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Smart News / Smart News History & Archaeology

A picture of the XF8F-1 Bearcat. David L. Mandt was flying the same model when he crashed into the Chesapeake Bay.

Cool Finds

Traces of WWII Veteran’s Doomed Final Flight May Have Been Located in the Chesapeake Bay

Few definitive traces of either the pilot or his plane have materialized since the 1945 crash

A young Emmett Till wearing a hat.

Due to Repeated Vandalism, Emmett Till Memorial to Be Replaced With Bulletproof Sign

Most recently, three University of Mississippi students were suspended from their fraternity after posing in front of the sign with guns

Artist's reconstruction of the Langeland grave.

Cool Finds

Viking Woman Warrior May Have Been Slavic

A new analysis of female Viking warriors suggests one found in Denmark was actually from the area of present-day Poland

Polychrome mosaic emblema (panel) showing fish and sea creatures, Pompeii, House of the Geometric Mosaics

From Baked Dormouse to Carbonized Bread, 300 Artifacts Show What Romans Ate

The show features frescoes, preserved fruit, cooking utensils and vessels recovered from Pompeii

Hebrew Inscription Emerges From Ruins of the Great Synagogue of Vilna

Other finds from a recent excavation include a prayer book and 200 gold coins

Volcanic deposits found at Pompeii could yield insights on Vesuvius' future

Why Archaeologists and Volcanologists Are Clashing Over Excavations at Pompeii

Volcanologist Roberto Scandone argues that enthusiasm for archaeology has yielded an “act of vandalism to volcanology”

Exterior view of the Führerbau photographed in September, 1938.

Investigation Identifies Nazi-Looted Art Later Ransacked From Hitler’s Headquarters

Near the end of WWII, Munich civilians plundered food, liquor, furnishings and some 700 works of art, most of which wer stolen property, from the Führerbau

Cool Finds

It Took Two Years for Global Experts to ID This Little Shard of Roman Glass

The rare blue-green glass was unearthed at the Chedworth Roman Villa in the U.K.

Cool Finds

The First Investigation Into the Allied Waterloo Field Hospital Is Unearthing Cannonballs—and Limbs

The dig, conducted by military veterans and service members, suggests just how close Napoleon’s forces might have come to victory in the epic battle

The Bent Pyramid of Snefru in the Dahshur Necropolis.

Egypt Opens Its ‘Bent Pyramid’ for the First Time in More Than 50 Years

The pyramid may represent an important step in a pharaoh’s quest to build the ‘perfect’ pyramid

Sadie Roberts-Joseph founded the Baton Rouge African-American Museum because she believed "If you don’t know where you came from, it’s hard to know where you’re going”

Sadie Roberts-Joseph, Slain Activist, Showed How Museums Can Raise Up Their Communities

Baton Rouge police described the museum founder, whose death has been ruled a homicide, as a ‘tireless advocate of peace’

Researchers previously believed that traces of animal fat left in pottery stemmed from feasts held by Stonehenge's builders.

Did Stonehenge’s Builders Use Lard to Move Its Boulders Into Place?

Animal fat residue found on ceramic vessels suggests the ancient Britons who built the monument greased their wooden sledges with lard

Trending Today

South Dakota’s City of Presidents Unveils Obama Statue

The new life-size bronze depicts the 44th president waving to the crowd and holding his daughter Sasha’s hand

Alan Turing Will Be the New Face of Britain’s £50 Note

Persecuted at the end of his life, the British mathematician and code-breaker is now widely admired as a father of computer science

Thanks to Bly's efforts, conditions at the women's asylum greatly improved

Women Who Shaped History

A Nellie Bly Memorial Is Coming to Roosevelt Island

The journalist famously wrote a six-part exposé cataloging the 10 days she spent at an asylum on Blackwell’s Island

Cool Finds

Remains of Napoleonic General Believed to Have Been Found in Russian Park

Charles Étienne Gudin, whose name appears on the Arc de Triomphe, was hit by a cannonball during the Battle of Valutino

The bombs likely lie in an unexplored 22-hectare section of the archaeological site

Pompeii Is Home to Multiple Undetonated World War II Bombs

A statement by the Archaeological Museum of Pompeii assures the public that there is ‘no risk for visitors’

The historic shipwrecks of Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary provide habitat for birds and other wildlife.

New National Marine Sanctuary Will Protect Maryland’s ‘Ghost Fleet’

Hundreds of abandoned vessels have merged with the environment in Mallows Bay

Exterior view of the "Chicago Defender" building in the 1950s.

The ‘Chicago Defender,’ an Iconic Black Newspaper, to Release Its Last Print Issue

The publication will shift its focus to online content

Drone shot of the dig

Cool Finds

‘Seditious’ Pressed Glass Jewel Found in 18th-Century North Carolina Tavern

The bead is imprinted with ‘Wilkes and Liberty 45,’ a code for those who opposed the policies of George III

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