History

Old Patent Office Building, ca. 1846

A Pantheon After All

There's no more fitting venue for American initiative and American art than the old Patent Office building

One of the most striking arrays of Neolithic monuments in Britain, the Ring of Brodgar is on the Orkney Islands off the coast of Scotland. Dating from about 2500 B.C., the ring's stones form a perfect circle 340 feet in diameter. (The tallest of the surviving stones is 14 feet high.) A ditch surrounding the ring, dug out of bedrock, is 33 feet wide and 11 feet deep. Archaeologist Colin Renfrew, who partially excavated the site in 1973, estimates the ditch would have required 80,000 man-hours to dig.

Romancing the Stones

Who built the great megaliths and stone circles of Great Britain, and why? Researchers continue to puzzle and marvel over these age-old questions

A year after the eruption, the effects were felt in the northeastern United States, where vital corn crops withered from killing frosts.

Blast from the Past

The eruption of Mount Tambora killed thousands, plunged much of the world into a frightful chill and offers lessons for today

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Kon Artist?

Though evidence against his theory grew, Kon-Tiki sailor Thor Heyerdahl never steered from his course

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Old House, New Home

For 200 years in Ipswich, it sheltered all manner of Americans; now it informs and delights them

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LBJ Goes for Broke

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Comet's Tale

A half century ago, the first jet airliner delighted passengers with swift, smooth flights until a fatal structural flaw doomed its glory

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Hell's Bells

The 19th-century trolley bell may have ding-ding-dinged, but the factory bell clanged the workday

Archaeology at Largo di Torre Argentina, Rome

Downtown Digs

One step ahead of bulldozers, Urban archaeologists pull historic treasures from America's cityscapes

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We've Got Mail

As the fabric-covered plane came to a halt, frenzied sou-venir hunters tore at it, putting French officials on guard. Hailed in his home state of Minnesota, the 25-year-old pilot hated the nickname Lucky, bestowed on him after the flight. After sleeping in splendor at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, he awoke to a life, he said, "that could hardly have been more amazing if I had landed on another planet." On an old postcard kept by the Richards family, Tudor Richards has written, "We saw him land!"

We Saw Him Land!

In a long-lost letter an American woman describes Lindbergh's tumultuous touchdown in Paris—75 years ago this month

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Torpedoed!

Historian Diana Preston presents findings about the Lusitania and draws on recently discovered interviews to bring the drama to life

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Changing Spots

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Wittgenstein's Ghost

When two philosophers nearly came to blows, they defined a debate that rages a half century later

A Model Son

Chesapeake Bay's maritime history comes alive in miniature wood carvings by a Maryland craftsman

The Smithsonian's Wurlitzer (its console above, with the Star-Spangled Banner) likely played the national anthem before movies.

It's a Wurlitzer

The giant of the musical instrument collection makes tunes— rootin '—tootin' or romantic

Cartwheels at 50

It's not such a hot idea to send us slides and other meltables through the mail.

Mail Call

You may have written to us. We may have even received it

President Abraham Lincoln delivering his second inauguration speech.

Absence of Malice

In a new book, Historian Ronald C. White, Jr., explains why Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, given just weeks before he died, was his greatest speech

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Rising Sun

Opening this month on Alexandria's Mediterranean waterfront, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina reflects the spirit of its ancient forebear

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