1 for the road

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Photo: Richard Vogel/AP Marlee, a Pembroke Welsh corgi, barrels through a wave during an annual surfing competition for dogs in Huntington Beach, California. Go deeper.

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Photo: Magali Cohen/Hans Lucas via AFP and Getty Images Paris opened parts of the River Seine to public swimming this past weekend for the first time in more than 100 years. It follows a major cleanup effort conducted for the Olympics.

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Photo: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images Fireworks light up the Eiffel Tower yesterday to celebrate Bastille Day.

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A Martian meteorite said to be the largest piece of Mars on Earth is displayed at Sotheby's in New York. Photo: Richard Drew/AP A 54-pound chunk of Mars — the largest piece of the red planet ever discovered on Earth — sold for $5 million today at auction. An enormous asteroid strike blew the piece of rock off the Martian surface, AP reports. It was discovered in the Sahara Desert in 2023.

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Photo: Marco Bertorello/AFP via Getty Images Spectators jumped in a makeshift swimming pool as Tour de France riders raced past earlier this week in central France. Slovenian cyclist Tadej Pogacar — a three-time winner — seems to be running away with this year's race, though there's still a week left to go, The Wall Street Journal's Jason Gay writes (gift link).

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Diver Zach Whitrock collects images of the wreckage of the schooner F.J. King. Photo: Wisconsin Historical Society via AP Researchers finally found the wreckage of a ship that's been at the bottom of Lake Michigan for the past 140 years. Shipwreck hunters have been looking for the wreck of the F.J. King for decades, and found it near a small town on Wisconsin's Door Peninsula, AP reports. The 144-foot vessel sank during a storm in 1886. The crew escaped and was rescued by another boat.

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A giant pumpkin is measured at the 52nd annual World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, Calif., yesterday. Photo: Godofredo A. Vásquez/AP This 2,346-pound pumpkin took home the top prize yesterday at the World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off — held in Half Moon Bay, Calif., south of San Francisco. The victory comes with $20,000 and a bit of redemption for the man who grew the giant gourd. His entry into last year's contest fell just 6 pounds short of first place. Go deeper.

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A polar bear is seen at an abandoned research station on Kolyuchin Island, off Chukotka, Russia. Photo: Vadim Makhorov/AP Polar bears have taken over an abandoned research station off Russia's far eastern coast. Photographer Vadim Makhorov was filming the landscape of Kolyuchin Island last month when he noticed polar bears using abandoned buildings for shelter. He went back for a better view, captured with a drone. See more photos. Photo: Vadim Makhorov/AP

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Nina Richards, dressed as Shrek, races in a giant pumpkin during the West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta yesterday in Tualatin, Ore. Photo: Jenny Kane/AP The West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta — held yesterday in Tualatin, Oregon — is exactly what it sounds like: a boat race, but with giant, hollowed-out pumpkins instead of boats. People race in giant pumpkins during the West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta yesterday in Tualatin, Ore. Photo: Jenny Kane/AP

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?  Erie Canal turns 200

Scene on the Erie Canal, 1842. Drawing via Bettmann Archive Today is the 200th birthday of the Erie Canal — the 363-mile engineering marvel connecting the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean via the Hudson River. Humans dug the canal and built 18 aqueducts and 83 locks to account for 675 feet of elevation change along its route. The replica Seneca Chief travels down the Mohawk River last week in Glenville, N.Y., commemorating New York Gov. DeWitt Clinton's inaugural 1825 journey along the Erie Canal. Photo: Michael Hill/AP New York paid for and managed construction of the canal from 1817 to 1825. It was completed two years early and under budget, George F. Will writes for the Washington Post. The Erie Canal minted the "Empire State," Will notes. "y linking Americans living west of the Appalachian mountains to the Hudson River, it created New York City as a financial center." Keep reading George Will's column (gift link).

