House of Cards
"Oops, there it goes." "House of cards" is an expression that dates back to 1645, referring to a structure built on a shaky foundation that will collapse if you remove a necessary element. A…
Submerged
In 1870, Jules Verne brought the submarine into the public sphere with his novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Writing about Verne, Captain Brayton Harris, USN, notes that the…
A Noteworthy Exploration
A friend, and amateur music theorist, wondered if we're getting to the point where all the good melodies have been used up. Since we've been at this thing called music…
Out of the Foxhole
The press will have many questions upon your entrance. With a few modifications, this jacket was inspired by the one your grandfather wore when emerging from the smoking bomb crater…
Liminal
Who better to share observations on the collections inside The Metropolitan Museum than the staff members who know those collections inside and out? They share their thoughts in the museum's…
Old before Michelangelo moved in
Your chance to sleep, cook, paint in the home where Michelangelo lived. In 1549, Michaelangelo Buonarroti—known for painting the Sistine Chapel—purchased the property, and it remained in the Buonarroti family…
America’s Age (in Presidents)
America is only four presidential lives old, according to this story from The Washington Post, first published in 2015 and updated in 2016. "When President Obama was born (1961), President…
The Medieval Way to Protect a Library
In the Middle Ages, it could take years to create a book. Years a scribe would spend bent over his copy table, with natural light the only illumination to be…
A new look at ancient toys
Archaeologists are taking a closer look at children’s early attempts to mimic adult craftwork. These rounded clay disks, each pierced with two holes, have mystified investigators for nearly a century,…