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Smart News / Smart News History & Archaeology

Pithiviers as seen in 1941

Museum to Be Built at Site of Nazi-Occupied France’s First Concentration Camp

Some 16,000 Jews were detained at Pithiviers and neighboring Beaune-la-Rolande before being sent to death camps

Simcha Rotem speaking in front of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising memorial during the revolt anniversary ceremonies in 2013.

Simcha Rotem, Who Fought in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Has Died at 94

Rotem helped survivors of the rebellion flee through the sewers

Cool Finds

Preserved Horse, Saddled, Harnessed and Ready to Flee, Found in Villa Outside Pompeii

Archaeologists found ornamental pieces of a harness and saddle, suggesting the horse was ready to ride when the volcano blew its top

The 1999 discovery of the Nebra Sky Disc, a 3,600-year-old bronze object adorned with gold renderings of celestial bodies, sparked resurgence of interest in deceased prince, who was buried at same archaeological site

This Bronze Age Regicide May Be World’s Oldest-Known Political Murder

The prince of Helmsdorf’s skeleton revealed three brutal injuries, including one that suggests he knew his killer and attempted to fend off the attack

Susan Hiller, "Belshazzar's Feast, the Writing on Your Wall," 1983-4

Tate Britain’s Female-Led Exhibition Is a Hopeful Sign of What’s to Come

Will 2019 be the year more women artists get shown in art museums?

The Kindertransport memorial in Gdansk.

Trending Today

Germany to Compensate Child Refugees Who Escaped the Nazis on the Kindertransport to Britain

The program brought an estimated 10,000 Jewish children from Nazi-controlled Europe to safety in Great Britain

The 1938 Christmas greeting would've only held significance for those "in the know"

Christmas Card Addressed to Bletchley Codebreakers Discovered

The lost holiday message features the only known photograph of operatives’ September 1938 meeting, the enigmatic “Captain Ridley’s shooting party”

3D printed model of Pumapunku

Archaeologist Reconstructs Ruins of Tiwanaku Temple in Bolivia Using 3-D Printing Technology

It was like an ‘elaborate lego set,’ says UC Berkeley’s Alexei Vranich

The researchers are quick to point out that their findings don't suggest a link between brain size or shape and behavior, but instead offer an exploration of the genetic evolution of modern brains

Neanderthal Genes Influence Contemporary Humans’ Skull Shape, Brain Size

Individuals carrying these ancient ancestors’ DNA are more likely to have slightly elongated, rather than rounded, brains

Only one of the letters included in the scrapbook has been previously published

Kurt Vonnegut’s Unpublished World War II Scrapbook Reveals Origins of ‘Slaughterhouse-Five’

Volume features 22 letters from author to his family, photographs of the razed city of Dresden, telegrams and news clippings

Trending Today

We Finally Know What Sank the U.S.S. San Diego During World War I

After six visits to the ship and sophisticated modeling, historians have concluded that a German mine sunk the cruiser off the coast of New York in 1918

“Nellie Bly: The Virtual Reality Experience” tracks Bly’s travels from Egypt to Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, San Francisco and beyond

VR Experience Lets You Join Nellie Bly on Her 72-Day Trip Around the World

The Newseum, Vive collaboration catalogues the intrepid reporter’s record-breaking journey

Early felines spread out across the world in two distinct waves

Cats Have Actually Grown Larger Over Time—Unlike Most Domesticated Species

Between the Viking Age and modern times, felines increased in size by 16 percent

Egyptian journalists hold posters calling for the release from prison detention of Mahmoud Abou Zeid, in front of the Syndicate of Journalists building in Cairo, Egypt, on December 9, 2015.

More Than 250 Journalists Are Languishing in Prisons Around the World, Report Says

The Committee to Protect Journalists documents the worrying trend it characterizes as the “new normal”

Dispatch from 2018

Chicken Bones May Be the Legacy of Our Time

A new study argues that the sheer abundance of chicken consumption, coupled with the strange skeletons of modern chickens, will leave a unique fingerprint

Cool Finds

The Goddess in the Margarine Tub Is Just One of 1,267 Treasures Found by the British Public in 2017

A new report reveals the pieces voluntarily recorded with the U.K.’s Portable Antiquities Scheme last year

Television remains dominant across all mediums, with 49 percent of Americans surveyed citing it as their most-frequented news source

Pew Finds Social Media Has Surpassed Print Newspapers as Americans’ Main News Source

The research center says 20 percent of Americans rely on sites like Facebook, Twitter for news updates, while 16 percent cite print as main news source

Museum of Black Civilizations in Dakar, Senegal.

Sprawling Museum of Black Civilizations Opens in Senegal

The launch comes as Senegal is requesting the repatriation of looted artworks from France

Trending Today

Forty Years Ago, 12.6 Million Feet of History Went Up in Smoke

Remembering the fire at a National Archives film vault that destroyed years worth of flammable nitrate film newsreels

Cool Finds

Recently Deciphered 4,500-Year-Old Pillar Shows First Known Record of a Border Dispute

The marble stele, held in the British Museum’s collections for 150 years, also includes the first known use of the term “no man’s land”

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