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Smart News / Smart News History & Archaeology

Poenari Castle was once the clifftop fortress of Vlad the Impaler.

Virtual Travel

Watch Seven Medieval Castles’ Digital Reconstruction

Architects and designers restored royal ruins across Europe to their former glory

Mary Vaux Walcott, Cardinal Flower, 1880

Covid-19

Shuttered Museums Use Social Media to Share Bouquets of Floral Artwork

Hundreds of museums are participating in an online attempt to spread joy as COVID-19 keeps their galleries empty

The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery offers a free audio tour of its presidential portraits.

Virtual Travel

Explore World-Class Museums From Home With Smartify’s Free Audio Tours

The app features a database of some two million artworks housed at more than 120 venues

The USS Stickleback (left) was accidentally broadsided by the USS Silverstein (right) on May 29, 1958.

Cool Finds

Wreck of Cold War-Era Submarine Found Off the Coast of Oahu

After 62 years underwater, the USS “Stickleback”—the casualty of an accidental friendly collision—has finally been found

Matilda McCrear died in 1940 at the age of 81 or 82.

Researcher Identifies the Last Known Survivor of the Transatlantic Slave Trade

Matilda McCrear was just 2 when she was captured and brought to Alabama on the “Clotilda”

According to traditional Japanese folklore, Amabie predicts good harvests and protect against disease.

Covid-19

Amid Pandemic, Artists Invoke Japanese Spirit Said to Protect Against Disease

Illustrators are sharing artwork of Amabie, a spirit first popularized during the Edo period, on social media

With pyramids closed to visitors, workers are deep cleaning the structures.

Covid-19

Amid COVID-19 Closures, Egypt Sanitizes the Giza Pyramids

The country has shut down its museums and archaeological sites in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus

Hundreds of neatly piled beer bottles unearthed at the site of a long-gone inn in Leeds

Cool Finds

Archaeologists in Leeds Unearth 600 Lead-Spiked, 19th-Century Beer Bottles

The liquid inside is 3 percent alcohol by volume—and contains 0.13 milligrams of lead per liter

A wealthy widower built the unusual property over a 36-year period.

Virtual Travel

Take a Free Virtual Tour of the Winchester Mystery House

The California landmark is closed, but you can explore its bizarre architectural features from afar

The Baldwins' home was reconstructed in 1966 and is now a museum showcasing the missionary's life in the mid-1800s.

Archaeologists Unearth Remnants of Kitchen Behind Oldest House Still Standing in Maui

The missionary who lived in the house during the mid-1800s delivered vaccinations to locals during a smallpox epidemic

Cartoonist Albert Uderzo poses with Asterix (R) and Obelix (L) prior to a press conference at the Monnaie de Paris on March 25, 2015.

Albert Uderzo, Co-Creator of ‘Asterix and Obelix’ Comics, Dies at 92

The pint-sized, mustachioed Gaul immortalized in the French cartoon has spawned films, a theme park and many other spin-offs

Researchers excavate an altar in the capital of the Maya kingdom of Sak Tz'i'.

Cool Finds

Community-Researcher Collaboration Reveals Ancient Maya Capital in Backyard

A recent excavation located the first physical evidence of the capital of the Maya kingdom of Sak Tz’i’, founded in 750 B.C.

Policemen patrol the streets near Notre-Dame on March 17, 2020, as a strict lockdown comes into effect.

Covid-19

Two Men Arrested After Trying to Steal Stones From Notre-Dame

The suspects were found drunk and hiding under a tarpaulin, reportedly in possession of small stones from the fire-ravaged cathedral

The top of Zagreb Cathedral's southern spire toppled during Sunday's earthquake.

5.4-Magnitude Earthquake Damages Zagreb Cathedral, Museums

The tremors, which arrived in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, was the worst the Croatian capital has seen in 140 years

The Games will now take place in the summer of 2021.

Covid-19

Amid a Pandemic, Olympic Committee Postpones Summer Games Until 2021

Delaying the Games for a year is considered by many to be the best course of action for public health

Whalers and their families spent winters on Herschel Island, located north of the Yukon in Canada.

Virtual Travel

Explore 3-D Models of Historic Yukon Structures Threatened by Erosion

“We thought it was a good idea to get a comprehensive record of the site while we could in case the water levels rise,” says one official

A chemical analysis of the stone slab has led a modern team of researchers to argue for a far less biblical origin story.

New Analysis Refutes Nazareth Inscription’s Ties to Jesus’ Death

The marble slab appears to be Greek in origin and may have been written in response to the death of a tyrant on the island of Kos

A stained glass window designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany is one of many artworks available for your perusal.

Virtual Travel

68 Cultural, Historical and Scientific Collections You Can Explore Online

Tour world-class museums, read historic cookbooks, browse interactive maps and more

A roughly 20,000-year-old engraved, pocket-sized rock that may depict a sun, eye or flower

Cool Finds

Portable, Pocket-Sized Rock Art Discovered in Ice Age Indonesian Cave

The findings further refute the outdated notion that humans’ capacity for complex artistic expression evolved exclusively in Europe

Archaeologists excavated the site ahead of construction of a new health center.

Cool Finds

Remnants of 13th-Century Town Walls Unearthed in Wales

Caernarfon, where the discovery was made, was key to Edward I’s conquest of the Welsh

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