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History

1960s family sitting in four-door sedan automobile

“Driving While Black” Has Been Around As Long As Cars Have Existed

Documentarian Ric Burns talks about his forthcoming film about the “Green Book” and other travel guides for African-Americans

Newspapers chronicled gun incidents, referring to them as "melancholy accidents"

History of Now

When Newspapers Reported on Gun Deaths as “Melancholy Accidents”

A historian explains how a curious phrase used by the American press caught his eye and became the inspiration for his new book

From the desk of Susan B. Anthony, this inkstand was used by the women's rights advocate to produce the articles she wrote for her newspaper The Revolution.

Women Who Shaped History

For Susan B. Anthony, Getting Support for Her ‘Revolution’ Meant Taking on an Unusual Ally

Suffragists Anthony and Cady Stanton found common cause in a wealthy man named George Francis Train who helped to fund their newspaper

A New Addition to #MyDaguerreotypeBoyfriend Is the Civil War’s Most Daring Naval Officer

Who is this cool cat, posing for an unusually casual photo for famed photographer Alexander Gardner?

On a remote plateau, researchers reveal a royal capital whose splendors prefigure the glories of the Angkor complex.

The Lost City of Cambodia

Deep in the jungles of southeast Asia, archaeologists have rediscovered the remains of an invisible kingdom that may have been the template for Angkor Wat

Cab Calloway called the zoot suit “the ultimate in clothes.”

A Brief History of the Zoot Suit

Unraveling the jazzy life of a snazzy style

Breaking Ground

How the Green Book Helped African-American Tourists Navigate a Segregated Nation

Listing hotels, restaurants and other businesses open to African-Americans, the guide was invaluable for Jim-Crow era travelers

The Ichthyornis is a toothed bird that links birds with reptiles.

The “Sistine Chapel of Evolution” Is in New Haven, Connecticut

Charles Darwin never visited the Yale museum, but you can, and see for yourself the specimens that he praised as the best evidence for his theory

Local actors Judy Barth, Ruth Ochsenrider and Jim Barth peer over photos of original Scopes Trial jurors during the annual Scopes Trial Festival in Dayton, Tennessee.

How Much Has the Town Where the Scopes Trial Took Place Evolved Since the 1920s?

Each July, Dayton, Tennessee, celebrates its role in the famous court case with a re-enactment and festival

Conestoga (AT 54) at San Diego, circa January 1921

With the Discovery of the USS Conestoga, Researchers Have Solved a Mystery That Was Nearly 100 Years Old

Even a century later, the news has brought relief to the families of the sailors who went down with their ship

Jeremy Scott (United States, born 1975) for Adidas, Boots, Spring/Summer 2013.

Take A Trip Through 300 Years of Men’s Fashion

At the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, a new exhibition highlights 200 styles, from military uniforms to punk jackets

Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia river, Washington

The Grand Coulee Powers On, 75 Years After Its First Surge of Electricity

A look back at how the powerful dam came to be

On March 24, 1966, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Harper v. Virginia Board of Electors, that poll taxes for any level of election were unconstitutional.

Breaking Ground

Recalling an Era When the Color of Your Skin Meant You Paid to Vote

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of a ruling that made the poll tax unconstitutional

Spared From the Holocaust by His Countrymen, a Jewish Refugee Hopes That Denmark Can Regain Its Humanity

Leo Goldberger will never forget how his fellow Danes kept him safe, but the reaction to today’s refugee crisis gives him pause about his former homeland

Measuring human skulls in physical anthropology

When Museums Rushed to Fill Their Rooms With Bones

In part fed by discredited and racist theories about race, scientists and amateurs alike looked to human remains to learn more about themselves

A woman sits amid the ruins of the Great Stone Church, which collapsed in an 1812 earthquake, at Mission San Juan Capistrano.

Journey to the Center of Earth

San Andreas May Have Had Help Triggering a Historic Earthquake

New evidence about a devastating quake in 1812 hints that the San Jacinto fault may be a bigger seismic risk than anyone thought

A mugshot of "Count" Lustig

The Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower. Twice.

“Count” Victor Lustig was America’s greatest con man. But what was his true identity?

The fossil skull of the human ancestor Australopithecus africanus, which had more robust teeth and jaws than modern humans.

New Research

A Taste for Raw Meat May Have Helped Shape Human Evolution

Stone tools might have let our ancestors more easily chew and digest meat, which in turn may have changed our teeth and jaws

Harriet Tubman's Hymnal

Breaking Ground

What Makes the Underground Railroad Such a Rich Opportunity for Storytelling

On television and in the new Smithsonian museum, the path to freedom comes alive

Nancy Reagan by Aaron Shikler, essence of oil on paper, 1984–85.

How Nancy Reagan Made Her Mark on the White House

A curator at the American History Museum reflects on the First Lady’s impact on Washington

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