The Prime Minister who Disappeared
In 1967, Harold Holt went for a swim off an Australian beach and never came back. By law, no official inquest could be held without a body. Soon the whispers of conspiracy began.
January 04, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
How Thomas Jefferson Created His Own Bible
Thanks to an extensive restoration process, the public can now see how Jefferson created his own version of the Scripture
January 2012 |
By Owen Edwards
Friends in the House, Hostility at Home
Coya Knutson won a seat in the U.S. House in 1954 but was undone by a secret she brought to Washington
December 29, 2011 |
By Gilbert King
The Great Dissenter and his Half-Brother
John Harlan championed racial justice on a hostile Supreme Court. Robert Harlan, a freed slave, achieved renown despite the court's decisions
December 20, 2011 |
By Gilbert King
Frozen in Place: December 1861
President Lincoln addresses the State of the Union and grows impatient with General McClellan
December 2011 |
By David Zax
The Man Who Busted the ‘Banksters’
Deceitful loans, self-dealing, unseemly tax avoidance—Ferdinand Pecora exposed it all after the financial collapse of 1929 and helped create a more transparent system
November 29, 2011 |
By Gilbert King
Thomas Jefferson: A Great American Thinker
The author of the Declaration of Independence remains one of the most debated presidents in United States history
November 10, 2011 |
By Smithsonian.com
The Essentials: Five Books on Thomas Jefferson
A Jefferson expert provides a list of indispensable reads about the founding father
November 08, 2011 |
By Megan Gambino
Sabotage in New York Harbor
The explosion on Black Tom Island packed the force of an earthquake. It took investigators years to determine that operatives working for Germany were to blame
November 01, 2011 |
By Gilbert King
November 1861: Flare Ups in the Chain of Command
As Union generals came and left, personalities clashed and Southern farmers set fire to their fields
November 2011 |
By David Zax
The Power of Imagery in Advancing Civil Rights
"Whether it was TV or magazines, the world got changed one image at a time," says Maurice Berger, curator of a new exhibit at American History
October 2011 |
By Arcynta Ali Childs
Secretary Clough on Jefferson's Bible
The head of the Smithsonian Institution details the efforts American History Museum conservators took to repair the artifact
October 2011 |
By G. Wayne Clough
Long Live the King
A single gunshot rang out in the king of Siam's bedroom in June 1946, ending one reign and beginning another. Uncertainty over how it happened has persisted ever since
September 28, 2011 |
By Gilbert King
Score One for Roosevelt
"Football is on trial," President Theodore Roosevelt declared in 1905. So he launched the effort that saved the game
September 20, 2011 |
By Karen Abbott
“Mrs. Sherlock Holmes” Takes on the NYPD
When an 18-year-old girl went missing, the police seemed content to let the case grow cold. But Grace Humiston, a soft-spoken private investigator, wouldn't let it lie
August 23, 2011 |
By Karen Abbott
Building the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial
For those working behind the scenes on the King memorial, its meaning runs deep
August 19, 2011 |
By Megan Gambino
Founding Fathers, Great Gardeners
In her new book, Andrea Wulf argues that the founding fathers' love of gardening shaped their vision of America
August 2011 |
By Erin Wayman
The Mystery of Murray Hall
Hall realized his death would set off a national political scandal, inspiring the genuine wonder that he had never been what he seemed
July 21, 2011 |
By Karen Abbott
Ask an Expert: What Did Abraham Lincoln’s Voice Sound Like?
Civil War scholar Harold Holzer helps to decode what spectators heard when the 16th president spoke
June 07, 2011 |
By Megan Gambino
Documenting the Death of an Assassin
In 1865, a single photograph was taken during the autopsy of John Wilkes
Booth. Where is it now?
May 06, 2011 |
By Ashley Luthern