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? Pumpkin stylists

A pumpkinscape in Woodland Hills, Calif. Photo: Mr. Jack O' Lanterns Pumpkins It's Halloween Eve (which means it's also All Hallows' Eve ... eve!) A seasonal micro-economy is booming: Pumpkin entrepreneurs and porch stylists are building "pumpkinscapes" that can cost hundreds of dollars — even north of $1,000 — for a ghostly gourd array, The Wall Street Journal reports. In Texas, Porch Pumpkins ("concierge pumpkin delivery") had a notice this weekend saying it was "SOLD OUT!!! Join our Waitlist now." "At homes across the country, orange jack-o'-lanterns, greenish-gray Jarrahdales [heirloom pumpkins] and pink porcelain dolls cascade down the stairs, sometimes mixed with cornstalks [and] vibrantly colored mums," The Journal says. "Most of these businesses offer pickup at the end of the season and have partnerships with farms, where they drop off discards that become food for animals." Keep reading (gift link).

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Dictionary.com page. Photo: Kiichiro Sato/AP "6-7" — the teen slang that's driving parents and teachers up the wall — is Dictionary.com's word of the year. No, it's not technically a word. And no one knows what it means or why the kids love it so much. But boy, it's everywhere.

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The moon rises behind the Empire State Building last night. Photo: Gary Hershorn/Getty Images Look up at the night sky tonight and you'll see the biggest, brightest supermoon of 2025. The moon is at the point in its orbit that's closest to Earth, and it's a full moon.

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? 1 for the road

File photo: Jim Cole/AP The publishing world was thrown for a loop today when the Farmers' Almanac announced it would be shutting down after more than 200 years of publication. The source of the confusion: There are two almanacs for farmers. The Farmers' Almanac — the one that's closing — and the Old Farmer's Almanac, which had to clarify today that it is still publishing. ? They're both old. The Farmers' Almanac has been publishing since 1818, but the Old Farmer's Almanac has been in print since 1792. They're both based in New England: The older almanac is published in New Hampshire; its newer rival comes from Maine. But if the term "farmer's almanac" conjures up for you a mental image of a book with an old-timey yellow cover, known for its long-term weather forecasts, you're probably thinking of the Old Farmer's Almanac — which isn't going anywhere. Go deeper.

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Photo: Diane Bondareff/AP for Tishman Speyer This year's Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree — a 75-foot-tall, 11-ton Norway Spruce from East Greenbush, N.Y. — arrived in Manhattan over the weekend. It'll be lit Dec. 3. If you're going.

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The aurora borealis lights up the night sky over Monroe, Wis., on Tuesday. Photo: Ross Harried/NurPhoto via Getty Images The Northern Lights have been illuminating skies across the U.S. this week — and they're not done yet. Social media has been filled with photos of the aurora borealis dancing over cities, farms, mountains and lakes — a moment of shared serenity at a time when that's hard to find. More photos. The Northern Lights fill the sky Tuesday near Valley Falls, Kan. Photo: Charlie Riedel/AP

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? 1 for the road: Ken Burns on America's genesis

"The First Reading of the Declaration of Independence," painting by Peter Frederick Rothermel, 1867. Courtesy of Founding Forward via "The American Revolution" Premiering tonight at 8 p.m. ET on PBS: "The American Revolution," a 6-part, 12-hour documentary series on America's eight-year founding struggle. (Airs for six nights through Friday, and streams free at PBS.org and on the PBS App.) Directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein and David Schmidt. Written by Geoffrey Ward. "The 4K UHD [ultra-high-definition] presentation not only honors the artistry behind Burns's storytelling but also opens the door to a new generation of viewers who expect cinematic quality in their streaming experiences," PBS says. Voiceover actors range from Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep to Morgan Freeman and Laura Linney. Dozens of historians of all ages provide on-air commentary, including Pulitzer-winning military authority Rick Atkinson, plus top scholars on slavery (Vincent Brown), Native American history (Ned Blackhawk) and the British Empire (Maya Jasanoff). Behind the scenes: Filming at Fort Ticonderoga, N.Y. Photo: Vicky Lee for "The American Revolution" Burns writes: "The American Revolution" presents "the story of the men and women of the Revolutionary generation, their humanity in victory and defeat, and the crisis that they lived through." "By weaving together accounts of American political leaders and their British counterparts with the perspectives of the so-called ordinary people who waged and witnessed war, 'The American Revolution' will be an expansive, evenhanded look at the virtues and the contradictions in the fight for independence and the birth of the United States." ?Fun fact … Number of shots in the series that Ken Burns took on his iPhone: 29. Watch the trailer ... Read the release ... Official site (more video).

