Santa Barbara’s Botanic Garden was the first to showcase the state’s native plants

Explore Santa Barbara County's biodiversity

As part of one of the world's most biodiverse hotspots, Santa Barbara County is home to thousands of unique species, the majority of which are not found anywhere else in the world. This database compiles facts, photos, and more for each species, sortable by plants, animals, and more.

Santa Barbara’s streets are slightly off-kilter because surveyors used shrinkable rawhide

The first survey of Santa Barbara was conducted by sea captain Salisbury Haley in 1851, who notoriously used a less-than-ideal material for surveying. The rawhide links caused significant issues with the city’s grid, as can be seen in this photo essay.

The expedition documented 240 plant species, 178 new to western science

Lewis and Clark’s botanical records introduced species to Americans like bitterroot, ponderosa pine, and Oregon grape—plants unknown to western science at the time. See a selection of these species in this image gallery.

Santa Barbara once had a thriving Chinatown and Japantown

In the late 1800s, the city had an influx of immigrants from China and Japan, prompting the growth of areas dominated by their respective cultures. Earthquakes and world wars, as well as a push for Spanish Colonial architecture, led to their eventual decline.

The 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill galvanized the modern environmental movement

In January 1969, an oil platform off the coast of Santa Barbara ruptured, releasing roughly 3 million gallons of crude into the Pacific. The spill killed over 10,000 seabirds, dolphins, and seals, coating 35 miles of coastline.

How Los Angeles got its palm trees

Los Angeles is known for its warm weather and palm trees, but the latter haven't always been part of the landscape. As Hollywood's movie industry grew, so did the number of palm trees. As this article points out, most of the city's palm trees were planted in the 1930s through an unemployment relief program.

Eliza Scidmore advocated for planting cherry trees in Washington, DC, in the early 1900s

The first female writer for National Geographic, Scidmore championed planting Japanese cherry trees around the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC. Her idea succeeded in 1912, after years of lobbying, creating one of the National Mall's most enduring traditions and tourist draws.

Explore guides on pollinator-friendly plants native to where you live

Pollinators have co-evolved alongside specific plants from their natural habitat and see their populations increase in environments with these native flora. This collection offers recommendations for regional plants that can provide nectar and pollen, serve as host plants for caterpillars, and offer nest sites for specialist bees.

Chaos gardening involves scattering seeds without any planning

The trend is intended to produce colorful, dense gardens by mixing various seeds. While encouraging experimentation and lower stakes, the success of these gardens depends on choosing plants with similar needs and incorporating native, nectar-rich flowers.

'The bounty of nature is also one of the deep needs of man.'

- Lady Bird Johnson (1912-2007)

How scientists know invasive nutria were likely introduced to California by humans

Although native to South America, DNA testing of the semiaquatic rodents showed they are closely related to a population in Oregon, suggesting they were deliberately transported into the state. First identified in the San Joaquin Valley in 2017, the distance, terrain, and lack of nutria between the two regions has allowed researchers to rule out natural migration.

The diplomat who implemented Monroe's policy introduced the poinsettia to the United States

Joel Roberts Poinsett, appointed as the first US minister to Mexico in 1825 following the doctrine's announcement, took cuttings of a vibrant Mexican plant called the cuetlaxochitl during his time there. Americans loved the foliage and named it after him.

The ritual burns of California forests

Many ecosystems around the world have adapted to regularly occurring wildfires. Some human cultures saw the advantage of such fires and integrated them into their community rituals. Learn about similar tribal traditions looking to better manage California's forests today.

Poison ivy was sent to Europe in the 1600s as an exotic, ornamental oddity, where it was purposefully grown in the English royal gardens at Kew, the Faculty of Medicine in Paris, and a few other locations.

A brief history of Christmas tree design

A celebration of the Christmas tree in all its festive glory. Get a glimpse into its intriguing background and the lore that accompanies it.

A prototype greenhouse for Biosphere 2 is now part of a test habitat for Mars

The Space Analog for the Moon and Mars combines the Test Module greenhouse with a workshop, kitchen, common area, sleeping quarters, and a yard that mimics lunar and Martian surfaces. A blind crew member in SAM’s first mission, Inclusion I, helped assess accessibility in potential future space habitats.

Bottled water started as a 19th-century wellness trend

Selling drinking water in America began at resorts in New York and West Virginia, where tourists were encouraged to take the regenerative mineral water back to their homes.

