What is a Hurdy Gurdy?
“If I’d been a musician in the sixteenth century, I probably would have picked the Hurdy Gurdy because I imagine it would have made me very popular. Wherever I would have gone, I would have started a...
View ArticleFlower Dance (ផ្ការាំ), the Cambodian folk song animated
Flower Dance (ផ្ការាំ) is a Cambodian folk song about the movement of the flowers floating in a lake. Vocals are performed by composer, singer, and musician Yorn Young. The music video, crafted with...
View ArticleHow are Ebru marbled art carpets made?
Mixing two age-old artforms from Turkish-Anatolian culture and Turkish-Islamic art history, the marbling art of Ebru and carpet weaving, the team at Royal Hali in Turkey creates one-of-a-kind Ebru...
View ArticleWho invented the light bulb?
Did Thomas Edison invent the lightbulb? He usually gets the credit, but he might have been much better at spotting technologies—like William Wallace‘s arc lamp—and improving on them with the help of...
View ArticleCan you grow a glacier?
In the 13th century, Genghis Khan embarked on a mission to take over Eurasia, swiftly conquering countries and drawing them into his empire. But, legend has it that there was one obstacle that even he...
View ArticleRare 1920s films of All-Black Towns “Living the American Dream,” filmed by...
In 1921, the neighborhood of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma was a bustling and prosperous community filled with Black-owned businesses. “The numbers are astonishing,” explains historian Scott Ellsworth....
View ArticleJuneteenth, the 155th anniversary Google Doodle narrated by LeVar Burton
Narrated by LeVar Burton and illustrated by artist Loveis Wise, the poem Lift Every Voice and Sing by James Weldon Johnson powers this Google Doodle in celebration of the 155th anniversary of...
View ArticleHow does a watermill work? From grain to flour with water power
How does a watermill work? This descriptive video tour of the 1755-built (and recently restored) machinery at England’s Sacrewell Heritage Farm and Country Centre shares how water power turns the gears...
View ArticleHow Vincent van Gogh, Piet Mondrian, and Gordon Matta-Clark captured places &...
“Art may be found in museums, but it almost never begins there.” Learn how three works of art were influenced by, or perhaps exist because of, the places in which they were made. This 2015 modern art...
View ArticleDecoding the mysterious language dubbed Linear B
In the early 1900s, archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans uncovered nearly 3,000 tablets inscribed with strange symbols. He thought the script, dubbed Linear B, represented the Minoan language, while others...
View ArticleHow to weave yarn on a mini cardboard loom
Grab a flat piece of cardboard, and a ruler, a pencil, scissors, some yarn, tape, and a needle—MetKids recommends a large plastic embroidery needle—and watch this MetKids video to learn how to weave...
View ArticleThe Peacock Clock at The State Hermitage Museum
Built in the late 18th-century, The Peacock Clock at The State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia is a stunning work of art and engineering by London jeweler, goldsmith, and craftsman James...
View ArticleWhat was found in a French child’s 120-year-old time capsule?
What might a French child of the early 1900s cherish and keep in hidden tin box? In this case: Images of “a very special cat! This photo was shot 120 years ago by a little girl and only a century later...
View ArticleWhat will The British Museum do with the stolen artifacts in their halls?
Some of the world’s greatest cultural and historical treasures are housed in London’s British Museum, and a significant number of them were taken during Britain’s centuries-long imperial rule. In...
View ArticleThe historic 1913 women’s suffrage march on Washington D.C.
On March 3, 1913, after months of strategic planning and controversy, thousands of women gathered in Washington D.C. for the Women’s Suffrage Parade—the first mass protest for a woman’s right to vote....
View ArticleSalt and Pepper, an Edible Histories introduction
Salt is a mineral that’s essential for life. Pepper is made from dried and ground peppercorn fruit. How did they become so closely associated with each other? Food historian Annie Gray narrates A Brief...
View ArticleWhy do people fall for misinformation?
In 1901, David Hänig published research that led to what we know today as the taste map: an illustration that divides the tongue into four separate areas. It has since been published in textbooks and...
View ArticleThe Djembe, an instrument played for the king of Mali
In this Five(ish) Minute Drum Lesson, an ArtsEdge video from Kennedy Center Education Digital Learning, African percussionist Farai Malianga introduces two drums—the cajon and djembe —and discusses the...
View ArticleA swimming dinosaur: The revealing tail of Spinosaurus aegyptiacus
How did the enigmatic Spinosaurus aegyptiacus or ‘Egyptian spine lizard’ live day to day 112 to 93.5 million years ago? A new desert discovery has revealed that this species of spinosaurs was a...
View ArticleThe Secret History of Dirt, a smart soil explainer for all ages
Dirt is alive. It’s full of billions of creatures so small you can’t even see them under a microscope. For 10,000 years, dirt has helped humans convert the limitless energy of the sun into the plants...
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