Meet a 90-year-old who built his own hobbit-inspired house

An 87-year-old widower goes viral for hand-delivering party invitations door to door that read "4 pm until the cops arrive"

A man knocked on his neighbor's door to offer a paper invitation to a winter-themed party he was throwing. "My wife is gone now, so it gives me something to keep me busy," he later explained. "I'm going to get these people in one room, and maybe they'll get to know each other." The viral experience has since brought him fan mail and party treats.

The architect who made the most of a tiny New York apartment

This short documentary explores the 350-square-foot apartment of Ben Riskin, a New York resident looking to make the most of his new home through hidden storage and ingenious design.

Revisiting the ornamental hermit craze of the 1700s

One of the more elaborate gardening trends of the 18th century was the placement of a well-designed hermitage within the landscape, a throwback to the more religious antiquity and the Middle Ages. The trend went so far for some that they hired real live hermits, preferably older, bearded, and willing to stay quiet and out of the way. Read about the wild trend here.

Fallingwater revived Frank Lloyd Wright’s career at age 67

A series of scandals and financial setbacks made Wright lose his previous relevance, leaving the public to view him as a “has-been.” Following the creation of Fallingwater, a masterpiece set atop a waterfall, Wright saw an uptick in commissions and continued to produce inspired buildings at an age that many others would retire by.

Inside the lives of FIRE followers

A man named Barney Whiter saved half of his salary each month so that, eventually, he could retire at age 43. Other FIRE followers rent out rooms in their homes or even their cars in attempts to achieve the same financial freedom.

See how Stonehenge was built

This short animation shows how human beings managed to lug 30-ton stones over miles of prehistoric English countryside and stand them up The Stone Age engineering involved using giant wooden rollers and carving precisely interlocking tongue-and-groove joints to hold the heavy stones in place.

Photographer finds 120-year-old time capsule, develops the photos

Photographer Mathieu Stern found a century-old time capsule in his family home containing a little girl’s mementos and two glass plate negatives. He used Cyanotype to develop the photographs, unveiling images of the child’s pets. Stern documented the process in a video on YouTube and Instagram, showcasing the final prints of the animals.

Sears and Roebuck once sold DIY house kits

Between 1908 and 1940, "kit homes" that buyers could build themselves were advertised in Sears’ famous catalog—and many of them are still standing today.

Meet the bowerbird, the bird world's greatest architect

There are roughly 20 species of bowerbird in and around Australia. It is a remarkable species known for its sophisticated nests. From what experts can tell, the bird has one thing in mind when building its elaborate abode: attracting a mate. See the variety of structures each bird makes in this well-written blog accompanied with incredible photos of bowerbird constructions.

David Attenborough reflects on some of his most moving natural encounters

The legendary natural historian has had more direct encounters with wildlife than most people in history. As he turned 99, the Englishman recounts his favorite encounters with marine life, from whales to capuchin monkeys in mangroves. Despite the obstacles the environment faces, Attenborough believes in nature's resilience.

Watch a video about Greenfield Village, Henry Ford's recreation of an ideal American town

Henry Ford designed Greenfield Village, an open-air museum with restorations of historic buildings, that represented Ford's idealization of what a simple American life should look like. Among the most notable buildings in the village are Ford's childhood home and a recreation of the one-room country schoolhouse Ford attended through the sixth grade.

Massive 3D printers have been used to build homes by stacking layers of 'concrete toothpaste,' a fire-resistant material that effectively insulates against outside noise.

A day in the coldest village on Earth

The people of Yakutia, a far northern region of Russia, live a challenging, but harmonious, life with nature, facing some of the world's coldest temperatures. Tag along for the day with 9-year-old Arian and his family to see how they manage the cold, from constant wood-chopping to keep their home warm to the meticulous ice fishing which sustains their diet.

Frank Lloyd Wright's houses are historically hard to sell because they're old, subject to local landmark commissions, and often unfashionable

TikTok is changing the building trades

Plumbers, welders, and general contractors are meeting their customers on TikTok. This article delves into the growing group of tradespeople documenting their work (and advertising their services) on the popular app. The profiled workers are convinced this is the new way to sustain a life in the trades.

'Getting old is like climbing a mountain; you get a little out of breath, but the view is much better!'

- Actress Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982)

In its famous catalog, Sears sold $600 DIY house kits from 1908 through the 1940s, resulting in an estimated 100,000 'Sears and Roebuck homes.'

