France

Voltaire was enabled to become an old and famous aristocrat by his lottery winnings.

Voltaire: Enlightenment Philosopher and Lottery Scammer

The French government was trying to raise money by running a bond lottery, but a group of intellectuals had other ideas

A sneak peak inside the Louvre Abu Dhabi.

Five Things To Know About the New Louvre Abu Dhabi

It boasts an impressive rooftop, 55 buildings and a collection of more than 600 artworks—but it has been mired in controversy from the start

A poster from the Vichy period shows a disintegrating France on the left, with words like "communism" and "Jewishness" causing the foundation to crumble. On the right are the words of Pétain's France: work, family, fatherland.

Was Vichy France a Puppet Government or a Willing Nazi Collaborator?

The authoritarian government led by Marshal Pétain participated in Jewish expulsions and turned France into a quasi-police state

Pierre-Auguste Renoir's famed painting "Luncheon of the Boating Party" is the focus of a new exhibit in Washington, D.C.

Exhibit Sheds New Light on Renoir's "Luncheon of the Boating Party"

More than 130 years after it was completed, "Renoir and Friends" returns to the famed painting

A painting of Claude Monet's wife and son by friend Pierre-Auguste Renoir that he owned

The Art Monet Owned

A new exhibit looks inside the mind of this influential Impressionist through the lens of the works he collected

This 1846 map of the solar system includes Vulcan as the planet closest to the sun.

Why Everyone Went on a Wild Goose Chase Looking for the Planet Vulcan

The idea of a ninth planet in the Solar System would resolve a mathematical conundrum about Mercury–only problem is, it wasn't there

Notre-Dame Is in Desperate Need of Repairs

The archbishop of Paris has launched a fundraising campaign in the hopes of saving the historic structure

Parisian Nudists Get Designated Area to Frolic "au Naturel"

An increasing number of people in France espouse a clothing-free lifestyle

Brr.

The Father of Modern Chemistry Proved Respiration Occurred by Freezing a Guinea Pig

Where he got the guinea pig from remains a mystery

Pierre de Fermat left behind a truly tantalizing hint of a proof when he died—one that mathematicians struggled to complete for centuries.

The Romance of Fermat's Last Theorem

Fermat left a lot of theorems lying around. Mathematicians proved them all–except one

Napoleon Bonaparte was born on this day in 1769 in Corsica. As a young man at school, one instructor said that he "has always been distinguished for his application in mathematics."

Napoleon's Lifelong Interest in Science

Napoleon was a Frenchman of his time, which means he was interested in how science could do good–he just took it farther than most

Amedeo Modigliani, "Jeanne Hébuterne," 1918

Tate Modern’s Modigliani Exhibition Ventures Into Virtual Reality

The upcoming retrospective couples works by the famed modernist with the museum's first VR experience

The Louvre Pyramid was completed in 1989 and is part of the entrance to the modern Louvre art gallery.

Three Things to Know About the Louvre's History

The home of the Mona Lisa has a history that's almost 1000 years long

One of the mosaics uncovered in Sainte-Colombe

Archaeologists Discover a "Little Pompeii" in Eastern France

Fires in a Roman neighborhood in Sainte-Colombe helped preserve ancient homes, shops and artifacts

The United States's version of the Imperial system is based on an older British version.

America Has Been Struggling With the Metric System For More Than 200 Years

The United States is the one of the world's only holdouts at this point, but it could have been the first country outside of France to adopt the system

200 Objects Damaged After Lightning Sets Fire to French Museum

Three paintings on loan from the Louvre are among the destroyed works

Thousands of Mysterious Yellow "Sponges" Wash Up On French Beaches

Though experts were initially stumped, the substance has now been identified

The 1759 cannonball

Found: 200-Year-Old Cannonball From French and Indian War

Potentially still live, the incendiary device has been moved to a safe location to be neutralized

Museum Devoted to Camille Claudel, Long Overshadowed by Rodin, Opens in France

Her work has long been obscured by her dramatic personal life

Furano, Japan

12 Mesmerizing Places to Watch Flowers Bloom

Because there's no better way exalt the end of winter than with millions of tulips, poppies and roses

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