist seemed like a mystery that would never be solved—until a deathbed confession by a career criminal led to the recovery of almost all of the missing timepieces.

The Time Thief Who Stole 106 Rare Clocks in a Daring Heist

Authorities eventually recovered 96 of the lost timepieces, including a $30 million watch commissioned for Marie Antoinette

Richard’s life has long sparked debate, with two competing views of the last Yorkist king emerging in the centuries after his reign ended in 1485.

Based on a True Story

‘The Lost King’ Dramatizes the Search for Richard III’s Remains. The Monarch’s Life Was Even More Sensational

A new film offers a sympathetic portrait of the 15th-century ruler, who seized the crown from his nephew before dying on the battlefield

Carrie Coon (left) as Jean Cole and Keira Knightley (right) as Loretta McLaughlin in the Boston Strangler movie

Women Who Shaped History

The Tenacious Women Reporters Who Helped Expose the Boston Strangler

A new film explores Loretta McLaughlin and Jean Cole’s efforts to unmask a serial killer believed to have murdered 13 women between 1962 and 1964

Bradbury's encounter with Mr. Electrico “really started him on his quest to become a writer, which was essentially a quest to become immortal,” says Jason Aukerman.

The Sideshow Magician Who Inspired Ray Bradbury—Then Vanished

Experts have been unable to verify the existence of Mr. Electrico, whose 1932 electric chair act supposedly affirmed the young author’s interest in writing

Edward Brooke-Hitching's The Madman Gallery spotlights such artworks as John Singer Sargent's Portrait of Madame X, a statue of Glycon and Franz Xaver Messerschmidt's Character Heads.

The Most Enigmatic Works in Art History

A new book highlights 100 artistic curiosities, from the nude “Mona Lisa” to portraits of a dog-headed saint

Salvador Dalí in 1939

Did Salvador Dalí Paint This Enigmatic Artwork?

After two curators began doubting the painting’s authenticity, they made an unexpected discovery about its origins

All but seven of the letters were previously thought to be lost.

Cool Finds

Code Breakers Discover—and Decipher—Long-Lost Letters by Mary, Queen of Scots

The deposed monarch wrote the 57 encrypted messages during her captivity in England

Researchers have been studying the 37-inch-long de Brécy Tondo for decades.

Art Meets Science

Artificial Intelligence Identifies Long-Overlooked Raphael Masterpiece

A facial recognition analysis found that the faces in a mysterious painting are virtually identical to those in the artist’s “Sistine Madonna”

The 12- by 12-inch runestone dates back to between 1 and 250 C.E.

Cool Finds

‘Sensational’ Runestone Discovered in Norway May Be the World’s Oldest

The find promises to shed new light on lingering questions about runic writing’s early history

Both famous and lesser-known authors were targets of the scheme, which dates back to at least 2016.

Man Who Tried to Steal Over 1,000 Unpublished Manuscripts Pleads Guilty

A former Simon & Schuster employee used his industry knowledge to impersonate publishing professions

The five-button work pants recovered from the S.S. Central America

Cool Finds

These Pants Were Pulled From an 1857 Shipwreck. Are They the World’s Oldest Jeans?

After more than a century at the bottom of the ocean, the garment fetched $114,000 at auction

Israel isn’t the first country where fingerprints found during archaeological research have elicited curiosity and spurred questions about who left them behind.

What Fingerprints Tell Us About Jerusalem’s Ancient Artisans

In an unusual collaboration, archaeologists in Israel are working with police to analyze prints left on fifth- or sixth-century pottery shards

Benjamin J. Burton was a trailblazing entrepreneur once thought to be the wealthiest Black businessman in Rhode Island. His killing on October 6, 1885, polarized the Newport community.

A Gilded Age Tale of Murder and Money

The 1885 death of Black entrepreneur Benjamin J. Burton divided the close-knit community of Newport, Rhode Island

Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap has been running at London's West End since 1952.

Agatha Christie’s ‘The Mousetrap’ Is Coming to Broadway

After 70 years in London, the beloved murder mystery is finally heading to the Great White Way

Visitors look at a restored Rembrandt, previously dismissed as an imitation.

This ‘Crude Imitation’ of Rembrandt Is Actually the Real Deal

Researchers say that the famous artist himself painted “The Raising of the Cross”

The burial chamber of King Tut's tomb

How Howard Carter Discovered King Tut’s Golden Tomb

A hundred years after the legendary find, archival records tell the definitive story of the dig that changed the world

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