The history of David Attenborough's adopted Jewish sisters, taken in before World War II

Discussing his early life, David Attenborough describes how his TV career began by chance

Growing up on the University College, Leicester campus, where his father was principal, Attenborough uncovered specimens such as coiled shells in the rocks and limestone of the surrounding Midlands, which sparked his interest in nature. A week after not landing an interview for a radio job he had applied for, Attenborough was offered a position on "a new thing called television."

Listen to the music David Attenborough recorded during his expeditions around the world

During this audio documentary feature, Attenborough plays musical performances by communities he encountered while producing natural history series, including Gamelan orchestras in Bali, palace music in Tonga, and Aboriginal didgeridoo players. With each recording, he provides anecdotes about when it was made, decades ago.

Watch David Attenborough's unexpected interaction with a family of gorillas on 'Life on Earth'

On the border between Rwanda and the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo, Attenborough used specific vocalizations and behaviors to approach a female gorilla peacefully, only to have two of her children lie down on him. Through a comical exchange, the incident helps show the creatures to be the opposite of the aggressive, violent stereotypes about them.

View some of the species named after David Attenborough

Acisoma attenboroughi is a dragonfly from Madagascar named in honor of Attenborough's 90th birthday. Stating they liked watching Attenborough's documentaries with their family, the discoverer of a flightless weevil from Indonesia named it Trigonopterus attenboroughi in 2014. A Peruvian frog was named Prisimantis attenboroughi in 2014 to honor Attenborough for raising awareness of wildlife conservation.

Anne Frank's father, Otto, speaks to the BBC

The 13-year-old Jewish girl Anne Frank has inspired millions with her optimistic diaries amid Nazi oppression in the Netherlands. In 1976, her father—the sole survivor among Anne's immediate family—showed the world the original copy of one of Anne's three diaries in this BBC interview. Hear why Otto decided to publish the diaries and how that decision changed his life.

Take a virtual tour of the Royal Research Ship named after David Attenborough

Operated by the British Antarctic Survey, the RRS Sir David Attenborough and its onboard tools and laboratories have investigated the biogeochemical cycles of the Southern Ocean, the stability of Greenland's ice shelves, and the impact of climate change on marine ecosystems. One of the ship's autonomous underwater vehicles was named Boaty McBoatface based on the results of a naming poll from the Natural Environment Research Council.

A map of WWII refugees and their stories

Trace the paths of different people and families on this interactive map as they made their escape from the Nazi regime. Primary and secondary sources like letters, documents, memoirs and diaries, photos, interviews, and news clippings showed how many found a path to freedom, from the Kindertransport to individual stories.

How Audrey Hepburn became a spy during the Nazi occupation

Despite her status as one of Hollywood’s most beloved actresses, Audrey Hepburn experienced a war-torn childhood in Europe that few people know about. During her upbringing in the Netherlands, the Nazi occupation caused Hepburn to quit her life as a ballerina and made her family go hungry. In the face of adversity, Hepburn bravely carried messages for the Dutch resistance. Learn more about the star’s compelling life before finding fame.

Exploring the White City of Tel Aviv, the capital of the Bauhaus style

In 1933, around 60,000 German Jews fled the Nazi regime for what was then Mandatory Palestine. Among them were six Bauhaus students, who accommodated the influx by working with nearly 150 other architects to design over 4,000 buildings that reflected their alma mater's modernist style. This Smarthistory article on the area, now a UNESCO World Heritage site, allows you to see several of its buildings from the comfort of your couch.

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

Private home footage of Hitler and his wife, Eva Braun

Care to see what else Hitler and his wife, Eva Braun, were up to during World War II? Then check out this National Archives footage. Some of the videos have been colorized, and all were taken from a collection titled Motion Picture Films Confiscated from Foreign Countries and Sources, between 1940–44.

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.

Hear the untold colonial backstories of the British Museum’s most famous artifacts

This podcast from VICE’s Unfiltered History Tour visits the British Museum’s prized objects through accounts from experts and communities from which they were taken.

Exposing a beloved British personality as a pedophile

After Jimmy Savile's 2011 death, comments damning him began populating an online networking site for an "emotionally disturbed girls" residential school. These comments pricked the ears of two BBC journalists whose desks had been slowly covered in rumors of abuse by the public figure and former BBC presenter. This podcast series focuses on how journalists bring stories to light and is one of two episodes detailing Savile's story.

