World History

The Empress Dowager Cixi

Cixi: The Woman Behind the Throne

The concubine who became China’s last empress

New Zealander Rob Hall, at the 28,000-foot mark of Everest's Southeast Ridge in 1994, led Jon Krakauer's team up in 1996. A storm claimed the lives of eight climbers, including Hall's, on that widely publicized expedition

Conquering Everest

A history of climbing the world's tallest mountain

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March Anniversaries

Momentous or Merely Memorable

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Monumental Mission

Assigned to find art looted by the Nazis, Western Allied forces faced an incredible challenge

Acropolis Museum in Athens

Acropolis Now

A modern museum of ancient Greece rises near the Parthenon

The Parthenon, said the 19th-century French engineer Auguste Choisy, represents "the supreme effort of genius in pursuit of beauty."

Unlocking Mysteries of the Parthenon

Restoration of the 2,500-year-old temple is yielding new insights into the engineering feats of the golden age's master builders

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February Anniversaries

Momentous or Merely Memorable

What became of the settlement that Christopher Columbus' crew built after his flagship ran aground? Clark Moore (in Haiti near the Bay of L'Acul, where the <em>Santa Maria</em> is believed to have foundered) is on the trail: "We know Columbus built the fort inside a large Indian village."

The Lost Fort of Columbus

On his voyage to the Americas in 1492, the explorer built a small fort somewhere in the Caribbean

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Keeping Cool

Keeping Cool in Cretaceous Australia and melting-pot Marseille

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Ike at D-Day

Gen. Dwight Eisenhower's defining moment comes to life in an excerpt from Michael Korda's best-selling new biography

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Digging up Egypt's Treasures

The ten most significant discoveries in the past 20 years

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Symbolically Speaking

A Q&A with hieroglyphs expert Janice Kamrin

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Understanding the Lasting Allure of the Rosetta Stone

An Egyptologist explains the importance of the artifact

Amenhotep III (a granite head from the temple complex is his best extant portrait) was succeeded by his son Akhenaten, who revolutionized Egypt's religion—temporarily.

Rebellious Son

Amenhotep III was succeeded by one of the first known monotheists

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Unearthing Egypt's Greatest Temple

Discovering the grandeur of the monument built 3,400 years ago

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The Big Picture

Political historian Jeremi Suri has come up with a new way of looking at the links between the low and the mighty

After three months of battling the U.S. 7th cavalry—which is charged with moving his people to a distant reservation or killing them—and a 1,700-mile trek toward Canada, Nez Perce chief Joseph surrenders, October 5, 1877.

October Anniversaries

Momentous or merely memorable

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A Brief History of Scotland Yard

Investigating London's famous police force and some of its most infamous cases

Because of Portugal's explorations, Europeans were also made aware of exotic animals ("The Rhinoceros," by Albrecht Dürer, 1515).

When Portugal Ruled the Seas

The country's global adventurism in the 16th century linked continents and cultures as never before, as a new exhibition makes clear

Amber Room

A Brief History of the Amber Room

Dubbed the "Eighth Wonder of the World," the room that once symbolized peace was stolen by Nazis then disappeared for good

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