According to legend, Sforza lifted her skirts to show her adversaries that she had the body parts to make more children. But why?

Renaissance artists routinely used men as models for their depictions of female subjects, yet only the musculatures of Michelangelo tell that story.

The discourse around police raids of so-called molly houses reflected the fear that London was a new Sodom where anonymity allowed people to be shameless.

Well-researched stories from Atlas Obscura, Literary Hub, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.

Not much is known about eighteenth-century furniture designer Thomas Chippendale, making his life and work perfect for mythologizing after his death.

By remaining vague about his own biography, Norgay called into question the idea of nationhood and made a deafening point about actions speaking louder than words.

Understanding soil to understand climate change.

Velcro is used in many spaces, from spacecraft to shoes. A relatively recent invention, it was inspired by the close observation of nature.

How can contemporary biographers contend with the explosion of materials at their disposal?

The printed word helped spread the inhaling habit across the continent.