'Follow your enthusiasm. It's something I've always believed in. Find those parts of your life you enjoy the most. Do what you enjoy doing.'

- "Muppets" creator Jim Henson (1936-1990)

JRR Tolkien redefined fantasy for a new generation

Tolkien’s debut novel, 1937’s “The Hobbit,” was aimed at young adults, yet it felt far more serious than the whimsical tales of Lewis Carroll or L. Frank Baum. "What Tolkien does is take the 'otherworld' fantasy developed in the 19th century and makes it child-sized, melding it with folklore and Norse myth," notes Farah Mendlesohn, the author of “Rhetorics of Fantasy.”

See what it's like to live 'Constitutionally' for a year

In a 2023 interview on CBS Sunday Morning, author A.J. Jacobs discusses his attempt to live as closely as possible by the principles of the US Constitution for a whole year and the book that resulted from the experiment.

The girl who lived in a tree for years

Julia Butterfly Hill lived in a redwood tree outside Stafford, California, for two years to prevent a lumber company from cutting it down, subsisting on rainwater and other provisions hoisted up by other volunteers.

Dangers of a record-breaking, sleep-skipping stunt

In 1963, 17-year-old Randy Gardner decided to stay awake for as long as it took to break the current world record. He managed to stay awake for 11 days. In 2017, the then-71-year-old Gardner told NPR that his experience had come back to haunt him as insomnia. The challenge has since been removed from the Guinness Book of World Records due to its dangerous consequences.

Inside Warren Buffett's real estate portfolio, which includes more than just his primary Omaha residence

The Oracle of Omaha is known for living in the same house since 1958—but what exactly does that house look like? This article takes a look inside that house, plus a few other properties in Buffett's real estate portfolio. Explore Warren Buffett's homes here.

In 1963, a basement renovation in Turkey revealed a passageway to a hidden, multilevel underground city that once housed as many as 20,000 people

Defying the odds, Stephen Hawking outlived his ALS diagnosis by over 50 years

When diagnosed with ALS, Stephen Hawking was given two years to live. However, he survived with the progressive neurodegenerative disease for over 50 years, highlighting the disease's variability and complexity.

Explore this animated story about loneliness that situates modern statistics about isolation

This beautiful "scrollytelling" story—weaving together animations and text as a user scrolls down a page—takes a reader through a typical weekend day in 2021, drawing data from the American Time Use Survey. It underscores the loneliness that many people may experience, highlighting potential unaddressed mental health needs.

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

At the age of seven, Grace Hopper dismantled alarm clocks

Foreshadowing a career in computers, Hopper exhibited a curiosity for gadgets at a young age and took apart seven clocks, determined to understand how they worked. Despite having a dollhouse, Hopper built an elevator for it and showed a greater interest in building toy furniture than playing with dolls.

Hawaii is the most expensive state for funding a 40-year retirement

If someone wanted to retire by the time they were 40 years old in Hawaii, they would need to save an estimated $4,557,767. See how other states meaasure up in this article.

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.

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

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

Double world record holder Hunter Ewen helped conquer his fear of balloons, called globophobia, by training to win Guinness World Record titles for balloon inflation.

Clever Hans was a 1900s horse that was believed to be able to solve math equations, tell time, and read and comprehend German, until a psychology student discovered how he got his answers.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

Watch this video that uses Lego bricks to explain how venture capital works.

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.'

Children are now three times more likely to say they want to be a YouTuber when they grow up than an astronaut, with some even attending 'YouTube camps' that teach kids how to create content for the platform.

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

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

Dorothy's famous entrance into Oz in 'The Wizard of Oz' relied on analog tricks, including a body double and sepia-toned paint, as much as it did on technology

In 2018, 26-year-old missionary John Allen Chau was killed by tribesmen after attempting to reach and evangelize on India's isolated North Sentinel Island

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

Salvador Dalí believed he was his own dead brother, who had died nine months before he was born

Hear 50 years of iconic hip-hop samples, the genre's foundational looped tracks

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

The Ramones' 'Pet Sematary,' the theme song for the Stephen King novel of the same name, was written while the band was admiring the writer's collection of horror memorabilia.

Planarian flatworms are small, aquatic worms with exceptional regenerative capabilities. When cut, the worms can regenerate multiple bodies in a matter of weeks.