How quidditch brought a Ugandan school to life

'Harry Potter’ inspired a real-life version of Quidditch

Created by college students in 2005, the broomstick-based sport became an international phenomenon with organized leagues and World Cup tournaments. Now called Quadball, it’s played in more than 40 countries worldwide.

'The Wizarding World of Harry Potter' brought the books to life in theme parks

Opened in 2010 at Universal Orlando, the immersive attraction recreates Hogwarts, Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. Additional Wizarding World lands now operate at Universal parks in Japan, Hollywood, and Beijing.

Go behind the scenes of the making of the ‘Harry Potter’ films

See a rare look at how the beloved series was brought to life—from set design and visual effects to interviews with cast and crew who shaped the wizarding world on screen.

JK Rowling first thought of 'Harry Potter' on a delayed train in 1990

The idea for a young boy discovering he was a wizard came to Rowling during a train ride from Manchester to London. Over the next seven years—while facing personal loss and financial hardship—she completed the first book as a single mother living on welfare.

Researchers found that reading 'Harry Potter' made children more tolerant

Psychological research showed that children and young adults who read Harry Potter developed greater empathy and more accepting attitudes toward marginalized groups.

Ancient Egyptians played Senet, a board game where players threw sticks or bones as dice.

Browse a pamphlet warning parents about the dangers of 'Dungeons & Dragons'

Bothered About Dungeons & Dragons was a nonprofit dedicated to counteracting what it considered the "Witchcraft Suicide Violence" of the fantasy roleplaying game. It includes a list of recent teenage suicides, arguing that they all had "one common denominator: ALL WERE HEAVILY INVOLVED IN DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS."

How baseball shaped Black America during Reconstruction

A cornerstone of the budding Black culture following the Civil War was baseball, with several clubs springing up in Black neighborhoods and leaders like Frederick Douglass cheering on the players, including his son, who played for a team in Washington. This detailed history of the early Black leagues unpacks how the game enhanced the upwardly mobile community—and why that fact led to the segregation of what would become Major League Baseball.

How David Attenborough's work in color television gave tennis balls their color

As controller of BBC Two, Attenborough wanted the BBC to achieve the first full-color broadcast in Europe and saw Wimbledon as the perfect event to make it happen. Noticing that the white tennis balls used then would stain green and become less visible on color broadcasts as matches progressed, he suggested fluorescent balls, which were eventually adopted.

Ebola species have historically been named after the places where they were discovered, stigmatizing residents of those areas, including Bundibugyo, in Uganda

This occurred with Ebola Zaire (now the DRC), Sudan, and Bundibugyo, a region in western Uganda composed largely of cocoa farmers. Uganda's link to the Bundibugyo virus is that the species was discovered there almost 20 years ago, in a November 2007 outbreak.

One Connecticut prison is using pickleball for rehabilitation

The Pickleball for Incarcerated Communities League started in 2023 at the MacDougall-Walker Correctional Institution in Hartford, Connecticut, but has already expanded to other facilities across the state. Inmates say it's been transformative. The program has plans to expand to other states.

After Title IX, the University of Chicago advertised a women's academic-athletic scholarship

There were athletic scholarships for women before Title IX, but the University of Chicago’s Gertrude Dudley Scholarship might’ve been the first to advertise itself as such, taking out an ad in a 1973 issue of Parade magazine. The school received over 1,000 applications.

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

Clue, the murder-mystery board game, was designed during World War II air raids.

The inclusion of NBA stars in the '92 Olympics changed basketball's global standing

The Olympics finally permitted professional basketball players to play in 1992 Summer Games and the NBA produced one of the greatest basketball teams ever assembled: The Dream Team. Billions worldwide watched Jordan, Bird, and Magic dominate to win gold, inspiring future Hall of Famers and increasing the NBA's viewership.

Turning 2D illustrations into 3D models with AR

Coloring books capture the imagination of children and provide them with one of their earliest opportunities for creative expression. This two-minute video shows an augmented reality coloring book app in which children color characters in a printed coloring book, their drawing is detected and tracked, and the video stream is augmented with an animated 3-D version of the character that is textured according to the child’s coloring.

