This Fun Fact Will Change the Way You Watch the Movie Airplane!
It’s no secret that the 1980 comedy movie Airplane! is a parody. But for some reason, I’ve spent my entire life…
The First Film Adaptation of Frankenstein is Now Available for Streaming
Thanks to the Library of Congress, the earliest known film adaptation of Frankenstein, one of the foundational texts of…
It's Now Legal to Hack DRM to Repair Your Own Devices
In a blow to manufacturers that use digital rights management (DRM) protections to prevent consumers from tinkering…
Library of Congress Gives Up Collecting All Tweets Because Twitter Is Garbage
In 2010, the Library of Congress started archiving every single public tweet that was published on Twitter. It even…
This Former Nuclear Bunker Is Now Used to Preserve All of America's Film Reels
There’s a fascinating backstory about the building that is now the National Audiovisual Conservation Center, which is…
The Copyright Office Wants You to Explain Why the DMCA Is So Bad
The DMCA takedown and counter-takedown procedures has been a mess for a while now. And it didn’t look like anyone who…
The New DMCA Rules Don't Go Far Enough
Decrypting copyrighted materials is, according to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, an illegal act. Yesterday, the…
There's a Hidden Conveyor Belt Under the Capitol That Was Just for Moving Books
Most people who work in the U.S. Capitol don’t know about the 100-year-old book conveyor tunnel underneath them that…
The Fed's Cold War Bunker Had $4 Billion Cash For After The Apocalypse
New York and DC are piles of ash, but at least your checks are clearing. That was the idea behind the Culpeper Switch,…
Whoa, Driving Around In Nazi Germany Was Super Intense
Archivists at the Library of Congress recently discovered a "Nazi Driver Education Film." It shows German society just…
The Animated Centaurs That Predate Fantasia By Decades
Below the jump is the only remaining fragment of Winsor McCay's 1921 animation The Centaurs. It was produced by Rialto…
Where to Watch the 25 Movies Just Added to the National Film Registry
Each year the Library of Congress adds 25 movies to the National Film Registry for preservation. This year they've…
Most of Hollywood's Silent Films Are Lost and Gone Forever
There may be a recent resurgence of interest in silent film (thanks in no small part to the success of The Artist), but…
How a Government Shutdown Would Affect Science and Technology
The clock is ticking as a full-fledged government shutdown looms on the horizon. House Republicans remain resolute in…
Emoji Dick, A Novel Translated into Emoji, Accepted by Library of Congress
Emoji Dick, the oh-man-how-did-this-actually-work-out emoji translation of Moby Dick, is now in the Library of Congress.…
Photographs Look Even Better With 200 Years of Decay
The Library of Congress is brimming with flawless daguerreotype photographs that give us a pristine look into the state…
Library of Congress Debuts "National Jukebox" Crammed with Rare Sounds
The Library of Congress is one of the most splendid resources in the country—which is terrific, if you're in DC. For…
Tesla Predicts the Portable TV (1926)
In 1926 Nikola Tesla gave an interview to Collier's Weekly in which he predicted something that sounds remarkably like…
How Blocking WikiLeaks Actually Hurts the Government
Last week, the Library of Congress confirmed it's blocking WikiLeaks. Censorship principles aside, the ban has one…
Dream-like nature photography from the 1890s
These incandescent pictures and postcards from the turn of the 19th century aren't true color photography — they were…