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Smart News / Smart News History & Archaeology

The cloth is embroidered with animals, plants and narrative scenes

See Scrap of Cloth Believed to Be From Elizabeth I’s Only Surviving Dress

The fabric, set to go on view, was previously used as an altar cloth in a small village church

Humble lettuce, according to John Evelyn, “may safely be eaten raw in Fevers; for it allays Heat, bridles Choler, extinguishes Thirst, excites Appetite, kindly Nourishes, and above all reprelles Vapours, conciliates Sleep, mitigates Pain.”

A 17th-Century Ode to Salads Is Heading to Auction

‘Acetaria’ celebrates the healthful benefits of meatless dining

The Pompeiian sorceress' kit contained about 100 different objects.

Cool Finds

A Sorceress’ Kit Was Discovered in the Ashes of Pompeii

The box of small trinkets was likely used to perform fertility and love rituals and to look for omens about birth and pregnancy

A worker sprays a gel on the ground to absorb lead as he takes part in a clean-up operation at Saint Benoit school near Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris during a decontamination operation on August 8, 2019.

Notre-Dame Restoration Delayed Due to Lead Poisoning Concerns

Work is set to continue next week with more stringent safety protocols, decontamination units

The author's son plans on releasing a trove of his father's unpublished works at some point during the next decade

J.D. Salinger’s Work Is Coming to E-Readers for the First Time

The author’s longtime publishing company will release four e-books in August

Trending Today

Cleopatra May Have Once Smelled Like This Recreated Perfume

A team sought to replicate ancient Egypt’s most famous perfumes based on residue found in old bottles

The result. On Twitter, Samus Blackley describes it as "much sweeter and more rich than the sourdough we are used to."

Cool Finds

This Bread Was Made Using 4,500-Year-Old Egyptian Yeast

After extracting the dormant yeast from cooking vessels, an amateur gastroegyptologist used ancient grains to recreate an Old Kingdom loaf

Toni Morrison, painted by Robert McCurdy, 2006, oil on canvas

Toni Morrison, ‘Beloved’ Author Who Cataloged the African-American Experience, Dies at 88

‘She changed the whole cartography of black writing,’ says Kinshasha Holman Conwill of the National Museum of African American History and Culture

Dorothy Toy and her tap dance partner Paul Wing circa 1942.

Remembering Dorothy Toy, a Dazzling Asian-American Tap Dance Star

She and her dance partner Paul Wing appeared together as stars of stage and screen, but they were not immune to prejudicial attitudes

Moving forward, individuals will only be able to spray paint the wall on specified days

Future Graffiti Additions to Prague’s John Lennon Wall Will Be Strictly Regulated

Local authorities are introducing security measures in response to vandalism, obscene graffiti

Cool Finds

New England ‘Vampire’ Was Likely a Farmer Named John

In 1990, archaeologists discovered a corpse that had been disturbed during the Great New England Vampire Panic

The musical finds the six queens competing for the dubious honor of telling the most tragic tale

The Six Wives of Henry VIII Are Coming to Broadway

In ‘Six,’ the Tudor queens get a chance to share their side of the story

John Dillinger's mugshot.

Why John Dillinger’s Relatives Want to Exhume His Body

They suspect that the man killed by federal agents in 1934 was not, in fact, the outlaw, but a Dillinger expert dismisses the theory as ‘total nonsense’

Section of fragment found

Cool Finds

Fragment of ‘The Rose Thorn,’ a Poem About a Talking Vulva, Dated to the 1300s

The section of the erotic Medieval fantasy was found in the binding of book in Austria’s Melk monastery

Out of 200 styluses found during excavations, this was the only one with an inscription

Cool Finds

This Ancient Roman Souvenir Stylus Is Inscribed With a Corny Joke

Loosely translated, the message reads, ‘I went to Rome and all I got you was this stylus’

Excavation of a Celtic grave at the Kernschulhaus 2017

Cool Finds

This Iron Age Celtic Woman Was Buried in a Hollowed-Out Tree Trunk

The woman performed little physical labor during her lifetime and enjoyed a rich diet of starchy and sweetened foods

Markers will be added to the "Lion of Atlanta" monument, along with three others.

New Markers in Atlanta Aim to Put Confederate Monuments in Context

The city is installing the historical markers next to four of its most prominent Confederate memorials

Ameila Earhart standing in front of the Lockheed Electra in which she disappeared in 1937.

Why the Much-Publicized Mission to Find Amelia Earhart’s Plane Is Likely to Come Up Empty

The explorer who discovered the ‘Titanic’ is searching for the lost aviator. A Smithsonian curator doesn’t think he’ll find it.

Trending Today

To Remember the Chicago Race Riot of 1919, Commemoration Project Looks to Public Art

The Windy City was just one place that went up in flames that summer

Nearly 16,000 pages of letters, speeches, newspaper articles and other suffragist documents are now available on By the People.

Women Who Shaped History

The Library of Congress Needs Your Help Transcribing Suffragist Papers

Nearly 16,000 pages of diaries, letters, speeches and other documents are available on the library’s crowdsourcing platform

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