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History / World History

Father Reginald Foster celebrating his birthday in 2019

Father Reginald Foster Used Latin to Bring History Into the Present

Who speaks Latin these days? A surprisingly large number of people, thanks to the late friar, who died on Christmas Day at 81

Fascinating finds revealed in 2020 ranged from a portrait of Mary Boleyn to a bust of the Greek god Hermes and one of the world's oldest swords.

Ninety Fascinating Finds Revealed in 2020

This year’s most intriguing discoveries include an Aztec skull tower, fossilized footprints and Nazi shipwrecks

This past October, Ruben Ghazarayan (above left with his brother Karen at the 2018 Smithsonian Folklife Festival) fought on the frontlines of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, his brother is selling their Armenian cross-stones to support their families during the conflict.

In Times of Conflict, How Can We Support the People Who Keep Culture Alive?

A Smithsonian research fellow weighs in on the ways culture proves both vital and resilient

The portal currently features 613,458 entries documenting the people, events and places involved in the transatlantic slave trade.

Who Were America’s Enslaved? A New Database Humanizes the Names Behind the Numbers

The public website draws connections between existing datasets to piece together fragmentary narratives

This year's top titles include One Mighty and Irresistible Tide, You Never Forget Your First, and Caste.

Holiday Gift Guide

The Ten Best History Books of 2020

Our favorite titles of the year resurrect forgotten histories and help explain how the country got to where it is today

Once a thriving international trade hub, the archeological site of Hegra (also known as Mada'in Saleh) has been left practically undisturbed for almost 2,000 years.

Hegra, an Ancient City in Saudi Arabia Untouched for Millennia, Makes Its Public Debut

The archaeological site, now open to tourists, offers clues about the mysterious empire that built it and its more famous sister city of Petra in Jordan

The 74-day clash found Argentina and the United Kingdom battling for control of the Falkland Islands, an archipelago in the South Atlantic.

Based on a True Story

A Brief History of the Falklands War

The latest season of Netflix’s “The Crown” dramatizes the 1982 clash between Argentina and the United Kingdom

Writer and photographer Paul Koudounaris' new book, A Cat's Tale, finds his pet kitty, Baba, channeling famous and little-known felines from history.

A History of Felines, as Narrated and Illustrated by a Cat

Baba the cat is both storyteller and photographic model in what is perhaps the most unique cat history book ever published

The sealed wooden coffins, unveiled at Saqqara amid fanfare, belonged to top officials of the Late Period and the Ptolemaic period of ancient Egypt.

Archaeologists Are Just Beginning to Unearth the Mummies and Secrets of Saqqara

The latest finds hint at the great potential of the ancient Egyptian pilgrimage site

An estimated 750 million people worldwide tuned in to the July 1981 ceremony.

Based on a True Story

14 Fun Facts About Princess Diana’s Wedding

The royal nuptials—and the couple’s tumultuous relationship—feature heavily in season four of Netflix’s “The Crown”

This month's book picks include A Demon-Haunted Land, South to Freedom and The Light Ages.

Books of the Month

The Heiress Who Stole a Vermeer, Witchcraft in Post-WWII Germany and Other New Books to Read

These five November releases may have been lost in the news cycle

"Assassination of Julius Caesar" by Vincenzo Camuccini

The Hunt for Julius Caesar’s Assassins Marked the Last Days of the Roman Republic

A new page-turning history details the events that led to the deaths of many of the conspirators

Ostraca are rare artifacts of actual democratic procedures. They can reveal hidden bits of history that were omitted by ancient chroniclers and offer insight into voter behavior and preferences that would otherwise be lost.

Ancient Greeks Voted to Kick Politicians Out of Athens if Enough People Didn’t Like Them

Ballots that date more than two millennia old tell the story of ostracism

Vampires came when folk tradition filled the void of scientific knowledge. In this illustration, men gather a gravesite to kill a purported vampire.

Decomposing Bodies in the 1720s Gave Birth to the First Vampire Panic

How superstition collided with public health concerns to create a modern monster

Édouard Dubufe’s portrait of Bonheur, embellished with a bull that Bonheur herself added, is on view in Bonheur’s meticulously preserved studio.

The Trailblazing French Artist Rosa Bonheur Is Finally Getting the Attention She Deserves

She was an international superstar. And then she was ignored. Now one family is working fervently to restore the forgotten genius to greatness

The second season of "The Spanish Princess" presents a highly dramatized version of the Battle of Flodden. In actuality, the queen (seen here in a c. 1520 portrait) never rode directly into battle.

Based on a True Story

When Catherine of Aragon Led England’s Armies to Victory Over Scotland

In 1513, Henry VIII’s first queen—acting as regent in her husband’s absence—secured a major triumph at the Battle of Flodden

Towers of the Stadtkirsche rise above Wittenberg, Germany. Much of the church was demolished and replaced in 1522, but the “Judensau” has remained despite controversy.

Germany May Have Banished Nazism, but Its Medieval Anti-Semitism Is Still in Plain Sight

In the city where Martin Luther revolutionized Christianity, a vile, 700-year-old sculpture openly denigrates Jews. Why is it still there?

A portrait in marble of the emperor, circa A.D. 60.

Nero, History’s Most Despised Emperor, Gets a Makeover

For nearly 2,000 years, the Roman ruler has been depicted as an egotistical monster who fiddled while Rome burned. But is this image accurate?

Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, left, and Cuban President Fidel Castro, center, are seen outside the Hotel Theresa in the Harlem neighborhood of New York.

Fidel Castro Stayed in Harlem 60 Years Ago to Highlight Racial Injustice in the U.S.

The Cuban revolutionary shined a light on the stark economic disparities in America, much to the chagrin of the U.S. government

Remains of the archaeological crypt of Ile de la Cité

The Notre-Dame Crypt Reopens for the First Time Since the Fire

To mark the occasion, a new exhibition in the area under the cathedral’s courtyard honors novelist Victor Hugo and architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc

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