History
- Explore more »
Five Banned Foods and One That Maybe Should Be
From maggoty cheese to My Little Ponies to roadkill, some illegal and one legal food items in the United States
September 25, 2012 |
By Leah Binkovitz
How the Football Field Was Designed, from Hash Marks to Goal Posts
The American football field as evolved over more than 100 years, and with it, the game
September 24, 2012 |
By Jimmy Stamp
Are Science Museums Going Extinct?
Will science museums survive when the topics they cover are invisible or impossibly far away?
September 24, 2012 |
By Rose Eveleth
Orlon! Dacron! Antron! The Great American Knits of Fall 1965
As this old newspaper ad supplement shows, in the heydey of synthetic knits, DuPont advanced its chemically made fibers as a key to "Better Living"
September 24, 2012 |
By Emily Spivack
Did Dinosaurs Swim?
Carnivorous theropod dinosaurs were once thought to be hydrophobic, but rare swim tracks show that these predators at least sometimes took a dip in lakes and rivers
September 24, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
Are Scientists Sexist? New Study Identifies a Gender Bias
A new study indicates that the gatekeepers of science, whether male or female, are less likely to hire female applicants to work in labs
September 24, 2012 |
By Joseph Stromberg
Here’s What Space Shuttle Endeavour Looked at While You Looked at Space Shuttle Endeavour
Here's what Endeavour saw during its #Spottheshuttle tour
September 24, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
America’s Issues with Voter Turnout Stretch Back More Than 200 Years
Since before the Revolutionary War, America has struggled with low voter turnout
September 21, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
The Copper King’s Precipitous Fall
Augustus Heinze dominated the copper fields of Montana, but his family's scheming on Wall Street set off the Panic of 1907.
September 20, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
Civil War Photography Gets 3-D Treatment in New Exhibit at the Castle
Battlefields come to life using the stereoview technology developed on the eve of the Civil War
September 19, 2012 |
By Leah Binkovitz
Tussling Over Thecodontosaurus
The history of Thecodontosaurus, the fourth dinosaur ever named, is a tangled tale of paleontologist politics
September 19, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
Who Really Has Six Percent Body Fat Anyway?
Paul Ryan shouldn't be ashamed of his body fat, it's probably lower than the average male, but it's definitely not six percent
September 19, 2012 |
By Rose Eveleth
Ask a Curator Day Brings the Experts to You
On September 19, experts from around the world, including the Smithsonian, will be waiting for your questions
September 19, 2012 |
By Leah Binkovitz
Meet the Real-Life Vampires of New England and Abroad
The legend of the blood suckers, and the violence heaped upon their corpses, came out of ignorance of contagious disease
September 2012 |
By Abigail Tucker
Stockings Series, Part 3: Ads from the Archives, 1890-1939
For decades, Ivory sold itself as the suds that made legwear last longer
September 18, 2012 |
By Emily Spivack
The Blazing Career and Mysterious Death of “The Swedish Meteor”
Can modern science determine who shot this 18th century Swedish king?
September 17, 2012 |
By Mike Dash
What’s the Deal With the NFL’s Replacement Referees?
Here's what you need to know about how and why the NFL has turned to replacement referees during contract negotiations
September 17, 2012 |
By Rose Eveleth
¡It’s Dia de la Familia at American History!
Guest Blogger Joann Stevens from the American History Museum looks ahead to Saturday's grooving festivities, marking a month of programming for Hispanic Heritage Month
September 14, 2012 |
By Guest Blogger
Spielberg’s ‘Lincoln’ Nails the President’s Surprising, High Voice
For his new movie role as Abraham Lincoln, Daniel Day-Lewis obviously did his homework
September 14, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
Scientists Unleash Bacteria Into Boston Subway to Study Bioterrorism
To study the spread of biological agents, researchers sprayed bacteria into the Boston subway system
September 13, 2012 |
By Rose Eveleth
