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Articles

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Year of the Pig

Celebrating Chinese New Year

Second Time Around

Invented by Ben Franklin but lost to history, the glass harmonica has been resurrected by modern musicians

Although loosely based on The Supremes (above), the movie Dreamgirls is a work of fiction. The real story of the 1960s girl groups, however, changed American music forever.

The Real Dreamgirls

How girl groups changed American music

Artifacts unearthed on Ossabaw Island offer insights into the lives of slaves.

Sea Island Strata

At a former Georgia plantation, archaeologists delve into both the workaday and spiritual lives of slaves

Chief Justice Warren Burger swears in Gerald R. Ford as the 38th president in 1974.

The Pardon

President Gerald R. Ford’s priority was to unite a divided nation. The decision that defined his term proved how difficult that would be

In his picture of Y. A. Tittle, Morris Berman captured the vanquished warrior's bloody struggle. But the now-classic photograph wasn't even published at first.

Fallen Giant

“A whole lifetime was over,” legendary quarterback Y.A. Tittle recalls

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February Anniversaries

Momentous or Merely Memorable

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The Past Informs the Present

In this Q & A, Caroline Alexander, author of “Faces of War,” discusses robotic faces and the timelessness of war stories

Unveiled at a recent ceremony in Washington honoring Virginia Hall, this portrait will be added to the CIA's Fine Arts Collection. Painted by artist Jeff Bass, it shows her transmitting messages from occupied France using her suitcase radio. The painting was underwritten by a donation from attorney Robert Guggenhime.

WANTED: The Limping Lady

The intriguing and unexpected true story of America’s most heroic—and most dangerous—female spy

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Tea’s Time

The ancient drink makes a comeback

The restored family home of First Lady Ida McKinley (wife of President William McKinley) became part of the National First Ladies' Library in 1998.

Remembering the Ladies

A new series of commemorative coins honors presidential spouses whose achievements have long been overlooked

Teenager Chen Daidai and her mother, Hu Shuzhen, a part-time real estate agent, live in an apartment that the family owns in Wenzhou, a hub of manufacturing—and growing prosperity (from A Tale of Two Chinas)

China Rising

Rediscover five articles published between May 2002 and May 2006 that reveal another side of the emerging superpower

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Maria Zuber

On the surprise evidence of flowing water on Mars

Jokim Githuka, 3, displays a portrait of his dead father, Robert Njoya, in a Kenyan maize field. Other sons stand by his grave with Njoya's widow, Serah. The trial of his undisputed killer, Thomas Cholmondely, has electrified this former British colony.

Death in Happy Valley

A son of the colonial aristocracy goes on trial for killing a poacher in Kenya, where an exploding human population is heightening tensions

The ozone hole over Antarctica is recovering. Can the lessons be applied to today's climate crisis?

Ahead in the Clouds

Susan Solomon helped patch the ozone hole. Now, as a leader of a major United Nations report—out this month—she’s going after global warming

For hundreds of years the Parsi people of Mumbai have left their dead on the Towers of Silence, to be consumed by vultures. Now the sacred practice is in peril.

The Vanishing

Little noticed by the outside world, perhaps the most dramatic decline of a wild animal in history has been taking place in India and Pakistan

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Wild Things: Life as We Know It

Flying mammals, Galápagos iguanas and sidewalk songbirds

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Rivaling Nature

The war in Iraq has increased demand for limb and facial plastic surgeons

"No one ever found any dead vultures," says McGrath. "There were simply less and less of them."

Fantastically Repulsive

In this interview, Susan McGrath, author of “The Vanishing,” describes getting up close and personal with vultures

In the past decade or so, over 95 percent of India's vultures have died.

Soaring Hopes

The first two Asian vultures breed in captivity

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