John Harlan championed racial justice on a hostile Supreme Court. Robert Harlan, a freed slave, achieved renown despite the court's decisions

Einstein’s groundbreaking scientific ideas made his name a synonym for genius, but he was also famous for his pacifist views and support of the civil rights movement. Explore nine surprising facts about one of the towering minds of the 20th century.

The story of Katya the brown bear and other animals arrested for violence, complicity, and espionage

Mysterious lights that dance in the days or hours leading up to earthquakes take many different shapes and colors.

The common starling or European starling (Sturnus vulgaris), also known simply as the starling in Great Britain and Ireland, is a medium-sized passerine bird in the starling family, Sturnidae. It is about 20 cm (8 in) long and has glossy black plumage with…

An impromptu performance at Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday concert would propel the song up the charts.

Pizza Hut has become the world's first company to deliver a pizza to outer space, having sent up a slice to a cosmonaut living on the ISS.

The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) has announced a £1 million bounty to the first person who can crack the impossible: create a product that the RSC considers to be 100% chemical-free.

257 votes and 22 comments so far on Reddit

toy with an outer fabric sewn from a textile and then stuffed with flexible material

SS judge

Imagine if you only had one shot at passing on your genes before you died. It happens more often in the natural world than you might expect: suicidal reproduction - where one or both sexes of a species…

viral video and internet meme

The series Spice Migrations opens in Sri Lanka with one of the world’s favorite spices, which once grew exclusively on that island. Traders priced

Which animal kills the most people? Hint: It’s not sharks, lions, or even humans. Introducing Mosquito Week.

Q: What happens to an unpaid debt that swells and swells for 500 years due to compounding interest? Would there be enough money anywhere to pay this off?

Here's another example of autolitigation, which like the story in yesterday's post is not new but is worth adding to the archive. Unlike the story in yesterday's post, however, …

According to her new book, "Songteller: My Life in Lyrics," Dolly Parton wrote and recorded an unreleased song that won't be heard until 2045.

A Japanese cat, which became a national celebrity when she was made a station master, is mourned at the station where she served.