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Smart News / Smart News History & Archaeology

A man uses a mobile phone to photograph flowers placed on the names of concentration camps during the annual ceremony on Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, Thursday, April 12, 2018.

Americans Believe Holocaust Education Is Important, But Survey Finds Gaps in Their Knowledge

The poll found that a substantial number of Americans were unaware of basic facts about the Holocaust

The Endurance sinking in 1915

Trending Today

Antarctic Research Ship to Search for Wreck of Shackleton’s ‘Endurance’

The ship sunk in pack ice in 1915, setting off one of exploration’s most epic survival tales

Malacites of the Wanabaki Confederacy standing along the edge of the water at French village, Kingsclear, celebrating Corpus Christi Day, ca 1887.

Researchers Are Tracing Wabanaki Canoe Routes in New Brunswick

The First Nation routes were ancient “highways” that traversed rivers, creeks and streams

Leif Erikson pointing toward North America. Did he use a sunstone to navigate the open seas?

New Research

Simulation Suggests Viking Sunstones of Legend Could Have Worked

If they existed, the crystals—used to locate the sun’s position on cloudy days—could have helped Vikings sail to far away places

Archaeologists Used Drones to Find New Ancient Drawings in Peru

About 50 new examples of the Nazca lines had been hiding in plain sight

A scene from The City Without Jews.

1924 Film That Anticipates the Holocaust Found and Restored

A collector found a complete copy of the film at a flea market in Paris in 2015

Governor Djehutynakht

New Research

The F.B.I. Helped a Museum Learn the Identity of a 4,000-Year-Old Severed Head

Cutting-edge DNA analysis revealed the mummified head belonged to Djehutynakht, a governor in Middle Kingdom Egypt, and not his wife as some believed

Rare Case of ‘Coffin Birth’ Seen in Medieval Grave

The pregnant woman’s remains may also suggest that she underwent cranial surgery due to a life-threatening complication

New Statue Immortalizes Mary Thomas, Who Led a Revolt Against Danish Colonial Rule

It is the city’s first public monument to a black woman

Winnie Mandela is cheered by supporters after appearing in the Krugersdorp Magistrate's court in connection with her arrest for flouting a banning order which prevents her from living in her Soweto home West of Johannesburg on Jan. 22, 1986.

Trending Today

Anti-Apartheid Crusader Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Dies at 81

The activist who died Monday in Johannesburg after a prolonged illness left behind a polarizing legacy in South Africa

More than 150 Years Later, Canada Exonerates Six Indigenous Chiefs Hanged in 1864

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau affirmed that the chiefs had acted in ‘war, not murder’ when they attacked white settlers who had encroached on their land

Johan van Hulst

Johan van Hulst, Who Helped Save Hundreds of Children During the Holocaust, Has Died at 107

He hid young Holocaust victims in the school where he taught, saving them from near certain death

One of the structures at Jacó Sá site.

Satellite Images Reveal 81 Pre-Hispanic Settlements in the Amazon

The discovery adds to a growing body of evidence that suggests settlements in the Amazon were far more wide-ranging than scholars once thought

Cool Finds

Centuries-Old Shipwreck Washes Up in Florida

The 48-foot section of ship’s hull was found last week at South Ponte Vedra Beach

Trending Today

North Dakota Makes a Push for a Teddy Roosevelt Presidential Library

The towns of Dickinson and Medora are raising money in hopes of establishing a library and museum to the 26th president who once ranched in the area

Mummy Found Inside 2,500-Year-Old ‘Empty’ Coffin

The coffin had been listed as empty for nearly 160 years while stored at the University of Sydney’s museum

This May 8, 1964 file photo shows Linda Brown Smith standing in front of the Sumner School in Topeka, Kansas.

Trending Today

Linda Brown, at the Center of Brown v. Board of Education, Has Died

After being refused enrollment at an all-white school in Topeka, Kansas, Brown’s court case led to the historic Supreme Court ruling that ended segregation

Mary McLeod Bethune in 1949

Trending Today

U.S. Capitol’s Statuary Hall Collection Will Get Its First State-Commissioned Statue of a Black American

A statue of educator and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune will replace a statue of a Confederate general

Cool Finds

Rare Image of Early Female Pharaoh Found in University Collection

After her reign, Hatshepsut was expunged from Egyptian history, but a carving of her likeness has turned up in Swansea University

Roger Williams University in Nashville, Tennessee, was a historically black college founded in 1866.

First Museum Committed to Sharing the Stories of Historically Black Colleges Opens

The HBCU Museum in Washington, D.C., launched March 9 and has plans to expand to a second location in Atlanta

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