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Lobstah nativity

Photo: Lobster Nativity Scene New England has a new holiday sensation: a lobster nativity scene. The region loves coastal kitsch, and if we can squeeze more nautical imagery into the holidays, we will, Axios Boston's Mike Deehan writes. Rosemary Quantick, an English immigrant on Cape Cod, designed the set to honor her adopted home. The set has taken off more in recent years, thanks to billboards near a popular holiday market. The price: $114.90 for a full set. Individual ornaments go for $25-$32.

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? 1 for the road: End of an era

Photo: Al Drago/Getty Images "Mourners" toss pennies into a casket to pay their respects during a "funeral" for the penny at the Lincoln Memorial in D.C. yesterday. Go deeper: Last pennies sell for big bucks.

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? 1 for the road: NYC era ends

Retired MetroCards at an MTA facility in Queens. Photo: Vincent Alban/The New York Times New York City's MetroCard — and its notoriously finicky magnetic strip — is following the subway token into retirement this week after unlocking turnstiles for more than 30 years. Wednesday is the last day to buy or refill a MetroCard as America's largest transit system fully transitions to a contactless payment system — OMNY — that allows riders to tap their credit card or phone. Transit officials say more than 90% of subway and bus trips are now paid using the tap-and-go system, introduced in 2019. Go deeper.

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? 1 for the road: Confetti wishing wall

People write wishes on confetti in Times Square last week. Photo: Milo Hess/ZUMA Press Wire The confetti dropped in Times Square at midnight contain New Year's wishes from thousands who scribbled notes on small pieces of paper this month. The Times Square wishing wall received more than 180,000 submissions in person and online, according to the New York Post. The wishes: Messages like "good health" and a desire for "sun and sand" were common. Many wanted to enrich their lives, with wishes like "read lots of books" and "fall in love." We pray that the person who wants "a new pair of glasses" will get their wish. Others hoped for "a new car," "a new house" and "a walk-in closet." More wishes.

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? 1 for the road: Moon rocket ready

Photo: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images A NASA rocket set to carry humans into lunar orbit for the first time in over 50 years is awaiting launch from Florida's Kennedy Space Center. ? The 10-day Artemis II mission will see U.S. astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch, plus Canadian Jeremy Hansen, fly around the Moon and back. ? It's a dress rehearsal for a planned lunar landing with Artemis III — the equivalent of Apollo 10 before Apollo 11's "one small step." ?️ The launch window opens Feb. 6. Go deeper.

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These are always so interesting.

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✈️ 1 for the road: Dulles doodles

A new "Donald J. Trump Terminal" is envisioned in front of the current Dulles main terminal. Rendering: Bermello Ajamil & Partners LLC, in partnership with Zaha Hadid Architects World-renowned architecture firm Zaha Hadid Architects has answered President Trump's call to overhaul Dulles Airport — and proposed a new grand terminal named after him, Axios D.C.'s Cuneyt Dil reports. Why it matters: If realized, the plan would turn the current Eero Saarinen-designed main terminal largely into a temple of luxury retail. The Trump terminal (left) and the current terminal, as seen repurposed in the background (right). Rendering: Bermello Ajamil & Partners LLC, in partnership with Zaha Hadid Architects In response to the Transportation Department's call for bids to reimagine Dulles "at the speed of Trump," the agency received 21 submissions. See more proposed designs ...

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🐋 1 for the road: Whale "baby boom"

A right whale near Duxbury Beach, Mass., in 2015. Photo: David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images North Atlantic right whales are having a bit of a baby boom, with nearly two dozen born so far this season, Wired reports. That's "an encouraging sign for a species whose population is estimated to be below 400." 🐳 Phil Hamilton, senior scientist at the New England Aquarium, tells the mag: "In the 1980s and 1990s we only got over 18 maybe a couple of times, just to give that some context." 🚢 The species remains on the brink of extinction, with boat strikes and fishing nets posing major threats. Go deeper.