Mysteries

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.

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

The titular "Dial of Destiny" in the new Indiana Jones film is based on the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient device used to chart the cosmos.

The Real History Behind the Archimedes Dial in 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny'

A device called the Antikythera mechanism is the true-life basis for the object at the center of the franchise’s latest installment

“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.”

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.

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.

'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

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.

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.

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.

'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

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

Page 5 of 12