Many of Spielberg's films were inspired by childhood experiences

Steven Spielberg was inspired to make “Saving Private Ryan” after seeing the toll war took on his father’s generation. Similarly, he felt called to direct “Schindler’s List” by the Holocaust survivors he met when he was only three years old.

Human settlements may be older than previously thought

This narrative article follows an archaeological team as they sift through the remains of Nahal Ein Gev II, an ancient village near the Sea of Galilee in Israel. Abandoned about 12,000 years ago, the site has been investigated for years and...

She sells seashells by the seashore or, more accurately, she sells dinosaur fossils along the Jurassic Coast

Now known as the mother of paleontology, Mary Anning was 12 years old in 1811 when her seashore scrounging uncovered an ichthyosaur fossil, the first complete one known to the London scientific community at the time. She spent the rest of her life contributing to a field that didn’t care to welcome her. This article details her life and work.

'The Theory of Everything' depicts Stephen Hawking through Jane Wilde’s eyes

Stephen Hawking credits Jane Wilde, his first wife, for giving him “something to live for” after his ALS diagnosis. This biographical drama of Hawking’s life, adapted from her memoir, details their relationship and the effects his illness and success in physics had on their marriage.

Scientists can suck animal DNA from the air

A look at how researchers filtered the air around two zoos and identified genetic material from dozens of species, a technique that could help track and conserve wildlife.

Eight British children have been born via mitochondrial replacement therapy

In July 2025, a decade after British lawmakers signed off on allowing three-parent IVF, scientists announced that eight healthy babies had already been born using this approach. The news was included in a pair of research articles published in a peer-reviewed journal that noted the oldest kids were already more than two years old, and that they were hitting developmental milestones as expected. (Some users may encounter a paywall.)

The Borscht Belt was a haven for Jewish vacationers—and comedy fans

New York’s Catskills region resorts were informally named after a dish popular with Ashkenazi Jews. The area offered affordable vacationing, as well as cutting-edge stand-up from future stars like Milton Berle, Mel Brooks, and Joan Rivers.

Pig organ transplants are apparently kosher—you just can’t eat them

Science writer Mary Roach speaks with journalist Terry Gross about her latest book, “Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy” and discusses topics including why pig organs have become of such interest and what religious leaders have told her about pig organs and compliance with Jewish dietary law.

Albert Einstein taught courses in Davos

This silent video from the 1920s shows footage of Einstein at Davos. The famous scientist spent time there, delivering public lectures on his theory of relativity as part of the town’s university courses.

The Beatles' visit with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi helped inspire Western interest in Eastern spirituality

The Fab Four met with the guru—the creator of Transcendental Meditation—in 1968 in Rishikesh, India. The band's George Harrison and his wife had been interested in Indian culture for several years, but the meeting with Maharishi signified a meeting of Western popular culture with Eastern spirituality that would inspire the rising hippie movement.

James Beard and Julia Child were close friends and collaborators

The duo met when she was promoting her seminal book “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” in 1961. They quickly bonded, even referring to themselves as “Jiji,” a combination of Julia and Jim. Child, though, was initially prejudiced against Beard for being openly gay, which was rarer at that time.

How the Grimm Brothers saved the fairy tale

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm are responsible for putting the oral stories of the German people into print through the 1800s. Though not intended for children (and often quite violent), these folk tales would become the basis for the modern fairy tale. This article from the world's foremost Grimm specialist, Jack Zipes, uncovers the history of the Brothers Grimm and details how the stories intended to codify German values would eventually spread across the globe.

Against his wishes, Albert Einstein's brain was removed before his cremation, and the pathologist responsible stored it for decades in mason jars within a beer cooler.

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, but became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

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

American dance legend Martha Graham, sometimes called 'the Picasso of dance,' refused to perform at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and conceived the piece 'Chronicle' in response to the experience.

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.

One of the most famous portraits ever taken is 'Afghan Girl' (1984) by Steve McCurry, yet the subject Sharbat Gula went much of her life without being identified or benefitting from the image's success.

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

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

The history of many kitchen appliances involves unexpected discoveries and applications, including wartime radar turned hamster defroster and replacing an 'ice king' with heat-stealing boxes.

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

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.'

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.

In recent years a child anxiety expert has created and tested a novel phobia and anxiety treatment approach for children, focused on changing how parents respond to the fears.

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.

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.

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.

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

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

Brian Wilson wrote the Beach Boys' 'Don't Worry Baby' for the Ronettes, but the legendary girl group rejected it.

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.

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

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

Search a massive database of over 4 decades of clues from the TV quiz show 'Jeopardy!'