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Extraordinary people, discoveries, and places

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The Amazons were more than myth. They were real.

The Amazons of Greek mythology were fierce warrior women dwelling in the lands around and beyond the Black Sea. They wore pants, rode horses, shot bows, swung battle-axes, hurled spears, and fought and died heroically. They may seem as imaginary as the hydra or Pegasus, but archaeologists are finding compelling evidence for the existence of these ancient warrior women.

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PHOTOGRAPH BY SERGEI GAPON, AFP/GETTY

The grisly 'origin story' behind the Perseid meteor shower

The celestial phenomenon was first noted in Chinese records in A.D. 36. But the earliest recognition that the Perseids are a recurring event may have its source in Christian tradition and the grisly death of one of its early saints.

THE TEARS OF A SAINT?

BRIDGEMAN/ACI

Once upon a time, Viking raiders set their sights on Rome. Here's what happened.

Evidence of Viking settlements in England, Ireland, and Russia is plentiful. The Vikings' Mediterranean foray, however, is a more shadowy affair. In this story, it takes the form of a remarkable—and audacious—raiding voyage led by a hell-raising naval commander.

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PHOTOGRAPH BY GEORGE KOUROUNIS, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

Welcome to the world's most awesomely awful places

Turkmenistan's Door to Hell is a giant fire-filled pit in the middle of a barren desert—and it isn't the only earthly destination that's been compared to the underworld. Take Italy's Phlegrean Fields, where "the ground moves, the earth shakes, and scalding, stinking steam rises from hissing fissures."

TAKE A VIRTUAL TOUR

PHOTOGRAPH BY WALTER BIBIKOW, GETTY

The little town of Bethlehem has a surprising history

Bethlehem had a long history even before it became known as the site of Jesus Christ’s birth. From its groundbreaking prehistoric art to the extraordinary pilgrimage of St. Helena, the real story of the little town is far more complex than you may realize.

UNKNOWN HISTORY

QUOTE

[He] pulled the glistening, pulsating creature out of its three-foot-long shell. 'It just kept coming and coming.'

READ ON: Scientists come face to face with a 'mythical' seaworm

PHOTOGRAPH BY PENG YUAN/XINHUA VIA GETTY

The mysterious origins of domestic horses may finally be revealed

It's a deceptively simple question—where do domestic horses come from?—but scientists have long puzzled over the answer. It took a two-continent collaboration among over a hundred scientists to finally home in on the answer.

IMAGE COURTESY WMAP/NASA

What is the multiverse—and is there any evidence it really exists?

Humanity's ideas about alternate realities are ancient and varied. But the multiverse concept really took off when modern scientific theories attempting to explain the properties of our universe predicted the existence of other universes where events take place outside our reality. Will we ever know if anything lies beyond?

WE BREAK DOWN THE SCIENCE

OTHER GREAT READS

This town has the cleanest air in the world—but big changes are coming (BBC) ››

Big trouble in little Loving County, Texas (New York Times) ››

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