Lists and Stories

5 Paintings You Can’t Miss in Birmingham If you haven’t seen these five paintings at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery in England’s second largest city—what are you waiting for? Learn about the art and history that lives in this museum in this list, then book your ticket to see them in real life. Earlier versions of the descriptions...
5 Paintings You Need to See in Japan Earlier versions of the descriptions of these paintings first appeared in 1001 Paintings You Must See Before You Die, edited by Stephen Farthing (2018). Writers’ names appear in parentheses. list, travel, tourism, sightseeing, Japan, museums, art, Nezu Museum, Tokyo National Museum, Yakushi-ji...
5 Prominent Paintings in Poland The National Museum in Warsaw, which has more than 800,000 artworks in its collection, is just one of Poland’s many important museums. It’s also one of the places where these five paintings can be found. Earlier versions of the descriptions of these paintings first appeared in 1001 Paintings You...
5 Questions About Dinosaurs Answered The name dinosaur is derived from the Greek words deinos (“terrible” or “fearfully great”) and sauros (“reptile” or “lizard”). It refers to a group of reptiles that thrived on Earth for nearly 180 million years; most went extinct about 66 million years ago. The questions and answers in this list...
5 Questions About Reconstruction Answered Reconstruction was the period in U.S. history following the Civil War, from 1865 to 1877, when the country attempted to redress slavery and its legacy and to bring 11 states back into the Union. The questions and answers in this list are taken from the Top Questions sections of the articles on...
5 Quizzes That Will Tell You Whether You Should Have Been a Scientist Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Donna Strickland—all of them proved their worth as scientists by winning a Nobel Prize. You (probably) haven’t. But maybe you should have. Do you wonder whether you really should have become a physicist? Maybe a chemist? If you ace all of these quizzes, you’ll need to...
5 Remarkably Close U.S. Presidential Elections One of the most common reasons people give for not voting in elections is that they feel their lone vote doesn’t matter. History, however, shows otherwise—especially when it comes to presidential elections, as illustrated by these five extremely close races. list, elections, presidential elections,...
5 Revealing Paintings by Caravaggio The art critic Andrew Graham-Dixon writes of Caravaggio that “[h]e was a violent man, but he lived in violent times, and he was as much sinned against as sinning.” That may be an excuse for a man who was a murderer as well as a hugely influential artist of the late 16th and early 17th centuries,...
5 Significant Buildings in Delhi These five places are all historically and architecturally significant buildings unique to Delhi. They offer a physical manifestation of the city’s cultural development through time. Earlier versions of the descriptions of some of these buildings first appeared in 1001 Buildings You Must See Before...
Christening Pluto’s Moons Before choosing names for the two most recently discovered moons of Pluto, astronomers asked the public to vote. Vulcan, the name of a Roman god of fire, won hands down, probably because it was also the name of the home planet of Star Trek’s Mr. Spock. But cooler heads prevailed. So what names did...
5 Spectacular Churches in Germany Churches in Germany record the long history of Christianity in the country. Here are five of the most spectacular. Earlier versions of the descriptions of these churches first appeared in 1001 Amazing Places You Must See Before You Die, edited by Richard Cavendish (2016). Writers’ names appear in...
5 Stunning Feats of Architecture in Beijing Palaces turned into parks, a great hall built to celebrate the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and a subtle architectural argument against censorship—all places that you can’t miss in Beijing. Earlier versions of the descriptions of these buildings first appeared in 1001 Buildings You...
5 Stunning Henri Matisse Paintings to Hang on Your Wall Right Now In 1909 Henri Matisse said, “The painter no longer has to preoccupy himself with details. The photograph is there to render the multitude of details a hundred times better and more quickly. Plastic form will present emotion as directly as possible and by the simplest means.” He grabbed that freedom...
5 Surprising Facts About Bats Here are five facts that will change the way you think about bats. list, animals, bats, flying, mammals, facts, interesting, weird, shocking, surprising, guano Bats are usually divided into two suborders: Megachiroptera (large Old World fruit bats) and Microchiroptera (small bats found worldwide)....
5 Surprisingly Fascinating Forts in France Forts can be dull, utilitarian structures, but here are four forts and one group of forts in France that are rich with significance and interest. Earlier versions of the descriptions of these forts first appeared in 1001 Amazing Places You Must See Before You Die, edited by Richard Cavendish...
5 Things People See in the Moon The Moon keeps one side facing Earth because its rotation period is the same as its orbital period. The Earth-facing side, the near side, is splotched with dark spots called maria (Latin for “seas”), which are the remnants of giant volcanic eruptions that happened early in the Moon’s history. There...
Pirate School: 5 Things You Can Shoot from a Cannon For centuries, heavy metal cannons were the epitome of military weaponry. Massive cannons were stationed at forts across the world, while smaller and more-portable guns accompanied troops and naval (and pirate) vessels. While the simple iron cannonball was the most common fodder for these tools of...
Know Your Joe: 5 Things You Didn’t Know About Coffee Lots of people are unable to function before their morning cup of coffee. You may have singled out caffeine as the source of its power, but how much do you really know about coffee? Here are five tidbits of trivia to ponder as you percolate. list, encyclopedia, britannica, encyclopedia britannica,...
5 Things You Don’t Know About Jimmy Carter Jimmy Carter was many things: a person of great compassion and integrity, keen intelligence, and a sweeping decency. He was also deeply suspicious of politics and, despite the popular perception that arose during the Iran hostage crisis, exceedingly tough-minded. Carter’s triumphs with the Camp...
5 Transit Stations Worth Seeing Transit stations are often a place to be passed through on the way to somewhere else. Several, though, are notable enough to warrant a visit. Earlier versions of the descriptions of these transit stations first appeared in 1001 Amazing Places You Must See Before You Die, edited by Richard Cavendish...