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History

New York saw 4,500 annual cases by 1907. Mallon was linked to 47, and 3 deaths.

The Frightening Legacy of Typhoid Mary

With concerns about infectious disease in the news, a look back at history’s most famous carrier

From the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center

When Steve Fossett Became the Magellan of the Skies

Ten years ago, the pioneering adventurer took off in pursuit of a new record in circumnavigation

DNA from Richard III’s bones revealed two instances of royal infidelity since the 14th century.

They Found Richard III. So Now What?

What the remains of the “hunchback” king can teach us about other English royals

Were the Terracotta Warriors Based on Actual People?

To answer that question, archaeologists are looking at variations in the soldiers’ ears

The Spiritualist Who Warned Lincoln Was Also Booth’s Drinking Buddy

What did Charles Colchester know and when did he know it?

Last year at a celebration of International Mother Language Day in Dhaka, Bangladesh, thousands attend a monument commemorating those killed during the Language Movement demonstrations of 1952.

The Human Right to Speak Whatever Language You Want is Worth Celebrating

With an ever increasing lack of language diversity, There Needs to Be More Recognition of February’s International Mother Language day

Aerial view of flooded area. Oregon Historical Society, Neg. 67585.

How Oregon’s Second Largest City Vanished in a Day

A 1948 flood washed away the WWII housing project Vanport—but its history still informs Portland’s diversity

Benjamin Franklin reading letters, which may or may not have been written by his female friends.

The Founding Fathers and the Women, Not Their Wives, Whom They Wrote To

These words today would raise suspicion if written between married men and their female friends

A chocolate pot from Yokohama, Japan, ca. 1904. Porcelain with clear glaze and overglaze enamels

Chocolate Week

A Brief History of the Chocolate Pot

How humans have consumed chocolate sheds lights on its significance to cultures and eras

Cocoa roasters at the Hershey Chocolate Company in Pennsylvania

The World of Chocolate

The Short Rise and Fall of the Crazy-for-Cocoa-Trade Cards Craze

In the late 19th-century, when you bought chocolate, the grocer dropped a delightful prize into your bag, a trade card to save and share

President and First Lady Edith Wilson.

Five Spots for a Romantic Presidents’ Day (or a Presidential Valentine’s Day)

These locations combine presidential history and romance

What little-known facts could you learn about FDR?

Ten Fascinating Presidential Facts to Impress on Presidents’ Day

Learn a new side of the Commanders-in-Chief, from whiskey seances and magazine cover boys

An example of a pot used by the ancient Maya

Chocolate Week

What We Know About the Earliest History of Chocolate

We’ve learned things that could help today’s artisan chocolatiers improve their trade

Richard Cadbury began selling chocolates in heart-shaped boxes in 1861.

The World of Chocolate

How Chocolate and Valentine’s Day Mated for Life

Tracing the lovers, the leaders and the ladies responsible for the pairing of chocolate to Valentine’s Day

Don't try this at home.

The World of Chocolate

Healers Once Prescribed Chocolate Like Aspirin

From ancient Mesoamerica to Renaissance Europe, the modern confectionary treat has medical roots

An aerial view of the city of Washington, D.C, in 1861 as seen from a balloon.

How the Backwater Town of Washington, D.C. Became the Beacon of a Nation

As the Anacostia Community Museum delves into daily life in a city at war, author Ernest B. Furgurson recalls the nascence of a city on the verge

Melts in your mouth, not in microgravity.

The World of Chocolate

The Rich and Flavorful History of Chocolate in Space

From vacuum-sealed pudding to Blue Bell ice cream, astronauts have been taking the treat into orbit since the dawn of the space age

James and Dolley Madison portraits, painted by Gilbert Stuar

The Surprising Raucous Home Life of the Madisons

One of America’s founding families kept their true selves for the friends and family

The World of Chocolate

The World of Chocolate

Both within the Smithsonian and in the broader world, the story of chocolate has many fascinating morsels

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