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Smart News - Keeping You Current

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Mayan Pyramid Destroyed to Get Rocks for Road Project

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Editors' Picks

Edinburgh’s Mysterious Miniature Coffins

In 1836, three Scottish boys discovered a strange cache of miniature coffins concealed on a hillside above Edinburgh. Who put them there—and why?

Document Deep Dive: The Heartfelt Friendship Between Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey

Baseball brought the two men together, but even when Rickey left the Brooklyn Dodgers, their relationship off the field would last for years

Pay No Attention to the Spies on the 23rd Floor

For years, the KGB secretly spied on visitors to the Hotel Viru in Estonia. A new museum reveals the fascinating time capsule and all the secrets within

History Beats


$18 for a Dozen Eggs by 2010? Inflation Fears in 1982

The Omni Future Almanac predicted that a gallon of gas would be cheaper than a quart of milk
May 10, 2013 | By Matt Novak

Page 1 of 61
References to acts of cannibalism are sprinkled throughout many religious and historical documents, such as reports of cooked human flesh being sold in 11th-century English markets during times of famine. Here, an engraving by Theodor de Bry depicts hungry Spaniards cutting down the bodies of thieves hanged by Pedro de Mendoza in order to eat them.

Europe’s Hypocritical History of Cannibalism

From prehistory to the present with many episodes in between, the region has a surprisingly meaty history of humans eating humans
April 25, 2013 | By Sarah Everts

The History of Baseball Stadium Nachos

From a Mexican maitre 'd's mishap in 1943 to the gooey, orange stuff you put on your chips at the baseball game today.
May 07, 2013 | By K. Annabelle Smith

What to Really Eat on Cinco de Mayo

Put down the margarita and tacos and pick up a chalupa
May 03, 2013 | By Shaylyn Esposito

Lusitania

8 Famous People Who Missed the Lusitania

For one reason or another, these lucky souls never boarded the doomed ship whose sinking launched America's involvement in WWI
May 02, 2013 | By Greg Daugherty

For Perusing Pleasure, Zandra Rhodes’ New Online Fashion Archive

The honored Brit—50 years in the business—goes for the bold in her designer collections
May 02, 2013 | By Emily Spivack

Predictions for Privacy in the Age of Facebook (from 1985!)

Mark Zuckerberg wasn't even a year old when a graduate student foresaw the emergence of online personal profiles
May 02, 2013 | By Matt Novak

Look Ma, No Fuel! Flying Cross Country on Sun Power

This week one of the strangest flying machines you've ever seen will start its journey across America--without a drop of fuel.
April 30, 2013 | By Randy Rieland

Jamestown remains

Starving Settlers in Jamestown Colony Resorted to Cannibalism

New archaeological evidence and forensic analysis reveals that a 14-year-old girl was cannibalized in desperation
May 01, 2013 | By Joseph Stromberg

How the Ford Motor Company Won a Battle and Lost Ground

Corporate violence against union organizers might have gone unrecorded—if it not for an enterprising news photographer
April 30, 2013 | By Gilbert King

Decoding the Range: The Secret Language of Cattle Branding

Venture into the highly regulated and fascinating world of bovine pyroglyphics
April 30, 2013 | By Jimmy Stamp

Nobody Walks in L.A.: The Rise of Cars and the Monorails That Never Were

As strange as it may seem today, the automobile was seen by many as the progressive solution to the transportation problems of Los Angeles
April 26, 2013 | By Matt Novak

The Story of Elizabeth Keckley, Former-Slave-Turned-Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker

A talented seamstress and savvy businesswoman, she catered to Washington's socialites
April 24, 2013 | By Emily Spivack

Children of the 1980s Build Their Cities of Tomorrow

Kids tend to be pretty optimistic, but each generation betrays its own fears about the future
April 24, 2013 | By Matt Novak

Bell

We Had No Idea What Alexander Graham Bell Sounded Like. Until Now

Smithsonian researchers used optical technology to play back the unplayable records
May 2013 | By Charlotte Gray

The Death of General Warren at the Battle of Bunker

The True Story of the Battle of Bunker Hill

Nathaniel Philbrick takes on one of the Revolutionary War’s most famous and least understood battles
May 2013 | By Tony Horwitz

paperbacks

The Revolutionary Effect of the Paperback Book

This simple innovation transformed the reading habits of an entire nation
May 2013 | By Clive Thompson

Revolution

The History of the Short-Lived Independent Republic of Florida

For a brief period in 1810, Florida was truly a country of its own
May 2013 | By William C. Davis

Curses! Archduke Franz Ferdinand and His Astounding Death Car

Was the man whose assassination began World War I riding in a car destined to bring death to a series of owners?
April 22, 2013 | By Mike Dash

Nikola Tesla’s Amazing Predictions for the 21st Century

The famed inventor believed "the solution of our problems does not lie in destroying but in mastering the machine"
April 19, 2013 | By Matt Novak

A Peek Into the Jetsons Archive at Warner Brothers Animation

See some early sketches of the cartoon family that shaped our vision of what life would be like in the 21st century
April 18, 2013 | By Matt Novak

Document Deep Dive: What Was on the First SAT?

Explore the exam that has been stressing out college-bound high school students since 1926
April 12, 2013 | By Megan Gambino

Q+A with Chadwick Boseman, Star of New Jackie Robinson Biopic, ’42′

The actor talks about getting vetted by the baseball legend's grandchildren, meeting with his wife and why baseball was actually his worst sport
April 16, 2013 | By Leah Binkovitz

‘I Remember’: An Artist’s Chronicle of What We Wore

In the 1970s, Joe Brainard wrote a book-length poem that paid heed to fashion
April 16, 2013 | By Emily Spivack

Tuskegee Institute

The Business of American Business Is Education

From corporate donations to workplace restrictions, what’s taught in the classroom has always been influenced by American industry
April 15, 2013 | By Dana Goldstein

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