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In many city-states, it was perfectly acceptable for older men to have sexual relationships with young boys.
If tourism is the lifeblood of the Peruvian economy, then Machu Picchu is the heart pumping that blood — in sickness and in health.
When maps meet stamps, you get a love child called "cartophilately."
Wealth concentration among elites was common in ancient nations, but the scale on which it took place in Egypt’s 18th Dynasty was unprecedented.
Without Étienne-Joseph-Théophile Thoré, the genius of the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer would have been lost to time.
He was also a eugenicist — but at least he could draw pretty pictures.
The amazing life of “Gudrid the Far-Traveled” was unjustly overshadowed by her in-laws, Erik the Red and Leif Erikson.
To the Greek philosopher, all of our actions ultimately aim at our own pleasure.
We might be dining on insect-based Christmas pies with robot-harvested algae on the side.
Zen masters often have strikingly different ideas about how to live and attain enlightenment.
We don’t know when or how music was originally invented, but we can now track its evolution across space and time thanks to the Global Jukebox.
The spikes in their mouths would have helped them catch squid or fish.
All roads may not lead to Rome, but many of them lead to wealth and prosperity — even 1,500 years after the fall of the Roman Empire.
Mahāyāna is the most popular type of Buddhism in the world today.
The word “turkey” can refer to everything from the bird itself to a populous Eurasian country to movie flops.
The Knights Templar were not only skilled fighters, but also clever bankers who played a crucial role in the development of Europe’s financial systems.
Rushdie was heavily criticized by figures across the political spectrum for being offensive. People tried to “cancel” Rushdie long before that term was invented.
Today’s scary clowns are not a divergence from tradition, but a return to it.
One possible vision of the distant future.
With almost every shovel of sand shifted in Egypt, another artifact comes to light.
“Block. It puts some writers down for months. It puts some writers down for life.”
Like his "Mona Lisa," Leonardo da Vinci's "Lady with an Ermine" depicts a woman in a way that flouted the conventions of its time.
Forget about Tinkerbell.
Instead of worshipping Yahweh, the devotees were perhaps dedicated to Mars and Jupiter.
After 10,000 years of civilization, have we figured out what virtue is?
There were many other species of human on the planet. Svante Pääbo discovered one of them.
The monsoon rains were not always so reliable.
"Salvator Mundi" sold for a record-breaking $450 million in 2017, but is it really as valuable as people were led to believe?