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WHERE YOU’VE GOT TO HIDE
YOUR LOVE AWAY

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

In today’s newsletter, we discover where celebrating Valentine's Day is dangerous, question whether we have found Michelangelo's lost artwork, recount what we know about the Tollund Man … and learn about where Black homeownership is thriving.

An artist prepares a Valentine’s Day decoration in Kolkata, India. Hindu nationalists in the country have often protested against the holiday as an invasion of amoral Western influence.

PHOTOGRAPH BY TUMPA MONDAL, XINHUA VIA REDUX

Red hearts and chocolates seem ubiquitous this time of year. However, in some places in the world, florists had to hide their roses, and governments have discouraged sentimental gifts on February 14.

One country conducted mass arrests of couples suspected of celebrating the holiday. Why—and where? (Above, setting up holiday decorations in Kolkata, India)

LOVE UNDER WRAPS

STORIES WE’RE FOLLOWING

Charcoal drawings on the wall of a cellar discovered hidden beneath the Medici Chapel in Florence, Italy.

PHOTOGRAPH BY PAOLO WOODS

Does this ‘secret room‘ contain Michaelangelo’s lost artwork? (Pictured above, charcoal drawings on the wall of a hidden cellar in Italy.)

The missing feet found in the Pacific Northwest

Just deciphered: A 2,000-year-old scroll

Are parts of the brain affected by menstrual cycles?

‘Rare’ disease may not be rare after all—just underdiagnosed

This legendary gemstone is real—but was it actually cursed?

Women and ADHD: why are diagnoses at unprecedented rates?

Alexander the Great had big problems near the end

How your waking habits could make you happier

New way found to detect autism

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

The mummified body of Tollund Man, whose remains were discovered in a Danish bog about 2,400 years after he died in the 4th century B.C.

PHOTOGRAPH BY IAN DAGNALL, ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

What do we know about the Tollund Man? With the details preserved on one of Europe's most famous bog bodies, there is a lot we have learned about one of the most famous mummies found— the Tollund Man (pictured above). We break down everything discovered in the details preserved with the body; who he could have been, what he carried with him, and even his last meal.

Related: What we didn't know about these remarkably well-preserved bodies

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Eden Elder, in gray, splashes among friends and neighbors on an inflatable waterslide in the front yard where his father also played as a boy. The St. Albans home has been in the family for decades.

PHOTOGRAPH BY ELIAS WILLIAMS

The history of Black homeownership in St. Albans, Queens highlights a community that became an enduring exception in a nation with a precedent of racist housing policies. From Fats Waller and Count Basie, to Ella Fitzgerald and James Brown, the historic neighborhood has been home to both well-known icons and families who make up the local culture (pictured above, Eden Elder, in gray, splashes among friends and neighbors in the St. Albans home that has been in the family for decades). How did this town become a point of pride for its inhabitants?

Today’s soundtrack: A-Tisket, A-Tasket, Ella Fitzgerald

We hope this newsletter brightened your Wednesday! It was curated and edited by David Beard, Nancy San Martín, Jen Tse, and Nishita Naga. Know someone who might want our newsletter in their inbox? Here’s the signup. See you tomorrow!

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