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History

Members of Puerto Rico's Concilio Taíno Guatu-Ma-cu a Boriken presented a dance ceremony to invite the public to recover the collective spirituality of their Native ancestors.

Puerto Rico

Bringing Taíno Peoples Back Into History

A traveling Smithsonian exhibition explores the legacy of Indigenous peoples in the Greater Antilles and their contemporary heritage movement

Evel Knievel's trademark red, white and blue leathers, with accompanying cape and boots, joined the Smithsonian's American history collection in the early 1990s.

This Woeful Wipeout Made Evel Knievel an Instant Legend

In 1967, a bone-shattering spill at Caesars Palace spawned a career in self-endangerment

Hugh Jackman in "The Greatest Showman."

Based on a True Story

P.T. Barnum Isn’t the Hero the ‘Greatest Showman’ Wants You to Think

His path to fame and notoriety began by exploiting an enslaved woman, in life and in death, as entertainment for the masses

The 2007 midwinter solstice illumination of the main altar tabernacle of Old Mission San Juan Bautista, California.

How the Sun Illuminates Spanish Missions On the Winter Solstice

Today, the rising sun shines on altars and other religious objects at many Spanish churches in the U.S. and Latin America

A townsperson walks around as Gryla, the Christmas Witch

Why Iceland’s Christmas Witch Is Much Cooler (and Scarier) Than Krampus

With roots dating back to the 13th century, Gryla is not to be messed with

Thomas Cole's The Course of Empire: Desolation, 1836

The Next Pandemic

How Climate Change and Plague Helped Bring Down the Roman Empire

We can learn crucial lessons by examining the natural forces that shaped Rome’s rise and fall

Ephraim McDowell is memorialized in the U.S. Capitol Statuary Hall Collection

This American Doctor Pioneered Abdominal Surgery by Operating on Enslaved Women

Glorified with a statue in the U.S. Capitol, Ephraim McDowell is a hero in Kentucky, but the full story needs to be told

Conveyor bridges to Bin Structure.

These Photos of the Abandoned Domino Sugar Refinery Document Its Sticky History

A new photography book uncovers the last days (and lasting legacy) of a New York institution

Artist’s representation of “neglected story on Smithsonian.com.”

The Ten Stories You Didn’t Read in 2017 But Should Have

From music behind prison bars to a San Francisco building with a dark past, here are the top 10 pieces we published last year that deserve another look

In World War II America, Female Santas Took the Reins

Rosie the Riveter wasn’t the only woman who pitched in on the homefront

An artist's rendering of the CP-1 nuclear reactor.

How the First Man-Made Nuclear Reactor Reshaped Science and Society

In December 1942, Chicago Pile-1 ushered in an age of frightening possibility

A Plea to Resurrect the Christmas Tradition of Telling Ghost Stories

Though the practice is now more associated with Halloween, spooking out your family is well within the Christmas spirit

The AOL Instant Messenger icon became so well known it was made into a plush toy.

AOL Instant Messenger Taught Us How To Communicate in the Modern World

As AIM sunsets, let’s reflect on its role in preparing people for today’s digital messaging methods

Detail of north elevation of Pennsylvania State House (Independence Hall), from 1752 map of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Two Centuries Ago, Pennsylvania Almost Razed Independence Hall to Make Way for Private Development

Fortunately saner minds prevailed when the state thought about tearing down Philadelphia’s historic structure

Enrico Fermi, Italian-American physicist, received the 1938 Nobel Prize in physics for identifying new elements and discovering nuclear reactions by his method of nuclear irradiation and bombardment.

Was Enrico Fermi Really the “Father of the Nuclear Age”?

A new book takes a fresh look at the famed scientist

Statue of Memnon in the westbank in Luxor, with the community of Qurna in the background.

The Greatest Clash in Egyptian Archaeology May Be Fading, But Anger Lives On

After 200 years, the sad story of Qurna, a so-called ‘village of looters’, is coming to a close

An illustrated Greek medical text was found beneath the oldest Arabic translation of the Gospels.

Archaeologists Are Only Just Beginning to Reveal the Secrets Hidden in These Ancient Manuscripts

A project to scan documents found in the walls of a remote monastery is reshaping our view of the connections between East and West

The Ten Best History Books of 2017

From presidential biographies to a look at the long rise of fake news, these picks will surely interest history buffs

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