Erin Blakemore

Erin Blakemore

 

Erin Blakemore is a Boulder, Colorado-based journalist. Her work has appeared in publications like The Washington Post, TIME, mental_floss, Popular Science and JSTOR Daily. Learn more at erinblakemore.com.

This shopping bag was designed by the International Ladies' Garment Workers Union and handed out to shoppers in front of department stores around New York in 1964.

Fuel Your Design Obsession With 200,000 Newly Digitized Artifacts

Explore 30 centuries of design at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum without leaving your computer

Could Taiwan be your next destination?

This Is the World’s Best Place for Expats

Taiwan wins big in survey of over 14,000 expatriates

It's alive!

One in Four Americans Didn’t Read a Book Last Year

But don't mourn the death of the printed word just yet

If your book has a stamp like this, it's probably way overdue.

Alabama Library Plans to Enforce Strict Overdue Book Ordinance

You could face a fine or even spend a night in jail for keeping books too long

That's not an art forger—it's a copyist.

What's With the People With Easels in Art Museums?

Inside the longest-running program at the MET

Beneath this obelisk is an even more outrageous display of Mussolini's self-regard.

Scholars Uncover Secret Message from Mussolini

The dictator's self-image lives on deep beneath an obelisk he built to commemorate his own greatness

This fossil is really, really old.

Scientists Think They Could Have Found Earth’s Oldest Fossil

Was a young Earth old enough to support life 3.7 billion years ago?

Philadelphia's Solari board is just one casualty of digital technology.

Now Departing: Some of America’s Most Iconic Train Signs

Amtrak will demolish departure boards in Philadelphia and New York

The plot thickens...

Could You Solve the Case of the Missing Mystery Heirs?

Are you related to Clifton Robbins? You could receive royalties from his 21st-century publisher

CCC workers plant trees at Mammoth Cave National Park in 1938. It's thought that "Roosevelt's Tree Army" planted 3 billion trees during the group's tenure.

You Can Thank These Depression-Era Workers for Your National Parks

Daily life in the Civilian Conservation Corps is preserved in a new National Park Service archive

An "astronaut" walks outside of the HI-SEAS dome on Mauna Loa.

Crew From NASA's Yearlong Mars Simulation Finally Emerges From the Dome

Would-be Martians say aloha to a challenging experiment

Marie Tharp's map helped vindicate plate tectonics, but her work was initially dismissed as "girl talk."

Seeing Is Believing: How Marie Tharp Changed Geology Forever

Marie Tharp's maps helped prove continental drift was real. But her work was initially dismissed as "girl talk"

Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow were all fun and games—until they felt wronged by their fellow gang members.

Read a Chilling Letter From Bonnie and Clyde

Got $40,000? You could own an angry letter from the vengeful duo

Papahānaumokuākea may be a mouthful, but now it's the world's largest marine protected area.

President Obama Just Created the World's Largest Marine Protected Area

Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument is now twice the size of Texas

Langston Hughes' Harlem brownstone: Cultural remnant or great place for a Starbucks?

The Fight to Preserve Langston Hughes’ Harlem Home From Gentrification

A new kind of Harlem renaissance is threatening the home of one of America's greatest poets

Put down your pencil—convincing computer-generated handwriting is here.

This Algorithm Lets You “Write” Like the Greats

Your words, their handwriting

Meet Octobot.

This Robot Is Soft and Squishy Inside and Out—No Wires or Batteries Necessary

"Octobot" uses a deceptively simple fuel source and inspiration from the depths of the sea

Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in Maine protects over 87,000 acres of land.

Maine Just Got the Nation’s Newest National Monument

Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument could one day become a national park

Rescuers search for survivors following the earthquake that struck central Italy early this morning.

The Geology Behind Italy’s Catastrophic Quake

A magnitude 6.2 earthquake shook the Apennine Mountains—and given the region’s geology, that’s no surprise

The first photo of Earth from the moon was taken on August 23, 1966.

Fifty Years Ago, This Photo Captured the First View of Earth From the Moon

And Earth’s view of itself changed forever

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