History

Robert M. Poole has written for National Geographic, Preservation, The New York Times, The Washington Post and Smithsonian.

Robert M. Poole on “The Battle of Arlington”

Controversy over Meriwether Lewis' death has descendants and scholars campaigning to exhume his body at his grave site in Tennessee.

Meriwether Lewis' Mysterious Death

Two hundred years later, debate continues over whether the famous explorer committed suicide or was murdered

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October Anniversaries

Momentous or Merely Memorable

John Brown and many of his followers holed up in the fire engine house awaiting reinforcements by a swarm of "bees"—slaves from the surrounding area. But only a handful showed up.

John Brown's Day of Reckoning

The abolitionist's bloody raid on a federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry 150 years ago set the stage for the Civil War

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Fevers

Temperatures at the Boiling Point

Some 80 million "lost" pages include records of people and police assassination orders.

A Human Rights Breakthrough in Guatemala

A chance discovery of police archives may reveal the fate of tens of thousands of people who disappeared in Guatemala's civil war

The New Acropolis Museum opened on June 20, 2009, replacing its predecessor with a monumental space ten times the size.

Ancient Greece Springs to Life

Athens’ New Acropolis Museum comes to America in an exhibition highlighting treasures of antiquity

From childhood on, abolitionist John Brown (in a c.1847 daguerreotype taken by Augustus Washington) had sworn "eternal war with slavery."

John Brown's Famous Photograph

An 1840s image captures an extremist's fervor

The Big Burn by Timothy Egan tells the story of a wildfire that ripped through forests in Washington, Idaho and Montana.

Timothy Egan on “The Big Burn”

The forest fire of 1910 ripped through the town of Wallace, Idaho leaving it in complete shambles.

The Legacy of America’s Largest Forest Fire

A 1910 wildfire that raged across three Western states helped advance the nation’s conservation efforts

From 1942 through 1945, more than 400,000 Axis prisoners were shipped to the United States and detained in camps in rural areas across the country.

German POWs on the American Homefront

Thousands of World War II prisoners ended up in mills, farm fields and even dining rooms across the United States

The United States expanded from the original 13 colonies in a series of deals that began in 1783 with the Treaty of Paris.

Top 10 Nation-Building Real Estate Deals

Luck and hard bargaining contributed to the growth of the United States. But with expansion came consequences

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September Anniversaries

Momentous or Merely Memorable

Charles Atlas playing tug of war with the Rockettes atop Radio City Music Hall

Charles Atlas: Muscle Man

How the original 97-pound-weakling transformed himself and brought physical fitness to the masses

Herod built an elaborate palace fortress on the 300-foot mountain, Herodium, to commemorate his victory in a crucial battle.

Finding King Herod's Tomb

After a 35-year search, an Israeli archaeologist is certain he has solved the mystery of the biblical figure’s final resting place

The rich fossil repository known as the Burgess Shale was first discovered a century ago.

The Burgess Shale: Evolution's Big Bang

A storied trove of fossils from a Canadian paleontological site is yielding new clues to an explosion of life on earth

Joan Benoit

August Anniversaries

Momentous or Merely Memorable

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Strongmen

Larger than life, for ill and good

Library of Congress curator Mark Dimunation embarked on years-long mission to track down copies of books once owned by Thomas Jefferson.

On the Hunt for Jefferson's Lost Books

A Library of Congress curator is on a worldwide mission to find exact copies of the books that belonged to Thomas Jefferson

Erosion—caused by the North Sea's relentless pounding of England's east coast—had all but consumed Dunwich by 1750.

Ancient Cities Lost to the Seas

Dunwich, England, is one of several underwater sites where divers are discovering new information about historic cultures

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