London rocket was observed in abundance following the Great Fire of London in 1666, but why does this non-native weed still interest English botanists?

These life-sized painted figures, popular in Europe and colonial America in the seventeenth and early eighteenth century, were designed to amuse and confuse.

A century ago, an ornithologist proposed a system for transcribing bird sound as human speech. It did not catch on.

The fortunes of Coney Island have waxed and waned, but in the early twentieth century, its amusement parks became a major American export.

Known as “the grandfather of African cinema,” Sembène created powerful female characters who challenged Western notions of gender and sexuality.

Well-researched stories from Vox, Knowable Magazine, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.

Between 1790 and 1860, New York City’s food markets were public, sustained by active government involvement. What happened?

In the Christian New Testament, Saint John the Baptist and Salome never meet. Why, then, does she appear at the bars of his cell in Guercino’s moody painting?

The virtual water trade reveals significant disparities between water-rich states and their trade partners.

This week, we practice using our skills of visual analysis and learn how to "read" deliberately constructed images.