Ebola species have historically been named after where they were discovered, stigmatizing residents who live there, including Bundibugyo, in Uganda.

'One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world'

- Activist and author Malala Yousafzai (1997-present)

Ursula K. Le Guin worked to dismantle fantasy's clichés

The author is one of the genre’s most legendary names, constructing high fantasies like “The Earthsea Cycle” that detail intricate new worlds. In 2004, she delivered a lecture criticizing books and movies that rely on a simple formula: white characters, Medieval settings, and a battle between good and evil. “Whenever I find a fantasy that is set in a genuinely imagined society and culture instead of this lazy-minded, recycled hokum,” she said, “I feel like setting off fireworks.”

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent a summer training with monks in central China to train his body and mind.

How the NSF Public Understanding of Science program fueled science interest and literacy

To support STEM education at all levels and in all settings, the NSF has invested in public-facing science projects since 1957. These investments produced science education storytelling and entertainment programming, including "Bill Nye the Science Guy," "The Magic School Bus," and the "Flight of the Butterflies" and "Blue Whales" IMAX films.

Private schools are free to experiment with teaching styles

Because they’re not beholden to national curricula, private school teachers can use different pedagogical approaches, like Harkness, which was developed at New Hampshire’s Phillips Exeter Academy. The method brings students to a large round oval table and encourages them to lead the lesson through inquiry.

Stephen Hawking's early rowing days shaped the bold persona for which he became known

Before gaining fame as a physicist, Hawking was a coxswain at Oxford, where the sport helped him find his social footing and develop leadership skills, even as his motor neuron disease began to emerge.

'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' was inspired by a drought

In 1886, Baum moved to Aberdeen, South Dakota, opening a general store and a newspaper. A drought afflicted the area, decimating crops. Baum moved, but his first 'Oz' book describes Dorothy's Kansas in a way that matched what he saw in South Dakota.

FIFA was formed in 1904 and held its first tournament in 1930

In 1930, the first World Cup was held in Uruguay after the Olympics refused to allow professional soccer players to play in the 1932 games. The host country made it to the final of the 13-team event, playing against Argentina. Watch this remastered film of the 1930 match with Uruguay defeating Argentina 4-2 in front of 68,000 screaming fans at the newly opened Estadio Centenario.

How Monty Python shaped modern comedy

This video essay analyzes the way Monthy Python embodies postmodernism and Comedy of the Absurd through its off-the-wall humor, skewering social conventions and powerful institutions through its satirical sketches and movies. The video also traces the impact the comedy troupe Monthy Python had (and continues to have) on modern comedy, illustrating how popular shows like "South Park" and "Family Guy" and movies like "Deadpool" are indebted to the famous troupe.

The sports competition developed on the Alaskan tundra

Alaska's NYO Games invite high school athletes from the state's over 270 indigenous tribes to compete in numerous events based on survival tactics developed by their ancestors. This short documentary from Great Big Story walks through some of the more grueling events and speaks with the Games' coaches and young athletes about how the event preserves their shared culture.

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.

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.

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

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

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

After 25 people used virtual reality headsets to practice flying with virtual wings—flapping their arms—their visual cortex responded to the wings almost as if they were real arms, treating them as body parts.

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.

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, 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

According to the physics of black holes, our 4D reality may be a hologram—a projection of information coded on a 2D surface on the edge of the universe.

The US first hosted the World Cup in 1994, a tournament that lives in soccer infamy for its poor planning and the murder of Colombian player Andres Escobar, who'd accidentally scored on his own net.

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

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.

Learn more about the history of fireworks, which dates back to an accidental invention during an alchemist's quest for information about immortality.

See the 25 of the best photos of auroras from around the world.

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

A pickleball's loud 'pop' sound can reach 120 decibels, which is equivalent to a hammer hitting a nail

Elk Cloner, the first computer virus to spread in public, was written as a practical joke by Richard Skrenta, a Pittsburgh high school student.

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

Volcanic activity may have triggered the Black Death by spewing gases that led to crop failures in Europe, thus forcing the import of grain ships with plague-infested fleas.

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.

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

Hookworm infection, though risky, may help fight certain autoimmune conditions by tamping down the immune system's inflammatory response.