The First French Winemakers Learned Everything They Knew From Etruscans
The Ancient Egyptians Had Iron Because They Harvested Fallen Meteors
Scientists Just Found a Woolly Mammoth That Still Had Liquid Blood
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Editors' Picks
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
We Had No Idea What Alexander Graham Bell Sounded Like. Until Now
Smithsonian researchers used optical technology to play back the unplayable records
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"
Page 9 of 62
The era of color-coded political parties is more recent than you might think
November 01, 2012
| By Jodi Enda
The famous author envisioned a brave new world where swelling populations would put tremendous strain on the Earth's resources
November 01, 2012
| By Matt Novak
Their seances with the departed launched a mass religious movement—and then one of them confessed that "it was common delusion"
October 30, 2012
| By Karen Abbott
A camping trip to the moon might seem fanciful, but 1960s advertisers were already promoting space tourism
October 29, 2012
| By Matt Novak
One of the greatest religious movements of the 19th century began in the bedroom of two young girls living in a farmhouse in Hydesville, New York. On a late March day in 1848, Margaretta “Maggie” Fox, 14, and Kate, her 11-year-old sister, waylaid a neighbor, eager to share an odd and frightening phenomenon. Every [...]
October 29, 2012
| By Karen Abbott
Why was Goody Garlick, accused of witchcraft in 1658, spared the fate that would befall the women of Massachusetts decades later
October 26, 2012
| By John Hanc
Much to our chagrin, Rosey did not make it. But who did?
October 25, 2012
| By Matt Novak
In the fall of 1975 President Gerald Ford survived two assassination attempts and a car accident. Then his life got really complicated
October 25, 2012
| By Gilbert King
When the divinity scholar unveiled the papyrus fragment that she says refers to Jesus’ “wife,” our reporter was there in Rome amidst the firestorm of criticism
November 2012
| By Ariel Sabar
Campaigning for president 100 years ago, Roosevelt was spared almost certain death when 50 pieces of paper slowed an assailant’s bullet headed for his chest
November 2012
| By Patricia O'Toole
A new poem by George Green
November 2012
| By George Green
How a makeshift show business memory aid became the centerpiece of modern political campaigning
October 23, 2012
| By Joseph Stromberg
George and Mr. Spacely sneak off to watch the big game, but are caught in the act by Jane on the family's super-sized television
October 22, 2012
| By Matt Novak
Steven Spielberg, Doris Kearns Goodwin and Tony Kushner talk about what it takes to wrestle an epic presidency into a feature film
November 2012
| By Roy Blount Jr.
The cure for lonely space missions? One astronomer proposed hiring astronaut concubines
October 18, 2012
| By Matt Novak
Blanchard was said to be afraid of riding in a carriage, but she became one of the great promoters of human flight
October 18, 2012
| By Gilbert King
Man's best friend has been fending off the the threat of a robot replacement for decades, not just on television
October 15, 2012
| By Matt Novak
The ideal future according to a ten-year-old: shorter school days, lower taxes, and lots and lots of robots
October 12, 2012
| By Matt Novak
When Upton Sinclair ran for governor of California in 1934, new media were marshaled to beat him
October 11, 2012
| By Gilbert King
Dino Brugioni explains how he and other CIA photo analysts located Soviet missiles just 90 miles away from the United States
October 10, 2012
| By Megan Gambino
The Jetsons didn't invent the flying car, but it sure did a lot to cement the idea of the airborne automobile into the American imagination
October 09, 2012
| By Matt Novak
The true story behind the myth of Mrs. O'Leary and her cow and how the scapegoating ruined one woman's good name and spawned a folk song that would last for decades
October 04, 2012
| By Karen Abbott
Hugo Gernsback's predictions give us a look at the most radical of technological utopianism from the 1920s
October 04, 2012
| By Matt Novak
Has the Disney theme park outlived its purpose as a monument to science and technology?
October 03, 2012
| By Matt Novak
What are the key dos and don'ts the candidates should remember when campaigning for the White House?
October 03, 2012
| By Kenneth C. Davis
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National Treasures
The stories behind famous objects from the Smithsonian's collection
The stories behind famous objects from the Smithsonian's collection
The Tucker Was the 1940s Car of the Future
The World’s Most Famous Filing Cabinet
The Tacky History of the Pink Flamingo
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Document Deep Dives
A close look at documents that changed history
A close look at documents that changed history
Document Deep Dive: What Was on the First SAT?
Harry Truman’s Adorable Love “List” to His Wife, Bess
Document Deep Dive: Rosa Parks’ Arrest Records
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