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In this April 11, 2012, file photo, Dorothy's Ruby Slippers, from the "Wizard of Oz" are on display as part of a new exhibit, "American Stories," at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington.

A man is charged in the 2005 theft of Judy Garland's red 'Wizard of Oz' slippers

The case stumped law enforcement for years, despite conducting multiple interviews and identifying suspects. The pair of shoes now rests in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

The Codex Sassoon, one of the world's oldest Hebrew Bibles, is up for auction

The earliest, most complete Hebrew bible ever discovered is being sold at auction Wednesday at Sotheby's in New York City. It's estimated to go for between $30 and $50 million.

A sweeping new study sheds light on butterflies' origins

A new study finds that butterflies probably originated in North or Central America around 100 million years ago. (Story originally aired on All Things Considered on May 15, 2023.)

A blue morpho butterfly sits on a leaf. A new study finds that butterflies likely originated somewhere in western North America or Central America around 100 million years ago.

Butterflies originated in North America after splitting from moths, new study suggests

Butterflies likely split from nocturnal moths around 100 million years ago in present-day western North America or Central America, a new study of the winged insects finds.

They're hip-hop artists who weave public-health messages into their rhymes: From left: Sister Fa, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels and Ali A.K.A. Mind perform at the Skoll World Forum 2023. During this rap, McDaniels called out: "I'm not afraid of the dark anymore/because I am the light./I'll be there at the start of the war/Because I am the fight."

The story behind a lesser known track from hip-hop history: 'Stroke Ain't No Joke'

For decades, the genre has had a stealth mission: promoting public health. It started with Doug E. Fresh's "Stroke Ain't No Joke."

Avid TV watcher is selling memorabilia after plans for a museum fall through

Ever dreamed of grabbing a drink at the bar from Cheers? Iconic sets and memorabilia from that and other TV shows are up for auction. James Comisar started building his collection decades ago.

Truman Committee became the model for scrutinizing giant public expenditures

Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep talks to NPR's Steve Drummond about his book, The Watchdog: How the Truman Committee Battled Corruption and Helped Win World War Two.

Peter Amstein, a volunteer who serves as president of the Connections Museum board, says early phone technology shaped his IT career.

Remembering America's first social network: the landline telephone

Young tech nerds in Seattle are trying to preserve the mysterious machines — many of them almost lost forever — that made America's landline telephone system work before the age of computers.

A tourist visits the Ghriba synagogue on the island of Djerba in southern Tunisia on Oct. 28, 2015. Five people, including two Jewish pilgrims, were killed Tuesday in a gun attack at the synagogue, Tunisia's TAP news agency said.

A gun attack on an old Tunisian synagogue has killed 5 people

The number of people killed in a gun attack on a synagogue on the Tunisian island of Djerba during an annual Jewish pilgrimage has risen to five. The motive for the attack was under investigation.

'Red Memory' aims to profile people shaped by China's Cultural Revolution

Tania Branigan, once China correspondent for the Guardian, makes the strongest English-language effort yet to reconstruct what it was like to live through, and then with, this part of Chinese history.

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