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History

Some Native children were sent thousands of miles away. Others, like Oreos Eriacho, were housed closer to home, in now-decaying dorms like this one, in Ramah, N.M.

For More Than 100 Years, the U.S. Forced Navajo Students Into Western Schools. The Damage Is Still Felt Today

Photographer Daniella Zalcman explores how native populations had a new nation foisted upon them

American Exiles: Leaving Home

A series of three photo essays explores how America has treated its own people in times of crisis

France has some 280 burial grounds for men killed in Somme combat, including the Lonsdale Cemetery in Authuille.

World War I: 100 Years Later

A Bold New History of the Battle of the Somme

British generals have long been seen as the bunglers of the deadly conflict, but a revisionist look argues that a U.S. general was the real donkey

Sacel Castle was the primary home of the Nopcsa family, which traced its roots in the area to the 14th century.

History Forgot This Rogue Aristocrat Who Discovered Dinosaurs and Died Penniless

Now fallen into shadow, the Romania-born Baron Franz Nopcsa was a groundbreaking scientist, adventurer — and would-be king

Ray Halliburton, 92, at his ranch in Luling, Texas

A Portrait of an American Hero and a Generation That Is Slowly Fading Away

Photographer Dan Winters shows us the modern-day life of an unheralded World War II veteran

Wolfgang Neubauer (at Carnuntum’s center) estimates the population at 50,000.

Austria

The Discovery of a Roman Gladiator School Brings the Famed Fighters Back to Life

Located in Austria, the archaeological site is providing rich new details about the lives and deaths of the arena combatants

A map shows the distribution of the slave population in the Southern states of the United States, based on the 1860 census.

History of Now

The Surprising History of the Infographic

Early iterations saved soldiers’ lives, debunked myths about slavery and helped Americans settle the frontier

One of the board games in the collections of the Museum of World War II

How the Nazis “Normalized” Anti-Semitism by Appealing to Children

A new museum and exhibit explore the depths of the hatred toward Europe’s Jews

"Beach at Bologne" by Edouard Manet

Inventing the Beach: The Unnatural History of a Natural Place

The seashore used to be a scary place, then it became a place of respite and vacation. What happened?

Hal Rumel, Red Canyon, near Entrance to Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, ca. 1940

How Photography Shaped America’s National Parks

Jamie M. Allen explores how conservation and consumerism have impacted America’s natural heritage

Likely made from a cow’s horn, this Revolutionary War era gunpowder holder belonged to patriot fighter Prince Simbo.

Breaking Ground

The Revolutionary War Patriot Who Carried This Gunpowder Horn Was Fighting for Freedom—Just Not His Own

Simbo, an African-American patriot, fought for his country’s liberty and freedom even as a large population remained enslaved

Karen L. King, the Hollis professor of divinity, believes that the fragment's 33 words refers to Jesus having a wife

The Inside Story of a Controversial New Text About Jesus

According to a top religion scholar, this 1,600-year-old text fragment suggests some early Christians believed Jesus was married—possibly to Mary Magdalene

The Consuegra Windmills.

Relive ‘Don Quixote’ With a Trip Through Miguel de Cervantes’ Spain

Tilt at windmills for the 400th anniversary of the author’s death

An exterior rendering of the museum, set to open in April 2017.

A New Museum Is Bringing Relics of the Revolutionary War Into Public View for the First Time in Decades

Scheduled to open next year in Philadelphia, the museum will immerse visitors into the time when the American colonies became the United States

One of the two balloons that will be used for tethered flights Saturday at the Udvar-Hazy Center was made especially for the museum and donated recently by Adams Balloons LLC.

A Recently Acquired Hot-Air Balloon Reminds a Smithsonian Curator of Another Tale of Ballooning Adventure

At the Udvar-Hazy Center this weekend, see the Smithsonian’s new modern hot-air balloon

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