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History

Joseph Goebbels viewing the 1937 Degenerate Art Exhibition.

Why It’s So Hard to Find the Original Owners of Nazi-Looted Art

International experts recently gathered at Smithsonian to discuss the state of international provenance research

The historical marker in Enterprise, Alabama describing the significance of the statue.

American South

Why an Alabama Town Has a Monument Honoring the Most Destructive Pest in American History

The boll weevil decimated the South’s cotton industry, but the city of Enterprise found prosperity instead

Suburban single-family homes in Fresno, California.

History of Now

The Racial Segregation of American Cities Was Anything but Accidental

A housing policy expert explains how federal government policies created the suburbs and the inner city

Edith Wharton moved to Paris and stayed put during World War I, unlike many of her friends who fled.

Edith Wharton Recruited the World’s Greatest Artists to Raise Money for WWI Refugees

A century ago, the famous author took it upon herself to help those left behind by the war’s carnage

“We’ve been taxing work, output and income and subsidizing non-work, leisure and unemployment. The consequences are obvious! To Don Rumsfeld,” Arthur Laffer wrote around the graph, signing and dating his work as well.

The Restaurant Doodle That Launched a Political Movement

How one economist’s graph on a napkin reshaped the Republican Party and upended tax policy

Children of the ‘80s Never Fear: Video Games Did Not Ruin Your Life

Inside the ridiculous media panic that scared parents silly

John F. Kennedy meeting with Soviet politician Nikita Khrushchev.

Top Hats, James Bond and a Shipwreck: Seven Fun Facts About John F. Kennedy

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of JFK’s birth, a look at his extraordinary life

Main chamber.

Europe

Malta’s Hypogeum, One of the World’s Best Preserved Prehistoric Sites, Reopens to the Public

The complex of excavated cave chambers includes a temple, cemetery and funeral hall

The world’s largest model world, the Unisphere was erected for the grand fair themed “peace through understanding.”

What the Unisphere Tells Us About America at the Dawn of the Space Age

A towering tribute to the future past—and one man’s ego

History of Now

Joe Pyne Was America’s First Shock Jock

Newly discovered tapes resurrect the angry ghost of Joe Pyne, the original outrageous talk show host

Howard in 1893 at Governor's Island

The Namesake of Howard University Spent Years Kicking Native Americans Off of Their Land

Oliver Otis Howard was a revered Civil War general—but his career had a dark postscript

John Frankenheimer's classic The Manchurian Candidate built upon the idea of brainwashed GIs in Korea.

History of Now

The True Story of Brainwashing and How It Shaped America

Fears of Communism during the Cold War spurred psychological research, pop culture hits, and unethical experiments in the CIA

Draft of The Balfour Declaration with handwritten notes, 1917

World War I: 100 Years Later

How a Single Paragraph Paved the Way for a Jewish State

The Balfour Declaration changed the course of history with just one sentence

World War I: 100 Years Later

How World War I Changed Weather Forecasting for Good

Prior to the Great War, weather forecasters had never considered using mathematical modeling

The Bath School bombing in 1927 remains the deadliest school massacre in U.S. history.

History of Now

The 1927 Bombing That Remains America’s Deadliest School Massacre

More than 90 years ago, a school in Bath, Michigan was rigged with explosives in a brutal act that stunned the town

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