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History

The Monuments That Were Never Built

In a new exhibit at the National Building Museum, imagine Washington D.C. as it could have been

How We Will Live Tomorrow

A Whole Town Under One Roof

We’re moving on up—visions of a self-contained community within a 1,000-foot tall skyscraper

Padre Pio (1887-1968), an Italian priest and stigmatic, was elevated to sainthood in 2002 as St. Pio of Pietrelcino. In the 1940s he heard the confession of the future Pope John Paul II and–John Paul recorded–told him he would one day ascend to "the highest post in the Church though further confirmation is needed." The marks of the stigmata can be seen on Pio's hands.

The Mystery of the Five Wounds

The first case of stigmata—the appearance of marks or actual wounds like those Christ received during the Crucifixion—was recorded in 1224

1968′s Computerized School of the Future

A forward-looking lesson plan predicted that “computers will soon play as significant and universal a role in schools as books do today”

The Colosseum, inaugurated in A.D. 80, seated 50,000 and hosted gladiatorial games, ritual animal hunts, parades and executions.

The Secrets of Ancient Rome’s Buildings

What is it about Roman concrete that keeps the Pantheon and the Colosseum still standing?

The "rectal acorn"

The Civil War

Seven Obscure Facts You Didn’t Know About the Civil War

Amid the vast literature of the Civil War, it’s easy to lose sight of some of the stranger facts, coincidences and quirks of character

Zipping from San Francisco to Oakland in 5 Minutes

An inventor’s plans for traveling inside a giant bullet would have made a trip across the Bay a fast one

Marc Bloch: Historian. French Resistance leader. Hero.

History Heroes: Marc Bloch

Scholar created a whole new way of looking at history, but found time to fight in two World Wars–latterly, aged 60, as a leader of the French Resistance

United States World War I soldiers reading in the War Library Service section of the Red Cross building at Walter Reed Hospital.

World War I: 100 Years Later

Five Books on World War I

Military history, memoir, and even a novelized series make this list of can’t-miss books about the Great War

"...roads jammed by frantic survivors, blocking entry of rescue teams."

Would You Pass the Panic-Proof Test?

If an atomic bomb drops on your house, a civil defense official advises: “Get over it.”

Upon his arrest for murder, Roscoe Arbuckle was booked into custody and denied bail.

The Skinny on the Fatty Arbuckle Trial

When the million-dollar movie comedian faced a manslaughter charge, the jury was indeed scandalized—at how his reputation had been trashed

Five must-read books on Thomas Jefferson from author Marc Leepson.

The Essentials: Five Books on Thomas Jefferson

A Jefferson expert provides a list of indispensable reads about the founding father

The "Chandos Portrait" of Shakespeare–dating to c.1600 and one of only two that may have been painted from life–is thought to be the work of the playwright's "intimate friend" John Taylor of the Painter-Stainers' Company (though it may not show Shakespeare at all). Its be-earringed playwright, pictured without the usual ruff, seems to show an altogether tougher character than the figure that appears in more familiar likenesses.

William Shakespeare, Gangster

Arthur Radebaugh's jetpack mailman of the future

Arthur Radebaugh’s Shiny Happy Future

For five years, a popular comic strip gave us a preview of life in Suburbatopia

J.W. Fawkes's "Aerial Swallow" circa 1912

Burbank’s Aerial Monorail of the Future

A bold vision for a propeller-driven train never quite got off the ground

Aftermath of the Black Tom explosion on July 30, 1916

Sabotage in New York Harbor

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

Although the potato is now associated with industrial-scale monoculture, the International Potato Center in Peru has preserved almost 5,000 varieties.

How the Potato Changed the World

Brought to Europe from the New World by Spanish explorers, the lowly potato gave rise to modern industrial agriculture

Francesco Rutelli, then Italy's culture minister, examines vases repatriated to Rome in 2007.

Acquisition Guidelines

This past March, the J. Paul Getty Museum repatriated the 2,400-year-old statue—the most recent of more than 40 objects at the museum that Italy said had been illegally removed.

The Goddess Goes Home

Following years of haggling over its provenance, a celebrated statue once identified as Aphrodite, has returned to Italy

George McClellan, with Abraham Lincoln at Antietam in 1862, took command of the Union armies but let the president wait.

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

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