The 2025 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade floats include Camp Snoopy, POPCITY, and more

See historic Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade photos

Snoopy and Bullwinkle and Clifford, oh my! This slideshow has photographs of all those characters (and more) from when they debuted as balloons at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. These photos span from the original parades in the 1920s through the early 2000s.

Go behind the scenes at the Macy’s Parade Studio

With dozens of balloons and floats, and thousands of costumes, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade requires year-round planning to pull off. Go behind the scenes with the designers and builders who make the magic happen. See how the floats come together and what makes this annual spectacle a reality.

In 1924, elephants from the Central Park Zoo marched in Macy's inaugural parade

Enormous balloons didn’t make an appearance until 1927, and the parade wasn’t televised until 1948. But no matter the decade, a visit from Santa Claus has always been a highlight.

During COVID-19, New Orleanians turned their houses into floats

After the 2021 Mardi Gras parades were canceled, New Orleans resident Joy Boudreaux joked on social media that residents should turn their homes into floats. They followed suit and interested (socially distanced) revellers followed maps of participating homes.

Watch a medley of Pets.com commercials with the famous sock puppet mascot

Pets.com used a sock puppet decorated like a dog (operated by comedian Michael Ian Black) as the company's mascot. The sock puppet became synonymous with the brand. An auto lender company called BarNone Inc. later purchased the sock puppet for $125K and rebranded it with the slogan "Everybody deserves a second chance."

The annual “Fiesta” parade features the largest equestrian parade in the US

Every first week of August, Santa Barbara welcomes tens of thousands of tourists for Old Spanish Fiesta Days festival, a five-day event downtown celebrating Spain’s legacy in the town. A capstone moment is the annual equestrian parade, honoring the region’s horse tradition with hundreds of the animals.

The film ‘Coco’ sparked global interest in the Day of the Dead

The holiday figures prominently in the 2017 Disney film, which inspired an uptick in Day of the Dead merchandise being carried by national chains like Target and Michaels, sold alongside Halloween merchandise.

Track Santa and his industrious elves

Starting in December, you can follow along with Santa’s trek across the globe. Spend time on the map, play games, and even translate your holiday messages into other languages.

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.

Spy balloons. UFOs. What else is up there?

The appearance and downing of a Chinese surveillance balloon brought the concept of high-altitude floating aircraft into the public consciousness. While sparking a diplomatic row, it also revealed how many objects—nefarious or benign—are...

The Madison Avenue Walk of Fame

In Hollywood, the most prominent celebrities get “stars” on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Now, industry events producer Advertising Week has created a virtual walk of fame for the biggest stars of the ad world, from the Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime Bear to the Energizer Bunny.

A collection of the world's best live animal cams

What are the animals up to? If you're too busy to get to the zoo today, you can take a quick glance at this site, which aggregates dozens of live feeds of animals from around the world. See elephants, bald eagles, and puppies all in one place—but...

An interactive map of 250 American places worth visiting before you die

The Smithsonian created ten categories of landmarks—from history and food to oddball Americana and architecture—to enrich your celebration of America's semiquincentennial. You can sort by region or category, see a map of each location, and learn each spot's significance in a clean, aesthetic user interface.

Big Bird was almost included on the Challenger mission

As part of NASA's early outreach ideas tied to the Teacher in Space program, Sesame Street's Big Bird was briefly considered for a Challenger flight, but the plan was dropped because the oversized costume could not fit safely inside the shuttle.

The title of 'World’s Largest Christmas Tree' is disputed

Cities in the US, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands all claim they have the world’s largest Christmas tree—ranging from massive evergreens, TV and communication towers, and hillside light displays.

Hear about 20 years of change for CES

Longtime CES spokesperson Allie Fried discusses how the show has grown in scale, global reach, and ambition. The podcast also highlights recent tech innovations showcased at the show, including an AI baby panda that can sense emotions and robotic companions for Alzheimer’s patients.

Watch Budweiser's 2026 Super Bowl ad

Budweiser's Super Bowl LX commercial is called "American Icons" and features a Clydesdale foal.

Amazon is the most-loved brand among baby boomers

Macy's ranked at number five for the oldest generation alive today, whereas Gen Xers have Apple in their number one slot. This data visualization outlines the most-loved brands among baby boomers.

A Georgia town holds an annual New Year's Eve possum drop

The town of 3,200 residents in the northwestern corner of the state began the quirky event—which lowers a taxidermied possum dangling in the center of a Times Square-esque ball—in the mid-1990s. In 2024, it ranked eighth USA Today’s list of the best New Year’s Eve drops.

Check out Variety's picks for the best cosplay of Comic-Con 2024

Take a look at some of the best cosplay from Comic-Con 2024. Entries include a tiger-painted dog, Elphaba from "Wicked," and a man dressed as a slice of pizza.

The Pop-Tarts Bowl ends with its mascot being eaten by the winning team

In one of college football’s quirkiest traditions, the Pop-Tarts Bowl concludes with the victorious players taking bites out of the giant Pop-Tart mascot.

Pepsi uses augmented reality to prank people at a bus shelter

Commuters at a London bus stop have seen alien invasions, monsters from the sewers grabbing pedestrians and tigers running down the street as part of an elaborate advertising campaign.

See the extraordinary and ephemeral installations from Burning Man 2025

Despite having to work in a muddy desert for just a few days, Burning Man attendees manage to create large, abstract, and visually incredible works of art.

Explained: The Year of the Rabbit

One of the world's largest holidays, this visual guide will help you welcome the Year of the Rabbit and celebrate the new lunar year.

Oktoberfest's beer tents have specific themes

With 17 big tents and 21 small ones, each with a unique personality, there’s one to suit every type of Oktoberfest visitor. The oldest, Augustiner Festhalle, has been a part of the festival since 1898 and can hold 8,500 people.

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

PIckleball is the fastest-growing participation sport in America

The outdoor game experienced a surge in popularity during the 2020 pandemic because it could be set up in driveways, be played by all ages, and allowed for safe social interactions. That social aspect has helped pickleball’s popularity continue to rise post-pandemic. A March 2023 APP report showed 48.3 million American adults played the sport in the last 12 months.

See the most iconic photos from four decades of LIFE magazine

See these 16 pieces of art evoking phobias of snakes, flying, spiders, and more. 

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.

'Silent' fireworks have gained more interest in recent years as a quieter celebratory option.

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

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

Power lines are dotted with large, brightly colored balls to improve the visibility of these thin wires to helicopters and small planes and help prevent potential crashes.

Explore the known asteroids, comets, and spacecraft involved in asteroid studies within our solar system with 'Eyes on Asteroids,' a 3D visualization from NASA.

In 1915, workers recovered a submarine-like vessel from the Chicago River, prompting fears of German espionage

Crows are believed to have intelligence on par with a seven-year-old child and demonstrate complex behaviors, from problem-solving with tools to recognizing human faces.

Watch a 1934 short film starring jazz legend Cab Calloway, a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance's music scene

In 1945, Surrealist artist Salvador Dalí and legendary animator Walt Disney began collaborating on a short film that was not completed until 2003, years after both men had died.

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

Explore an interactive map of battles from the American Revolution, along with detailed summaries of each engagement

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.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

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.

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

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by more than 1.5 million Muslims each year.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.

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

Roughly 43 million US borrowers owe roughly $1.7T in student debt, the second-largest source of consumer debt behind mortgages.