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History

Christopher Henshilwood (in Blombos Cave) dug at one of the most important early human sites partly out of proximity—it’s on his grandfather’s property.

The Great Human Migration

Why humans left their African homeland 80,000 years ago to colonize the world

“Everybody needs beauty... places to play and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike,” wrote Muir (c. 1902).

John Muir’s Yosemite

The father of the conservation movement found his calling on a visit to the California wilderness

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July Anniversaries

Momentous or Merely Memorable

French and Indian War: "The Night Council at Fort Necessity." Ilustration

The First “Teflon” Hero

What July 4th, 1754 reveals about George Washington’s survival skills

Katrina Browne and a Ghanaian child on the ramparts of Cape Coast Castle slave fort.

A Northern Family Confronts Its Slaveholding Past

Filmmaker Katrina Browne discusses her family’s role in American slavery

A Mormon encampment in Provo, 1858

The Brink of War

One hundred fifty years ago, the U.S. Army marched into Utah prepared to battle Brigham Young and his Mormon militia

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June Anniversaries

Momentous or Merely Memorable

On her final day as first lady, Betty Ford told Kennerly her idea for the Cabinet Room table.

Betty Ford’s Tabled Resolution

Betty Ford had a what-the-hell moment—and an accomplice in photographer David Hume Kennerly

Babe Ruth, the star of Headin’ Home (1920)

Crowd Pleasers

Too good to be true?

Fakes are an all too real part of the museum world. “There are always artists capable of making and selling things that seem old,” says anthropologist Jane MacLaren Walsh.

Why the Smithsonian Has a Fake Crystal Skull

The Natural History Museum’s quartz cranium highlights the epic silliness of the new Indiana Jones movie

Fort Matanzas, about fifty feet long on each side, was constructed of coquina, a local stone formed from clam shells and quarried from a nearby island.

America’s First True “Pilgrims”

An excerpt from Kenneth C. Davis’s new book explains they arrived half a century before the Mayflower reached Plymouth Rock

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Goodbye, Columbus

A new survey upends the conventional wisdom about who counts in American history

Brontosaurus skeleton sketch

Where Dinosaurs Roamed

Footprints at one of the nation’s oldest—and most fought over—fossil beds offer new clues to how the behemoths lived

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May Anniversaries

Momentous or Merely Memorable

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Dispatch from Stonehenge, Day 14

April 13: The Druids Bless Our Departure

The dig’s emerging physical evidence—including fragments of bluestone and sarsen scattered throughout the site—reflect a complex history.

Dispatch from Stonehenge, Day 10

April 9: Archaeology in a Fishbowl

Archaeologists at Stonehenge continue to make discoveries within the inner circle of the monument.

Dispatch from Stonehenge, Day 9

April 8: The Clock is Ticking

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Dispatch from Stonehenge, Day 2

April 1st: An Ill Wind Blows

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Tomatoes in the Bullpen

Surprising trivia about America’s beloved baseball fields

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Dispatch from Stonehenge, Day 1

March 31st: The Excavation Begins

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