Time
The past, present and future divided into geologic and historic eras, significant historic and cultural events, and centuries and decadesDiscover Smithsonian articles as they relate to the past, present and future.
Germans un-Kampf-ortable With Reissue of Hitler’s Tome
Starting in 2015, Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf will once again be available to German readers.
July 05, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
17 Minutes of Fireworks Go Off in 15 Seconds
Yesterday, in the San Diego Bay, a fireworks show meant to last 17 minutes went off in 15 seconds.
July 05, 2012 |
By Sarah Laskow
Where Are the Great Revolutionary War Films?
You'd think the 4th of July would inspire filmmakers to great works, but for the most part, they have been unable to recreate the events that led to the founding of America
July 03, 2012 |
By Daniel Eagan
Timbuktu’s Ancient Relics Lay In Ruins At Hands of Militant Group
The tombs and cultural relics of Timbuktu, a key trade and social center of the ancient world, are being destroyed by an armed group known as the Ansar Dine.
July 03, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
Easter Island Drug Makes Mice Happier, Smarter
Out of Polynesia emerges a drug that may have potential for preventing cognitive decline associated with old age. ScienceDaily describes a study just published in the journal Neuroscience: Rapamycin, a bacterial product first isolated from soil on Easter Island, enhanced learning and memory in young mice and improved these faculties in old mice, the study [...]
July 03, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
100 Years of Earthquakes On One Gorgeous Map
Data visualizer John Nelson compiled historical earthquake records to produce this gorgeous, and informative, map. In all, 203,186 earthquakes are marked on the map, which is current through 2003. And it reveals the story of plate tectonics itself.
July 02, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
The New York Fire Department Is Burning 20 Houses Down — On Purpose
Today, the New York Fire Department, along with a team of scientists, are going to burn down 20 vacant houses, furnished with goodies from hotel liquidation sales, with the aim of figuring out better ways of fighting plastic-fueled fires.
July 02, 2012 |
By Sarah Laskow
Four Places to Worship Isis That Aren’t In Egypt
Egyptian president Gamal Abdel-Nasser gave Nubian temples to four countries who helped preserve monuments from that era. It's rumored that at least one of them—the temple installed at a museum in Leiden, in the Netherlands—is regularly rented out for Isis worshipping parties.
July 02, 2012 |
By Sarah Laskow
How Dogs Can Help Veterans Overcome PTSD
New research finds that "man's best friend" could be lifesavers for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
July 2012 |
By Chris Colin
There's a New Breed of Forty-Niners Rushing to the Pacific
Lured by the soaring price of the precious metal, prospectors are heading for the California hills like it's 1849 all over again
July 2012 |
By Abigail Tucker
Happy 100th Birthday, Woody Guthrie!
New songs by the American folk legend keep turning up, a century after his birth
July 2012 |
By Abigail Tucker
Quite Likely the Worst Job Ever
The remarkable work of a pioneering British journalist provides us with a window into the lives of the men who made their living from combing for treasures in London's sewers
June 29, 2012 |
By Mike Dash
Greek Subway Dig Uncovers Marble Road from Roman Empire
The vast network of roads built by the Romans spanned from England to India and is considered one of the main drivers of the expansive reach of the Empire. Eighteen hundred years later, Greek workers digging a new subway line in the city of Thessaloniki have stumbled across a 230-foot long stretch of a Roman marble [...]
June 27, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
Devastating Colorado Wildfires Most Recent in Decades-Long Surge
Residents have so far been able to stay safe from the fires, but strong winds compounding on record high temperatures, a dry winter, and possibly a recent pine beetle infestation, have rocketed this year's fire season to be one of the most destructive in at least four decades.
June 27, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
The High Priestess of Fraudulent Finance
Her claim of being "the Heiress to $15,000" was just one of the many falsehoods that carried Cassie Chadwick from city to city and bounced check to bounced check
June 27, 2012 |
By Karen Abbott
You Say Tyrannosaurus, I Say Tarbosaurus
Was the million-dollar dinosaur a species of Tyrannosaurus, or was it a different sort of dinosaur?
June 27, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
That Pixellated Uniform Pattern Was So Bad, The Army Trashed $5 Billion Worth
The army spent $5 billion on those new-fangled pixelated camouflage uniforms that peppered Iraq and Afghanistan, only to find out that they do not work at all, The Daily reports: “Essentially, the Army designed a universal uniform that universally failed in every environment,” said an Army specialist who served two tours in Iraq, wearing UCP [...]
June 26, 2012 |
By Sarah Laskow
Scientists Confirm that Somali Pirates Are On Holiday Now, Too
Danger Room journalist Richard Wheeler reports that the world may see a brief respite from costly, often lethal Somali piracy as we head into the summer months. The evidence is in a joint New Zealand–Australian study, Climatic controls on piracy in the Horn of Africa Region, 2010—2011. Unlike previous reporting, which proposed that both summer [...]
June 26, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
Saudis to Send Women to London Olympics After All
The 2012 London summer Olympics will be the first time Saudi women athletes will be able to compete. According to the Associated Press, The discussions on sending women to the games have been wrapped in secrecy for fear of a backlash from the powerful religious establishment and deeply traditional society in which women are severely [...]
June 26, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
How Hadrosaurs Chewed
Edmontosaurus has often been called the "cow of the Cretaceous", but did this dinosaur chew like a mammal?
June 25, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
