Modern Historic Eras
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An Ancestry of African-Native Americans
Using government documents, author Angela Walton-Raji traced her ancestors to the slaves owned by American Indians
February 17, 2010 |
By Katy June-Friesen
The Waldseemüller Map: Charting the New World
Two obscure 16th-century German scholars named the American continent and changed the way people thought about the world
December 2009 |
By Toby Lester
The Glorious History of Handel's Messiah
A musical rite of the holiday season, the Baroque-era oratorio still awes listeners 250 years after the composer's death
December 2009 |
By Jonathan Kandell
Looking for Leonardo
Are figures in a Florentine altar panel attributed to Italian artist Andrea del Verrocchio actually by Leonardo da Vinci?
October 2009 |
By Ann Landi
Columbus' Confusion About the New World
The European discovery of America opened possibilities for those with eyes to see. But Columbus was not one of them
October 2009 |
By Edmund S. Morgan
UBI in the Knife and Gun Club
The secret language of doctors and nurses
October 2009 |
By Richard Conniff
Galileo's Vision
Four hundred years ago, the Italian scientist looked into space and changed our view of the universe
August 2009 |
By David Zax
Galileo's Instruments of Discovery
With these various instruments, Galileo Galilei was able to look into space and change our view of the universe.
July 20, 2009 |
By Sarah Zielinski
Ben Franklin: Patriot, Foodie
American patriot Benjamin Franklin was a fan of food and helped France change their opinion on potatoes
July 02, 2009 |
By Smithsonian.com
Robot Babies
Can scientists build a machine that learns as it goes and plays well with others?
July 2009 |
By Abigail Tucker
In Damascus, Restoring Beit Farhi and the City’s Jewish Past
An architect works to restore the grand palace of Raphael Farhi, one of the most powerful men in the Ottoman world
June 11, 2009 |
By Stephen Glain
1934: The Art of the New Deal
An exhibition of Depression-era paintings by federally-funded artists provides a hopeful view of life during economic travails
June 2009 |
By Jerry Adler
A Tour of France’s Cave Homes
In France’s Loire Valley, domesticated cave dwellings, known as troglodyte homes, offer a history as rich as the region’s chateaus
May 19, 2009 |
By Kristin Ohlson
What’s the Deal about New Deal Art?
As the first of the New Deal acts that funded public art projects with federal money, the PWAP produced more than 15,000 works of art in just six months
May 19, 2009 |
By David A. Taylor
Dancing for Mao
A photograph of a 5-year-old girl made her famous in China—and haunted the man who took it
May 2009 |
By Jennifer Lin
The Measure of Genius: Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel at 500
Half a millennium later, the story of the painting of the Sistine Chapel is as fascinating as Michelangelo’s masterpiece itself
April 10, 2009 |
By Jamie Katz
Carving Out the West at the Great Smoke Conference
In 1851, American Indian tribes gathered to seek protection of their western lands from frontiersman on the Oregon Trail
April 02, 2009 |
By Paul VanDevelder
Booting Up a Computer Pioneer’s 200-Year-Old Design
Charles Babbage, the grandfather of the computer, envisioned a calculating machine that was never built, until now
April 02, 2009 |
By Aleta George
Eudora Welty as Photographer
Photographs by Pulitzer-Prize winning novelist Eudora Welty display the empathy that would later infuse her fiction
April 2009 |
By T.A. Frail
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