A look inside one of Napa Valley's oldest wineries

Prussian migrant Charles Krug established a winery in Napa Valley in 1861, pioneering the growth of European rootstocks and helping legitimize the region's wine-making ambitions. Today, the estate is owned and operated by the Mondavi family, who purchased it in 1943 and helped elevate it to international renown. A dramatic, brief look at the winery illuminates its legendary past and larger-than-life present.

Guy Bradley was one of the nation's first game wardens

Bradley's 1905 murder inspired a series of laws helping to bring Florida's bird populations back from the brink of extinction.

The Rose Bowl was first played in 1902 and was the first postseason college football game

Held annually in Pasadena, California, the Rose Bowl is known as the “Granddaddy of Them All,” pairing top teams in a historic stadium and coinciding with the famed Rose Parade each New Year’s Day.

David Hockney's 'Splash' paintings depicted the Brit's adoration for California

Bradford-born David Hockney saw the lure of California as an escape from the dreariness of London and a symbol of social and sexual freedom. Sotheby’s reflects on Hockney’s series of three "Splash" paintings, capturing ephemeral moments and the magic of America as a cultural export in the 1960s.

Leonard Knight built a folk art landmark in the California badlands

Slab City is an unofficial off-the-grid community on the site of a decommissioned Marine Corps base in the Southern California desert. Knight began constructing his enormous and colorful "Salvation Mountain" in 1984. In 2000, it was designated "a folk art site worthy of preservation and protection."

New Mexico is home to a 'breakfast burrito byway'

Santa Fe's Tía Sophia's was the first restaurant to offer breakfast burritos in the 1970s, a heritage New Mexico has fully embraced. Look no further than its "breakfast burrito byway," a state-sanctioned trail that allows visitors to check out some of the best morning bites in the country.

Spanish Colonial Revival favors red clay roofs, white stucco, decorative ironwork

The style recalls the motifs of structures in both Europe and in colonial Spain. Beyond clay roofs and stucco, the design also showcases arches and arcades, painted tiles, towers, and more.

San Diego’s first Comic-Con was held in a basement

The first San Diego Comic‑Con—then called San Diego's Golden State Comic-Minicon—took place on March 21, 1970, in the basement of the US Grant Hotel and drew just 145 fans.

See inside the Boston Public Library, the first city-run free public library in the US

Founded in 1848, the McKim building opened in 1895 during a period of cultural optimism and social reform. Its Beaux-Arts architecture features marble staircases, murals by John Singer Sargent, and a Renaissance-inspired courtyard.

'Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone,' a work by American painter Thomas Moran, inspired Congress to establish Yellowstone National Park.

Artificial coral reefs have been 3D printed from nontoxic, biodegradable terracotta clay, which coral polyps have used as a foundation for rebuilding marine ecosystems.

Walt Disney's early film 'Alice's Wonderland' was a groundbreaking innovation in the silent film era

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

70 years ago today, city officials in Santa Cruz, California, banned rock 'n' roll to protect its youth from corruption after witnessing a 'provocative' concert the night before.

Georgia O'Keeffe's flower paintings are often assumed to be sexual, though the artist claimed she was simply interested in highlighting the beauty of flowers that most people neglect

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

The use of fungi to detoxify land and water—a process known as mycoremediation—has been used to clean up natural resources affected by the 2025 California wildfires.

Before writing 'Walden,' transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau nearly burned down his hometown with a campfire that grew out of control.

Explore fun facts from the USPS, including unique post office buildings, a stamp that traveled past Pluto, and more.

Mid-century modern graphic designers, known for their bright colors and bold lines in advertising, also found success with children's books.

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

After the Boston Tea Party, colonists switched to coffee, which became the main morning drink for revolutionaries.

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

Some Pokémon have been named after real and fictional organisms, while some real-world species have been named after Pokémon, such as Chilicola charizard and Binburrum zapdos.

The Great Salt Lake's distinct dual coloration results from high-salinity organisms that only live in the northern portion and produce a purple protein.

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

'Shogun,' a 1980s TV series, helped popularize sushi in the US by stimulating an American interest in Japanese culture.

Listen to an in-depth conversation on the links between Parkinson's disease and herbicide exposure and the challenging pace of scientific investigation.

The first line of 'immortal' human cells, which can divide indefinitely and are used in scientific research, was nonconsensually taken from a Black woman.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

El Niño, Spanish for 'the boy,' was named after Jesus Christ because the phenomenon resembled the weather changes observed around Christmastime.