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History / Biography

Philippa Fawcett. When she placed first in the Cambridge mathematical tripos in 1890, she forced a reassessment of nineteenth-century belief in the inferiority of the "weaker sex."

The Woman Who Bested the Men at Math

Thomas Edison circa 1914

Thomas Edison’s Brief Stint As A Homemaker

The famous inventor envisioned a future of inexpensive, prefabricated concrete homes

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Edison vs. Westinghouse: A Shocking Rivalry

The inventors’ battle over the delivery of electricity was an epic power play

Marie Curie, in Paris in 1925, was awarded a then-unprecedented second Nobel Prize 100 years ago this month.

Madame Curie’s Passion

The physicist’s dedication to science made it difficult for outsiders to understand her, but a century after her second Nobel prize, she gets a second look

Soldiers arrest Gavrilo Prinzip, assassin of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo.

World War I: 100 Years Later

The Origin of the Tale that Gavrilo Princip Was Eating a Sandwich When He Assassinated Franz Ferdinand

Was it really a lunch-hour coincidence that led to the death of the Archduke in Sarajevo in 1914—and, by extension, World War I?

Paul Robeson, in 1942, leads Oakland shipyard workers in the singing of the National Anthem

What Paul Robeson Said

Pablo Fanque: expert equestrian, tightrope walker, acrobat, showman–and Britain's first black circus owner.

Pablo Fanque’s Fair

The showman whom John Lennon immortalized in song was a real performer—a master horseman and Britain’s first black circus owner

Marm Mandelbaum, the "Queen of Fences"

The Life and Crimes of “Old Mother” Mandelbaum

She had the eyes of a sparrow, the neck of a bear and enough business acumen to build an empire as the “Queen of Fences”

Charles M. Conlon was a proofreader at the New York Telegram when he began shooting pictures as a hobby. Shown here is one of his iconic photographs of Ty Cobb sliding into third base.

Charles Conlon: The Unheralded Baseball Photographer

Stalwarts of early 20th-century sports pages, Conlon’s photos of the national pastime have their second chance at the plate

Samuel Morse consolidated Louvre masterpieces in an imaginary gallery.

Samuel Morse’s Reversal of Fortune

It wasn’t until after he failed as an artist that Morse revolutionized communications by inventing the telegraph

Ty Cobb

The Knife in Ty Cobb’s Back

Did the baseball great really confess to murder on his deathbed?

Mrs. Grace Humiston, a.k.a. "Mrs. Sherlock Holmes"

“Mrs. Sherlock Holmes” Takes on the NYPD

When an 18-year-old girl went missing, the police let the case grow cold. But Grace Humiston, a soft-spoken private investigator, wouldn’t let it lie

Anne Bonny (left) and Mary Read, as rendered in A General History of the Pyrates

If There’s a Man Among Ye: The Tale of Pirate Queens Anne Bonny and Mary Read

Renowned for their ruthlessness, these two female pirates challenged the sailors’ adage that a woman’s presence on shipboard invites bad luck

Gerda Weissmann Klein, founder of Citizenship Counts, speaks to new citizens and students at a naturalization ceremony at the Maryland School in Phoenix, Arizona.

Gerda Weissmann Klein on American Citizenship

The Holocaust survivor, author and Medal of Freedom winner discusses liberation day and cherished freedoms

Clarence Darrow was a trial attorney made famous for his defense of a Tennessee educator accused of breaking a state law banning the teaching of evolution in public schools.

Everything You Didn’t Know About Clarence Darrow

A newly released book brings new insight into the trial attorney made famous by the Scopes monkey trial

No recordings of Abraham Lincoln's voice exist since he died 12 years before Thomas Edison invented the phonograph, the first device to record and play back sound. Shown here is Lincoln delivering his famous Gettysburg Address in 1863.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

Ask an Expert: What Did Abraham Lincoln’s Voice Sound Like?

Civil War scholar Harold Holzer helps to decode what spectators heard when the 16th president spoke

O. O. McIntyre's daily column about the city, "New York Day by Day," ran in more than 500 newspapers throughout the United States.

Odd McIntyre: The Man Who Taught America About New York

For millions of people, their only knowledge about New York City was O.O. McIntyre’s daily column about life in the Big Apple

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Fred Birchmore’s Amazing Bicycle Trip Around the World

The American cyclist crossed paths with Sonja Henje and Adolf Hitler as he transversed the globe on Bucephalus, his trusty bike

British historian Bettany Hughes brings Socrates to life 25 centuries after his death in The Hemlock Cup: Socrates, Athens and the Search for the Good Life.

Bettany Hughes on Socrates

The biographer and author of a new book discusses what new there is to learn about the ancient Greek philosopher

On February 4, 1789, the 69 members of the Electoral College made George Washington the only chief executive to be unanimously elected.

George Washington: The Reluctant President

It seemed as if everyone rejoiced at the election of our first chief executive except the man himself

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