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Smart News / Smart News History & Archaeology

An early 20th-century photo of the building in its original location on Prince George Street in Williamsburg, Virginia

University Building Identified as One of the U.S.’ First Schools for Black Children

The Williamsburg Bray School educated around 400 free and enslaved students between 1760 and 1774

The researchers virtually opened the letters with an advanced X-ray machine. They then used computers to analyze the folds and create a readable, digital model of the unfolded message.

Art Meets Science

How Researchers Are Reading Centuries-Old Letters Without Opening Them

A new technique enables scholars to unlock the secrets of long-sealed missives

Five months after a missing panel from Jacob Lawrence's Struggle series resurfaced, a second long-lost painting by the artist—pictured here in 1957—has been found.

Cool Finds

Another Long-Lost Jacob Lawrence Painting Resurfaces in Manhattan

Inspired by the recent discovery of a related panel, a nurse realized that the missing artwork had hung in her house for decades

Martin Luther King Jr. and Reverend Ralph Abernathy are taken in for questioning by Birmingham police in 1962.

Cool Finds

Rare Birmingham Jail Logbook Pages Signed by MLK Resurface After Decades

Two sheets of paper from the Alabama prison where the activist penned a famous 1963 letter sold at auction for more than $130,000

The team speculates that ancient Romans used the vehicle for festivals, parades, weddings and other ceremonial events.

Cool Finds

‘Miraculously’ Well-Preserved Ceremonial Chariot Found at Villa Outside of Pompeii

The carriage’s intricate decorations include metal medallions depicting satyrs, nymphs and cupids

The newly restored artworks highlight predator-prey conflicts in the natural world.

Newly Restored Pompeiian Frescoes Capture Hunting Scenes in Vivid Detail

Researchers used a laser to clean the ancient artworks before retouching their faded sections

Just six comparable Ming dynasty bowls are known to survive today.

Cool Finds

Porcelain Bowl Bought at Yard Sale for $35 Could Sell at Auction for $500,000

The blue-and-white vessel is a rare Ming dynasty dish dated to the early 15th century

Six of the statues appear to depict Siddhartha Gautama, while five likely portray the Hindu deity and Buddhist bodhisattva Tara.

Cool Finds

Remnants of Tenth-Century Buddhist Monastery Found in India

The excavation uncovered statues of the Buddha and Tara, a prominent bodhisattva

Rioters enter the U.S. Capitol's rotunda as chemical irritants fill the corridor on January 6, 2021.

History of Now

Curators Seek $25,000 to Repair Artworks Damaged in U.S. Capitol Attack

Rioters vandalized six sculptures and two paintings, in addition to smashing windows, breaking furniture and spraying graffiti

These brightly colored geese have no modern, real-world counterpart.

Tomb Painting Known as Egypt’s ‘Mona Lisa’ May Depict Extinct Goose Species

Only two of the three kinds of birds found in the 4,600-year-old artwork correspond to existing kinds of animals

A crew in Richmond, Virginia, removes a statue of Confederate naval officer Matthew Fontaine Maury on July 2, 2020.

The U.S. Removed Over 160 Confederate Symbols in 2020—but Hundreds Remain

Following mass protests against racial injustice, watchdog group records new push to remove racist monuments from public spaces

Snow-covered outline of the Roman villa's foundations

Cool Finds

Remnants of Iron Age Settlement, Roman Villa Found in England

Excavations in Oxfordshire revealed traces of at least 15 ancient roundhouses and a dwelling dated to the third or fourth century A.D.

The bust depicts York, an enslaved member of the 1804 Lewis and Clark expedition.

Anonymous Artist Installs Bust of York, Enslaved Explorer Who Accompanied Lewis and Clark, in Portland Park

The monument replaces a statue of conservative editor Harvey Scott that was toppled last October

West African culinary traditions

Education During Coronavirus

New Online Portal Chronicles the Culinary Legacy of the African Diaspora

“Feast Afrique,” a digital tool created by food historian Ozoz Sokoh, features nearly 200 texts spanning 1828 to the present

The kangaroo painting, shown alongside an illustration giving a clear view of the lines drawn by the artist, is Australia's oldest known rock art.

Cool Finds

17,000-Year-Old Kangaroo Painting Is Oldest-Known Australian Rock Art

Researchers were able to date the painting using a new technique involving wasps’ nests

A woman reaches for a copy of Life on a New York City newsstand in 1936.

How Magazines Helped Shape American History

Explore 300 years of the periodical in an encyclopedic exhibition opening at the Grolier Club in New York City

The cache of jewelry likely dates to around 950 A.D.

Cool Finds

Amateur Treasure Hunter Finds Trove of 1,000-Year-Old Viking Jewelry

Buried on the Isle of Man around 950 A.D., the artifacts include a gold arm ring and a silver brooch

The design is similar to marble sarcophagi found in what is now Marmara, Turkey.

Cool Finds

Construction at Israeli Safari Park Unearths 1,800-Year-Old Sarcophagi

First found 25 years ago, the limestone coffins—adorned with Greco-Roman symbols—were subsequently forgotten

An architect concealed and conserved the historic bathhouse while constructing a hotel on the site in the early 20th century.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover 12th-Century Bathhouse Hidden in Spanish Tapas Bar

The Seville establishment’s owners uncovered traces of the historic structure while conducting renovations

A front view of 726 W. Garfield Blvd., the Englewood mansion where Catherine "Cate" O'Leary lived for part of her later life

Mansion of Woman Falsely Blamed for 1871 Great Chicago Fire Is Up for Sale

Mrs. O’Leary’s son built the house for her after the disaster. Now, the property is on the market—and it comes with a fire hydrant

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