History

Two centuries after Shakespeare's death, a lowly law clerk named William Henry Ireland forged the Bard's signature and a seal that convinced skeptics.

To Be...Or Not: The Greatest Shakespeare Forgery

William-Henry Ireland committed a scheme so grand that he fooled even himself into believing he was William Shakespeare's true literary heir

Jack Johnson, left, fought Jim Jeffries for more than the undisputed heavyweight title; Scott Joplin aspired to more than "King of Ragtime" renown.

A Year of Hope for Joplin and Johnson

In 1910, the boxer Jack Johnson and the musician Scott Joplin embodied a new sense of possibility for African-Americans

At Villa Adriana, built by the emperor Hadrian in the second century A.D., these column surrounded a private retreat ringed by water.

Home Away From Rome

Excavations of villas where Roman emperors escaped the office are giving archaeologists new insights into the imperial way of life

Isolation allowed the Kurds to survive for thousands of years while other cultures faded from history.

Kurdish Heritage Reclaimed

After years of conflict, Turkey's tradition-rich Kurdish minority is experiencing a joyous cultural reawakening

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June Anniversaries

Momentous or Merely Memorable

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Homes Away

Another side of Kurds and Romans

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Top Five U.S. Events of the Last 40 Years

What events, ideas or developments have had the most significant impact in our lives since 1970?

Michael Walsh is a New York Times bestselling author and most recently wrote an article on boxer Jack Johnson and musician Scott Joplin for Smithsonian.

Michael Walsh on “Great Expectations”

This Detroit scene was repeated across the nation, January, 16, 1920, as shoppers stocked up on the last day before Prohibition took effect.

Wayne B. Wheeler: The Man Who Turned Off the Taps

Prohibition couldn't have happened without Wheeler, who foisted temperance on a thirsty nation 90 years ago

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May Anniversaries

Momentous or Merely Memorable

Frances Benjamin Johnston could be both ladylike and bohemian, which abetted her career as a photographer.

Victorian Womanhood, in All Its Guises

Frances Benjamin Johnston's self-portraits show a woman was never content playing just one role

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Model Moralist

Wayne Wheeler had a mission

In 1961, HAM the chimpanzee became the first upright hominid to go into space. After his death in 1983, he was interred at the New Mexico Museum of Space History.

Famous Animal Gravesites Around the World

It's not just Kentucky Derby winners that are buried with great honor

The black community in 1960 were relegated to mere swatches of sand and surf on the Biloxi beach. After a series of "wade-in" protests, violence ensued.

A Civil Rights Watershed in Biloxi, Mississippi

Frustrated by the segregated shoreline, black residents stormed the beaches and survived brutal attacks on "Bloody Sunday"

When George Washington visited the Bartram family's prestigious garden near Philadelphia in 1787, he found it to be "not laid off with much taste."

The Story of Bartram's Garden

Outside of Philadelphia, America's first botanical garden once supplied seeds to Founding Fathers and continues to inspire plant-lovers today

John Wilkes Booth leans forward to shoot President Abraham Lincoln as he watches a play at Ford's Theatre in 1865.

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln's Missing Bodyguard

What happened to Officer John Parker, the man who chose the wrong night to leave his post at Ford's Theatre?

The little league baseball team from Monterrey, Mexico became the first team from outside the United States to win the Little League World Series.

The Little League World Series’ Only Perfect Game

In 1957, Mexico’s scrawny players overcame the odds to become the first foreign team to win the Little League World Series

IMAX Cargo Bay Camera view of the Hubble Space Telescope at the moment of release, mission STS-31

April Anniversaries

Momentous or Merely Memorable

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Reorientations

Cowboy Culture and the Universe

During the era of horse-drawn railroads, workers filled in a ravine at Duffy's Cut.

Ireland's Forgotten Sons Recovered Two Centuries Later

In Pennsylvania, amateur archaeologists unearth a mass grave of immigrant railroad workers who disappeared in 1832

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