Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News / Smart News History & Archaeology

Drawing of an early medieval king eating and drinking at Tintagel Castle in England

New Research

New Research Suggests England’s Early Medieval Rulers Had a Veggie-Based Diet

Two papers argue that these 5th- through 11th-century kings and queens mainly ate meat during special feasts thrown by their subjects

Kane Tanaka was born on January 2, 1903.

Kane Tanaka, World’s Oldest Person, Dies at 119

According to her family, the Japanese supercentenarian had been hospitalized and discharged repeatedly in recent weeks

The leather sandal's owner likely wore it with wool wrappings or socks made out of fabric or animal skins.

Cool Finds

Melting Ice in Norway Reveals 1,700-Year-Old Sandal

An ancient traveler likely discarded the worn-out leather shoe as rubbish around 300 C.E.

Cherokee citizens can now collect wild indigo, river cane, wild onion, hickory, bloodroot and other plants at Buffalo National River.

Good News

Cherokee Nation Members Can Now Gather Plants on National Park Land

A new agreement between the tribe and the National Park Service allows Cherokee citizens to collect plants with cultural and medicinal significance

Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson depicted the experiences of Black Americans through often-overlooked, working-class characters.

How Playwright August Wilson Captured the Highs and Lows of Black America

An immersive exhibition in Pittsburgh explores the award-winning dramatist’s life and legacy

The 700-year-old book is thought to be the oldest surviving document of its kind. 

Holocaust Survivors Ask Israel Museum to Return One-of-a-Kind Haggadah

Their lawsuit claims the Passover book was stolen, then purchased under dubious circumstances

Denver's apology for an 1880 anti-Chinese riot comes during a surge of racially motivated violence and discrimination toward Asian Americans. 

Denver Apologizes for Anti-Chinese Riot of 1880

A white mob terrorized residents and murdered a man, but the city never punished the perpetrators

The restored still life was painted by a 17-year-old artist known for his careful renderings of everyday objects.

Cool Finds

A Dutch Teenage Painter’s Multi-Million-Dollar Masterpiece Was Hidden in Plain Sight

The still life went unnoticed at an Australian school for 150 years

George Harrison's childhood home near Liverpool, England, is now available for short-term rentals and tours.

George Harrison’s Childhood Home—an Early Beatles Rehearsal Venue—Is Now a Vacation Rental

The guitarist lived in the three-bedroom Liverpool home as a child and teenager

Archaeologists found the calendar fragment among a total of 249 pieces of painted plaster and painted masonry block. 

Cool Finds

Fragment of Oldest-Known Maya Calendar Discovered in Guatemalan Pyramid

A glyph representing “7 Deer” marks the earliest known use of the historical system—for now

Archaeologists and members of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe worked together on the project, which revealed the longstanding genetic roots of the region's Native peoples. 

Innovation for Good: Game Changers

This Native American Tribe Wants Federal Recognition. A New DNA Analysis Could Bolster Its Case

The new findings could help Mukwema Ohlone prove they never went “extinct”

This 1588 portrait of Elizabeth I shows the queen after English troops successfully staved off an invasion by the Spanish Armada. It will be on view as part of a Sotheby's exhibition on British queens.

Iconic Portraits and Tiaras Tell the Stories of Britain’s Indomitable Queens

As Elizabeth II celebrates 70 years on the throne, Sotheby’s takes a look back at royal history

In a screenshot from a short video posted to Instagram, performance artist Pepx Romero licks a work of ancient art at Mexico City's Museo Nacional de Antropología. 

Why Did This Artist Lock Lips With Ancient Works of Indigenous Mexican Art?

Pepx Romero kissed and licked centuries-old archaeological wonders to raise awareness of the ongoing, contested sale of pre-Hispanic treasures

Most of the possibly royal graves rest in the center of square or rectangular enclosures like the one pictured here, at Plas Gogerddan in Wales.

Cool Finds

Possible Royal Graves Dated to the Time of King Arthur Found in Great Britain

New research brings the number of potential burial sites of early medieval Celtic rulers from 2 to more than 20

The Commemorative at St. Mary's College of Maryland honors the enslaved people who once lived and worked there.

Good News

National Park Service Adds 16 New Underground Railroad Sites to Commemorative Network

The recognitions honor the resistance and bravery of freedom seekers and their allies who risked their lives to resist slavery

Coin experts thought a medal honoring Revolutionary War hero Daniel Morgan had been lost forever, but it recently sold to the tune of nearly $1 million.

Cool Finds

Long-Lost Medal Honoring Revolutionary War Hero Sells for Record-Breaking $960,000

The artifact, which honors General Daniel Morgan, went missing for years—then mysteriously turned up at an auction house specializing in coins and medals

Three spears have returned to southeastern Australia for the first time and are being displayed at the University of Sydney’s Chau Chak Wing Museum.

Captain Cook and His Crew Stole These Spears. Centuries Later, They’re Finally Back in Sydney

The artifacts are on display alongside modern spears created by the descendants of the Indigenous Dharawal people

The ancient remains of 108 Aboriginal individuals were exhumed from the Lake Mungo and Willandra Lakes region between 1960 and 1980.

Australia’s Oldest-Known Human Remains Will Be Reburied in the Outback

The decision comes after a decades-long campaign by Aboriginal groups, but not all stakeholders are pleased with the current plan

An 1865 stereograph image of the so-called Sparrow-Hawk, taken just two years after the shipwreck was discovered on a Cape Cod beach

Cool Finds

Is This New England’s Oldest Known English Shipwreck?

New research suggests the vessel is the mysterious “Sparrow-Hawk”

Many superheroes are orphans. A new exhibition at the Foundling Museum in London explores how parental loss shapes their heroic trajectories. 

Why So Many Superheroes Are Orphans

A new exhibition at London’s Foundling Museum explores how growing up without birth parents shapes comic book characters

Page 123 of 351