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Smart News / Smart News History & Archaeology

The Brady house is located on Dilling Street in Studio City.

The Iconic House From ‘The Brady Bunch’ Is Now an Official Historic Landmark in Los Angeles

Viewers saw the house in shots of the Brady home’s exterior, though interior scenes were filmed in a studio. A few years ago, the structure was renovated to match the sets

The Last Judgment is located behind the Sistine Chapel's altar.

The Sweat of Tourists Has Covered Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel Fresco in a White Film. Now, the ‘Last Judgment’ Is Getting a Much-Needed Cleaning

Patches of calcium lactate have dulled the colors of the famous 16th-century mural, which hasn’t been cleaned since 1994. Experts will carefully restore the artwork to its former glory

Researchers dubbed one experiment involving a roughly one-foot-tall crystal "The Monolith" in honor of Stanley Kubrick's iconic film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Chimps Seem to Love Crystals. Their Attraction Might Help Explain Humans’ Obsession With the Shimmering Stones

Hominins have been collecting calcite and quartz for at least 780,000 years. A new study hints at why

Caitríona Balfe as Claire Fraser (left) and Sam Heughan as Jamie Fraser (right) in season one of "Outlander"

Based on a True Story

The Final Season of ‘Outlander’ Is Here. See the Most Iconic Kilts, Gowns and Other Costumes From the Time Travel Drama

An exhibition at the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown showcases 26 ensembles from the Starz series’ first four seasons

The British Museum, from which Nigel Peverett stole hundreds of prints

Thirty-Four Years Ago, a British Museum Staffer Stole More Than 300 Prints in Broad Daylight. A New Book Chronicles the Thefts and Their Fallout

While seemingly unreported at the time, the pilfering was uncovered by historian Barnaby Phillips as part of his research for a new book about African treasures

The new “American Bison” Forever stamp is slated to debut in May.

See the New U.S. Postage Stamp Honoring the Bison, America’s National Mammal

The stamp features a modern image by Montana-based wildlife photographer Tom Murphy alongside a historic bison stamp design from 1923

Vision of Zacharias in the Temple, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1633

Cool Finds

They Joked About Discovering a Forgotten Masterpiece. Now, Experts Say They’re the Unwitting Owners of an Original Rembrandt

“Vision of Zacharias in the Temple” had been removed from the Dutch painter’s oeuvre in the 1960s. But when the owners brought it to the Rijksmuseum, scholars decided to conduct a close analysis

A statue of Genghis Khan in Mongolia

New Research

Are 1 in 200 Men Alive Today Really Related to Genghis Khan? Probably Not, According to New Research

A new DNA analysis suggests that the genetic legacy of the Mongol Empire’s founder is likely more complicated than historians previously assumed

This photo from the early 1900s depicts a man carrying a giant head in a wheelbarrow.

We’ve Been Manipulating Images Since the Invention of Photography—Long Before Photoshop or Artificial Intelligence

Dating to between 1860 and 1940, more than 50 photographs depicting the impossible are on view in a new exhibition at the Rijksmuseum

The timbers and hull planks emerged on a beach in Studland Bay after Storm Chandra.

Shipwreck Timbers Appeared on a Beach After a Storm. They Had Been Buried Beneath the Sand Since the 17th Century

Experts think the newly unearthed timbers may have come from the “Fame,” an armed Dutch merchant vessel that sank off the Dorset coast in 1631

New research finds a genetic link between modern Old Irish goats and goats living in Ireland during the Late Bronze Age.

These Majestic Goats Have Been Traipsing Around Ireland for at Least 3,000 Years, Research Suggests

Goat bones dating to between 1100 B.C.E. and 900 B.C.E. were a close genetic match for modern Old Irish goats, a historic breed with declining numbers

The Roman stone pictured with pieces that were not found with the artifact.

New Research

This Ancient Roman Game Board Was a Mystery. Researchers Used A.I. to Figure Out How to Play

The limestone oval is carved with a dark, thin rectangle on which ancient people repeatedly moved game pieces

The coffin of Margrave Philipp Wilhelm of Brandenburg-Schwedt (middle)

The Berlin Cathedral Is Reopening Its Massive Crypt—Home to the Bones of One of Europe’s Most Powerful Dynasties

The crypt, which has been closed for renovations for the past six years, houses coffins containing members of the House of Hohenzollern

Galileo's handwritten notes in a 1551 copy of Ptolemy's Almagest

Cool Finds

A Scholar Recognized the Inscriptions in the Margins of This Manuscript. The Scribbles Turned Out to Be Galileo’s Handwritten Notes

Found in a 16th-century copy of an ancient astronomy treatise, the annotations suggest that the trailblazing scientist studied Earth-centric models before lending his support to heliocentrism

Archaeologists discovered the bottle while excavating Alta's historic Water Street, which was a bustling thoroughfare during the town's silver mining heyday.

Cool Finds

What Does This 150-Year-Old Bottle of Mystery Booze Taste Like? Fruity, With a Hint of Leather

Experts in Utah recently sipped the murky liquid, which was found during excavations at a historic ski area

Self-Portrait in a Fur Cap, Rembrandt van Rijn, 1630

Cool Finds

A Woman Found a Folder in a Drawer. When She Opened It, She Discovered 35 Forgotten Rembrandt Etchings

Charlotte Meyer’s grandfather acquired the artworks between 1900 and 1920. Now, they’re going on view for the first time in more than a century

Researchers think some of the footprints were made by barefoot humans roughly 2,000 years ago.

Cool Finds

A Couple Walking Their Dogs Noticed 2,000-Year-Old Footprints on the Beach. They Were Visible for Just Days Before Waves Erased Them Forever

Archaeologists raced to document the semi-fossilized tracks in eastern Scotland. They were likely made by humans, deer and other animals during the late Iron Age

The team analyzed 260 engraved objects discovered in caves in what is now southwest Germany, including this 40,000-year-old mammoth figurine.

New Research

Humans May Have Used These Mysterious Symbols to Encode Information Tens of Thousands of Years Before the First Writing Systems

The symbols, discovered on 40,000-year-old artifacts in caves in southwest Germany, may have been a precursor to the first written language

Pope Alexander VII commissioned the elephant sculpture to support an ancient Egyptian obelisk.

This Famous 17th-Century Elephant Sculpture in Rome Keeps Losing the Tip of Its Tusk

Designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the statue holds an 18-foot-tall Egyptian obelisk on its back. The four-inch fragment of its tusk was found nearby

An artistic representation of the burial event at Gomolava

A Mass Grave Uncovered in Serbia Hints at a Violent Iron Age Massacre That Targeted Women and Children

A new analysis of human remains found more than 50 years ago reveals fresh insights about culture clashes in prehistoric Europe

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