Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News / Smart News History & Archaeology

Pompeii's House of Lovers, first uncovered in 1933, was severely damaged in a 1980 earthquake.

Pompeii’s House of Lovers Reopens to the Public After 40 Years

The building, one of three newly restored painted houses, is named for a Latin inscription that reads, “Lovers lead, like bees, a life as sweet as honey”

The iconic Plymouth Rock and other sites were covered in red graffiti Monday during a vandalism spree discovered at the site marking the landing of the Pilgrims in Massachusetts 400 years ago.

Plymouth Rock and Other Massachusetts Monuments Vandalized With Red Graffiti

Town manager Melissa G. Arrighi called the defacement “unfathomable and unconscionable”

Archaeologist Kate Kolwicz examines fragments of late 19th-century Chinese pottery unearthed in downtown Missoula.

Remnants of a 19th-Century Red-Light District and Chinatown Unearthed in Montana

A trove of artifacts reveals the town of Missoula’s remarkable and diverse past

Peaceful protestors march down Constitution Avenue and the National Mall on August 28, 1963.

This Virtual Reality Exhibit Brings Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’ Speech to Life

“The March” debuts on February 28 at the DuSable Museum in Chicago

The warrior carved onto the Tulloch Stone wields a spear with a "kite-shaped blade and a doorknob-style butt," according to a new study.

Cool Finds

This Carving Is Helping Archaeologists Unravel the Secrets of Ancient Scottish Warriors

The male figure depicted on the Tulloch Stone has an “elaborate hairstyle,” “robust” torso and “pronounced” buttocks

Tempestries representing daily high temperatures in Utqiagvik, Alaska, in 1925, 2010, and 2016 (left) and Death Valley, California, in 1950 and 2016 (right)

Art Meets Science

How Knitting Enthusiasts Are Using Their Craft to Visualize Climate Change

In these crafters’ scarves and blankets, rows of color correspond with daily temperature

Japanese Americans stand in front of a poster with internment orders.

California to Apologize for Incarceration of Japanese Americans During WWII

In new legislation, the state will own up to its role in the years-long detention that began in 1942

Archaeologists unearthed the remains of at least 48 individuals, including 27 children.

Mass Grave Shows the Black Death’s ‘Catastrophic’ Impact in Rural England

At least 48 individuals were buried in a single grave in Lincolnshire, suggesting the community struggled to deal with an onslaught of plague victims

The tapestries depict scenes from the lives of St. Paul and St. Peter.

For One Week Only, Raphael’s Tapestries Return to the Sistine Chapel

This is the first time all 12 of the Renaissance creations have been united in their original home since the 16th century

Mail was slow and spotty during wartime. But that didn't stop homesick soldiers from penning love letters by the thousands.

New Orleans Museum Spotlights World War II Soldiers’ Love Letters

War is often billed as being all about guns and guts. But there’s glory in gushiness, too

A 3-D model of Athens' classical acropolis

Virtual Travel

These 3-D Models Offer a Digital Glimpse Into 3,000 Years of Athens’ History

Photographer-animator Dimitris Tsalkanis built the city from scratch and posted it online for free

The cabin is believed to date to the 1700s.

Cool Finds

18th-Century Log Cabin Discovered Beneath Condemned Pennsylvania Bar

The structure can be saved, experts say, but whether it can stay in the local community remains unclear

At Pablo Escobar's former hacienda, tourists are warned about the dangerous presence of an expanding hippo population.

Pablo Escobar’s Pooping Hippos Are Polluting Colombia’s Lakes

A new study suggests the hulking creatures are changing local water bodies with their bathroom habits

A bronze statue of abolitionist Harriet Tubman is seen during a private viewing ahead of its unveiling at the Maryland State House, Monday, Feb. 10, 2020, in Annapolis.

Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass Honored With Statues in Maryland State House

Both historic figures were born into slavery in Maryland and went on to become key activists in the abolitionist movement

Around half of the university's 100 "manuscript cookbooks" are now available online.

Education During Coronavirus

Dozens of Historic Mexican Cookbooks Are Now Available Online

The University of Texas San Antonio’s vast collection makes traditional Mexican and Mexican-American cooking accessible

Charles Dickens, seen at his desk in 1858

Charles Dickens Museum Acquires Trove of Author’s Unpublished Letters

The London museum recently purchased more than 300 literary artifacts assembled by a private collector in the U.S.

The moai at Easter island, built by the Rapa Nui people

New Research Rewrites the Demise of Easter Island

Yet another spate of evidence suggests the Rapa Nui people were going strong long after Europeans first arrived in 1722

The blue-throated barbet, illustrated here in 1871, is native to southern Asia.

Education During Coronavirus

You Can Now Download 150,000 Free Illustrations of the Natural World

The artworks, collected by the open-access Biodiversity Heritage Library, range from animal sketches to historical diagrams and botanical studies

A piece of worked glass unearthed from the English island of Lindisfarne that researchers suspect may have once been a Viking game piece

Cool Finds

This Glass Gaming Piece May Hail From First Viking Raids in England

Discovered on the island of Lindisfarne, the artifact was likely once part of a Hnefatafl board game set

Bees from the nest structures: A) Head, side, top and bottom views of bees found inside the cells, B) drawing of Eufriesea surinamensis and photograph of the head of a modern bee taken by David Roubik

Panama

150-Year-Old Mummified Bee Nests Found in Panama City Cathedral

The nests, covered in gold leaf and paint, act as a time capsule for the surrounding environment circa 1870

Page 179 of 346