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Archive Of Wonder

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When polar bears like this mom and cub wander into Churchill, a small town in a remote northern corner of Canada, they might just end up in "polar bear jail."
science

7 Unbelievable Environmental Stories from Every Continent

An around-the-world tour for Earth Day.
April White April 19, 2024
An adaptation of Banksy’s “Flower Bomber,” this image shows a librarian throwing Margaret Atwood’s <em>The Handmaid's Tale.</em>
libraries

6 Badass Librarians Who Changed History

They will not be shushed.
April White April 5, 2024
The Easter egg tree custom, pictured here in Saalfeld, Germany, has gained some ground in the United States.
graveyards

7 Unexpected Easter Traditions

Why hide eggs when you can hang them on a tree?
April White March 22, 2024
Math and dessert are a match made in heaven.
mathematics

Celebrate Pi Day With These Mathematical Tales

Plus pie recipes, of course.
April White March 8, 2024
A Victorian-era sitter is clamped into position using a metal frame before having his portrait taken.
vampires

7 Crazy True Stories About the Victorian Era

Plus three that are, sadly, just myths.
April White February 23, 2024
Forget the Mahomes and Purdy. There's a whole world of unexpected sports champions out there—such as unicyclist Eli Brill.
sports

12 Amazing Athletic Competitions You Should Be Watching

Plus: More than 100 offbeat destinations for sports fans who can't make it to the big game.
April White February 7, 2024
dinosaurs

As the Year of the Dragon Looms, We See Dragons Everywhere

This Lunar New Year welcomes the Wood Dragon, but these mythic animals never go out of style.
Gemma Tarlach January 29, 2024
Punxsutawney Phil has predicted a longer winter nearly every Groundhog Day.
holiday

A Primer on Both Groundhogs and Hedgehogs

Just in time for their moment in the sun (or not).
April White January 26, 2024
Social campaigners of the 1920s tried to make mocktails glamorous, but today Prohibition is primarily remembered as the era of speakeasies and bootleggers.
poison

7 Wild Stories From the Prohibition Era

The 18th Amendment had some unexpected side effects, from alcohol prescriptions to the rise of NASCAR.
April White January 12, 2024
Swimmers on Coney Island prepare for a plunge on January 1, 1914.
cars

7 Surprising Traditions to Celebrate the New Year

Welcome 2024 with a (lemon) pig or a polar bear (plunge).
April White December 29, 2023
There's a lot about air travel we just don't think about. For instance, why are the seat belts like this?
games

9 Surprising Stories About Air Travel (In Case You're Delayed)

Why are airplane seat belts so weird? And how many words can you make from airport codes?
April White December 15, 2023
The floating Christmas market in Leiden, Netherlands.
architecture

6 Surprising Stories About Shopping

What you really need this store-hopping season are tales about the “Aisle of Shame” and the shop cats of Hong Kong.
April White December 1, 2023
Wildlife biologist Serra Hoagland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe, is bridging Indigenous traditions and modern methods.
science

7 Memorable Stories to Mark Native American Heritage Month

Tales of tradition, erasure, resilience, and dancing.
April White November 17, 2023
maps

From Cursed Coconuts to Santa Claus, 6 Unexpected Election Day Stories

Including a guide to some of the most disastrous votes in history.
April White November 3, 2023
A parasitic fungus emerges from the body of a fly in Peru.
subterranean

5 Creepy Tales of Real-World Zombies

And 10 places to wait out a (fictional) undead apocalypse.
April White October 20, 2023
This is not exactly how most animals react to an eclipse.
maps

Six Stories to Illuminate the Upcoming 'Ring of Fire' Eclipse

The annular eclipse will make its way across the Western Hemisphere on October 14.
April White October 6, 2023
Cartographer Antonio Zatta included Lake de Fonte on this 1776 map. It never existed.
pirates

7 Maps That Can Change How You See the World 

Plus: Our definitive guide to the world’s extraordinary sights.
April White September 22, 2023
In Rome, students can still learn to be gladiators.
music

13 Surprising Things You Didn’t Learn in Your Regular Old School

(And one weird skill that you probably did, for some reason.)
April White September 8, 2023