Eight Artists Lived Inside a Shopping Mall for Four Years
In 2003, eight artists discovered an overlooked space hidden inside Providence Place, a massive shopping mall in Rhode Island. Instead of leaving it untouched, they transformed the…
The Green Drink That Was Blamed for Crime and Madness
Absinthe has spent more than a century surrounded by mystery. Its vivid green color, unusually high alcohol content and association with artists and bohemian culture helped create…
The Hidden Passage That May Have Helped People Escape Slavery
For decades, visitors to New York City’s Merchant’s House Museum could walk past an ordinary-looking set of drawers without realizing that one of them concealed a remarkable…
Before Radar Could Detect Aircraft, They Used These Giant Horns
Before radar transformed air defense, detecting an approaching aircraft could depend on nothing more than the sound of its engines. Military engineers responded by building enormous acoustic…
He Tied 42 Balloons to a Lawn Chair. Then He Took Off
In 1982, truck driver Larry Walters decided he was tired of dreaming about flying and built his own aircraft from a lawn chair and 42 helium balloons….
After 16 Years on a Chain, She Still Wagged Her Tail
For 16 years, Youngji lived at the end of a short chain, with almost no chance to run, explore or experience the life of an ordinary dog….
Three Men Escaped Alcatraz. Nobody Knows What Happened Next
In June 1962, three inmates carried out one of the most audacious escapes in American prison history. Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin spent months…
They Walked In as Police Officers. Then They Stole 13 Masterpieces
In the early hours of March 18, 1990, two men dressed as Boston police officers walked into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and carried out one of…
Two Ships Vanished in the Arctic. Then They Were Found 160 Years Later
In 1845, two Royal Navy ships sailed into the Arctic with 129 men aboard, searching for the elusive Northwest Passage. The HMS Erebus and HMS Terror never…
Man’s Best Friend: A Dog’s Four-Year Journey and the American Values Behind His Story
For nearly four years, a dog named Bong Bong remained beside a roadside in Thailand, seemingly unwilling to leave the place he had come to know as…