The plot of Dan Brown's "Lost Symbol" was kept secret until its release. Sept. 15, 2009— -- This time, it's not a fanciful yarn about the holy father's deep dark secrets. Instead, the ...

A half-century ago, when more Americans participated in civic groups, 4.1 million men regularly spent evenings at Masonic lodges around the country. That period, from the late 1950s to the early 1960s ...

Six years after Brown intrigued millions of readers with "The Da Vinci Code," he has set his new novel, "The Lost Symbol," in Washington and probed the Freemasons, a fraternal order that well suits ...

Secret societies and organisations have long fascinated outsiders, but few have attracted as much intrigue and speculation throughout history as the Freemasons. It is the "world's largest secret ...

Fourteen presidents have called themselves Freemasons, members of the centuries-old fraternal organization known for its secret rituals and mysterious symbols. Abraham Lincoln was not one of them, but ...

In 1854, US Commodore Matthew Perry landed at Hakodate, Hokkaidō, in the northern part of Japan. Two members of his crew who had died from disease were buried on the slopes of Mount Hakodate—the ...

The 12 Bistendu (Bombay Ebony) trees stand out on Vijay Chowk, making a clear square and compasses pattern, recreating the famed (and recognisable) logo of Freemasonry or the Freemasons, the fraternal ...

WASHINGTON — The lodge room of the Naval Masonic Hall is a colorful and somewhat inscrutable sight for the nonmember, with its blue walls, Egyptian symbols, checkered floor in the center and high ...

The court case in Belfast may unlock secrets in ancient order. Sept. 23, 2009— -- Dan "The Da Vinci Code" Brown has just written a book about them, and now a court case in Belfast could unearth ...