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Smart News / Smart News History & Archaeology

The only photograph of Neil Armstrong on the moon resurfaced in the 1980s after years of obscurity.

You Could Own the First Space Selfie, Only Photo of Neil Armstrong on the Moon

Online Christie’s sale features 2,400 photographs from “the golden age of space exploration”

Left, 19th century visitors view Washington Crossing the Delaware (1851) by Emanuel Leutze; right, 21st- century visitors gaze upon the same work.

Celebrating 150 Years of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

An exhibition and a slate of virtual offerings commemorate the history of the iconic New York City institution

Two new research ventures appear to support the idea that Roanoke's colonists split into two or more groups after abandoning the North Carolina settlement.

Pottery Fragments May Hold Clues to Roanoke Colonists’ Fate

Disputed findings suggest some residents of the “Lost Colony” settled 50 miles west of their original home

“We have submitted the issue to the American people and their will is law,” wrote Democrat William Jennings Bryan (pictured here on the campaign trail) in an 1896 telegram to Republican William McKinley.

History of Now

Why Defeated Presidential Candidates Deliver Concession Speeches

The tradition dates back to 1896, when William Jennings Bryan conceded the election to William McKinley via telegram

An aerial view of the Mount Pleasant henge, as seen during excavations in the early 1970s

Evidence of Neolithic Construction Boom Found at British ‘Mega-Henge’

New research suggests ancient humans built the Mount Pleasant henge in as little as 35 to 125 years

The Basilica di San Francesco di Paola is one of nine Naples churches in areas deemed highly susceptible to sudden collapse.

Sinkholes Threaten to Swallow Naples’ Historic Churches, Study Suggests

A new paper identifies 9 high-risk places of worship and 57 that are susceptible to “potential future cavity collapses”

The burial site is located inside of Makpan cave on the Indonesian island of Alor.

8,000 Years Ago, a Child in Indonesia Was Buried Without Their Arms and Legs

Ancient humans often modified the bones of their dead as part of funerary rituals

A KGB spy pistol used by female operatives and designed to look like a tube of lipstick

You Could Own a Lipstick Gun, a Poison-Tipped Umbrella and Other KGB Spy Tools

Next February, Julien’s Auctions will sell some 3,000 items from the shuttered KGB Espionage Museum’s collection

A 2016 study suggested that Henry sustained a traumatic brain injury that affected his temperament following the 1536 accident, but other experts attribute the shift in mood to an ulcerated leg, diabetes or hypothyroidism.

Researchers Find Remnants of Jousting Field Where Henry VIII Almost Died

In January 1536, the Tudor king fell from his horse and sustained significant injuries that troubled him for the rest of his life

Prehistoric hunter-gather societies may have depended on women, as well as men and children, to conduct a successful hunt.

Cool Finds

This Prehistoric Peruvian Woman Was a Big-Game Hunter

Some 9,000 years ago, a 17- to 19-year-old female was buried alongside a hunter’s tookit

Maine and Nebraska allocate two electoral votes to the statewide winner but allow each congressional district to award one electoral vote to the popular vote winner in their specific locality.

History of Now

Why Do Maine and Nebraska Split Their Electoral Votes?

Instead of a winner-take-all system, the states use the “congressional district method”

Rocky Vaughan designed the new state flag, which features a magnolia blossom—the state flower—encircled by 20 stars representing Mississippi's status as the 20th state to enter the Union and one star representing Indigenous Native Americans.

Mississippi Voters Approve New Design to Replace Confederate-Themed State Flag

The redesigned banner—approved by on Tuesday by 68 percent of voters—features a magnolia bloom and the words “In God We Trust”

Albrecht Dürer, Heksen (Witches), 1497 (left) and Albrecht Dürer, De fire hekse (The Four Witches), 1497 (right)

The Little-Known Story of 16th- to 18th-Century Nordic Witch Trials

An art exhibition in Copenhagen and a museum in Ribe revisit witchcraft’s legacy in Denmark and neighboring countries

Art historian Jennifer Alexander believes the carving is a self-portrait made by a medieval stonemason.

Cool Finds

A 12th-Century Mason Created a Hidden Self-Portrait in Famed Spanish Cathedral

Over the past 900 years, millions of pilgrims walked through Santiago de Compostela Cathedral without spotting the secret carving

The Maya built the Corriental reservoir filtration system as early as 2,185 years ago.

Cool Finds

Researchers Uncover 2,000-Year-Old Maya Water Filtration System

The city of Tikal purified one of its reservoirs with technology comparable to modern systems

A brightly-colored page in the Codex Borgia, one of the artifacts requested by Mexico's president

Mexico Seeks Apology for Catholic Church’s Role in the Spanish Conquest

In a letter to Pope Francis, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador also requested the temporary return of a number of artifacts

Detail of a medical treatise from the Tebtunis temple library with headings marked in red ink

Why Did Ancient Egyptian Scribes Use Lead-Based Ink?

A new study uncovers the science behind ancient writing traditions

Researchers from ADHS, Historic Environment Scotland, Dendrochronicle and Wessex Archaeology examined the remains of the old bridge.

Cool Finds

Remnants of Scotland’s Oldest Surviving Bridge Found

Both Mary, Queen of Scots, and James V crossed the Old Ancrum Bridge, which was key to travel, commerce and war

A satellite image of the Noordoostpolder, a Dutch municipality where the four settlements were found

Cool Finds

Dutch Archaeologist Discovers Traces of Four Submerged Medieval Settlements

A five-year research project yielded the locations of several long-forgotten villages

The Book of Lismore consists of 198 large vellum folios.

Medieval Manuscript Returns to Ireland After Hundreds of Years in British Hands

The 15th-century Book of Lismore features the only surviving Irish translation of Marco Polo’s travels, among other historical texts

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