Smart News History & Archaeology

Mather Brown's portrait of Joseph Bologne, dated April 4, 1788

Based on a True Story

Why Has History Forgotten Joseph Bologne, the Brilliant 18th-Century Composer Showcased in 'Chevalier'?

A new film dramatizes the story of a Black immigrant to France whose musical talents have long been overlooked

Father Gabriel Amorth served in his role at the Vatican for 30 years.

Based on a True Story

Who Was the Real Pope's Exorcist?

A new film dramatizes the story of Father Gabriele Amorth, the chief exorcist of the Diocese of Rome

Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Selma, Alabama

The House Where Martin Luther King Jr. Planned Civil Rights Marches Is Moving to Michigan

The historic home also hosted the likes of W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington

The wine cellar, treading floor and presses found at an ancient Roman winery

Cool Finds

Fountains of Wine Once Flowed in This Ancient Roman Winery

Archaeologists think the elaborately decorated site was built to be a spectacle

Excavations at Oaklawn Cemetery in downtown Tulsa have revealed 62 unmarked graves, some of which may be linked to the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

New DNA Analysis Could Help Identify Victims of the Tulsa Race Massacre

Experts have linked six genetic profiles sequenced from exhumed remains to 19 potential surnames in seven states

Ad Palmen collected a diverse array of rare European and American cars for 40 years.

230 Rare Classic Cars Are Going Up for Auction in the Netherlands

Stored for 40 years in two warehouses and an abandoned church, the valuable vehicles include a variety of European and American makes and models

The C.F. Curtis was one of three ships, all owned by Hines Lumber Company, that sank in 1914.

Two 100-Year-Old Shipwrecks Found in Lake Superior

Both vessels sank during a storm in November 1914—but a third is still missing

Mary Quant at her apartment in Draycott Place, London, c. 1967

Fashion World Remembers Mary Quant, the Miniskirt Pioneer

Quant captured London's "Swinging Sixties" with her cutting-edge designs

An etching of Black families gathering the dead after the Colfax Massacre published in Harper's Weekly, May 10, 1873

Trending Today

The 1873 Colfax Massacre Set Back the Reconstruction Era

Occuring 150 years ago, one of the worst incidents of racial violence after the Civil War set the stage for segregation

Researchers think the artists may have been experimenting with how to depict movement.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover 1,400-Year-Old Murals of Two-Faced Men in Peru

The new finds are shedding light on the Moche people, who lived on Peru's northern coast

Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO's director-general, meeting with Ukrainian officials during her visit to the country last week

Rebuilding Ukraine's Cultural Sector Will Require Nearly $7 Billion, UNESCO Says

The agency's director-general traveled to the war-torn country to pledge additional support

Archaeologists unearthed the foundation of the original 1818 church.

DNA Evidence Sheds Light on One of America's Oldest Black Churches

New research links human remains in Williamsburg, Virginia, to the first permanent building of the First Baptist Church

The bow of the Vasa displayed at the Vasa Museum in Stockholm

Who Was the Woman Aboard This Famed 17th-Century Swedish Warship?

DNA analysis has revealed that a woman was among the 30 who died when the 'Vasa' sank on its maiden voyage

The hair strands were found inside decorative tubes.

New Research

Ancient Europeans Took Hallucinogenic Drugs 3,000 Years Ago

Hair strands from the Bronze Age reveal the first direct evidence of drug use in Europe

Though this particular Arctic ground squirrel died during the Ice Age, these rodents still live in the Yukon Territory and Alaska today.

Cool Finds

This Mummified Ice Age Squirrel Was Found Frozen in Canada

Scientists identified the curled-up creature as an Arctic ground squirrel that likely died while hibernating some 30,000 years ago

One of the 12 antiquities that U.S. authorities returned to Turkey last month

U.S. Returns $33 Million of Looted Antiquities to Turkey

The collection of 12 items included a headless bronze statue dating to 225 C.E.

Discovered in a bog in Glen Affric, the tartan is now on view at V&A Dundee.

Cool Finds

This 16th-Century Cloth Is Scotland's Oldest-Known Tartan

A bog in the Highlands preserved the fabric, now on view for the first time, for hundreds of years

A depiction of the Scorpio zodiac sign at the Temple of Esna in Egypt

See Colorful Paintings of the Zodiac Signs From an Ancient Egyptian Temple

Newly restored, the Ptolemaic era reliefs were previously covered by a layer of dirt and soot

Workers removed a statue of enslaver Robert Milligan in 2020. Eventually, the new monument will be located nearby.

New Monument in London Will Honor Victims of Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

After removing a statue of an enslaver in 2020, the city aims to tell a new story

The coin was one of 29 antiquities returned to Greece

Rare Gold Coin Celebrating Julius Caesar's Death Returned to Greece

Minted in 42 B.C.E., the looted coin broke auction records in 2020 when it sold for $4.2 million

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