World War I

Despite being largely forgotten today, Lowell Thomas was a pioneering journalist of the 20th century who reshaped news media.

The Forgotten Man Who Transformed Journalism in America

Lowell Thomas was the first host of a TV broadcast news program, and adopted a number of other new technologies to make his mark in the 20th century

Oxford Is Digitizing UK's World War I Memorabilia

The Lest We Forget Project is asking people to bring in letters, photos and objects from the Great War to be recorded for a free online database

In this June 13, 1917 file photo, U.S. Army General John J. Pershing, center, inspects French troops at Boulogne, France

“I Hope It Is Not Too Late”: How the U.S. Decided to Send Millions of Troops Into World War I

The Allies were desperate for reinforcements, but the U.S. wasn’t quite ready to provide them

Edith Wharton moved to Paris and stayed put during World War I, unlike many of her friends who fled.

Edith Wharton Recruited the World’s Greatest Artists to Raise Money for WWI Refugees

A century ago, the famous author took it upon herself to help those left behind by the war’s carnage

Draft of The Balfour Declaration with handwritten notes, 1917

How a Single Paragraph Paved the Way for a Jewish State

The Balfour Declaration changed the course of history with just one sentence

How World War I Changed Weather Forecasting for Good

Prior to the Great War, weather forecasters had never considered using mathematical modeling

Often called "military mascots," animals played pivotal roles during WWI. Pictured here is John Bull of the 77th Aero Force (sic). [165-WW-472A-49]

The Animals That Helped Win World War I

Newly digitized photos tell the story of animals that fought as soldiers during the Great War

During World War I, a critical shaving tool caused critical illness in hundreds of people.

How Shaving Brushes Gave World War I Soldiers Anthrax

A new paper looks back on an old epidemic—and raises fresh questions about antique shaving brushes

John Scott Haldane at his laboratory in Oxford.

To Protect Allied WWI Soldiers, This Researcher Tested an Early Gas Mask on Himself

John Haldane developed a rudimentary respirator that protected wearers against chlorine gas—at least for a few minutes

After the war, the contents of Pershing's office, including his desk, were shipped back to the U.S. and delivered to the Smithsonian.

From This Desk, 100 Years Ago, U.S. Operations in World War I Were Conceived

Germany's defeat could be traced to pins in a map now on display at the Smithsonian's American History Museum

The censorship board. George Creel is seated at far right.

How Woodrow Wilson’s Propaganda Machine Changed American Journalism

The media are still feeling the impact of an executive order signed in 1917 that created 'the nation's first ministry of information'

Unlikely savior: The remarkable properties of spaghnum moss help preserve long-dead bodies, sequester carbon and even heal wounds.

How Humble Moss Healed the Wounds of Thousands in World War I

The same extraordinary properties that make this plant an “ecosystem engineer” also helped save human lives

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Network of WWI Training Tunnels and Trenches Found in England

They were meant to prepare soldiers for gruelling conditions on the frontlines of Belgium and France

Stragglers—French Wounded in the Retreat of Chateau-Thierry by Claggett Wilson, ca. 1919

After Nearly a Century in Storage, These World War I Artworks Still Deliver the Vivid Shock of War

Pulled from the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Claggett Wilson's watercolors are in a traveling show

On the Wire, by Harvey Thomas Dunn (oil on canvas, 1918)

When Artists Became Soldiers and Soldiers Became Artists

A rare opportunity to see works by the American Expeditionary Force's World War I illustration corps, and newly found underground soldier carvings

The courtyard at St. Ermin's Hotel in London.

This Luxury Hotel in London Was Once a Secret Spy Base

St. Ermin’s Hotel has sat at the middle of British secret intelligence since the 1930s

Alexander Kerensky, as Minister of War, meets with other military officials.

In a Czar-less Russia, Winning Was Easy. Governing Was Harder.

Now without a sovereign, Russia’s provisional government sought to maintain peace at home while waging a world war

Women of the Salvation Army relied on ingenuity to serve up thousands of donuts to WWI soldiers.

The Women Who Fried Donuts and Dodged Bombs on the Front Lines of WWI

Even if they had to use shell casings as rolling pins, the donuts still got made

Ex-president Theodore Roosevelt speaks to crowds in Mineola, New York, in support of US entry into the First World War, 1917

Why Teddy Roosevelt Tried to Bully His Way Onto the WWI Battlefield

Tensions ran high when President Wilson quashed the return of the former president’s Rough Riders

An American aid worker in France writes a letter back home for a wounded soldier in 1918.

World War I Letters From Generals to Doughboys Voice the Sorrow of Fighting a War

An exhibition at the National Postal Museum displays a rare letter from General John Pershing

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