Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News / Smart News History & Archaeology

Unicode By LN Tallur Bronze, coins and concrete 2011 Tallur Studio, Koteshwara, Karnataka, India

Sweeping Mumbai Exhibition Tells the Story of India, With Help From the British Museum

‘India and the World’ features 124 loans from London and 104 objects from institutions across India

Civil War reenactors fire a salute in a public parade.

Civil War Reenactments Were a Thing Even During the Civil War

These ‘practice battles’ are the root of today’s Civil War reenactors

Orange County Sheriff's Department disposing of illegal alcohol, circa 1932.

Why the Ku Klux Klan Flourished Under Prohibition

The Ku Klux Klan’s resurgence in the 1920s is linked to the passage of the Volstead Act in 1920

Christopher Columbus statue in Columbus Circle in New York City

More than 120 Academics and Artists Call for Removal of Controversial Monuments in New York

The letter singles out three statues and two commemorative markers honoring contentious historical figures

Marianne Means during a 1983 interview with C-SPAN's Brian Lamb.

Pioneering Political Journalist Marianne Means Has Died at Age 83

The first woman assigned to cover a president’s activities on a full-time basis, Means wrote a widely syndicated column about the goings-on in Washington

Winter recreationists circa 1975.

The Snowmobile Changed How Americans Did Winter

As the cold comes in, snowbound communities are tuning up their vehicles and recreationists are making speedy winter plans

The beginning of the Crazy Horse Memorial.

The Memorial to Crazy Horse Has Been Under Construction For Almost 70 Years

But you can still visit the memorial, which is located in South Dakota

Archaeologists in California Unearth a Large Sphinx—From the Set of ‘The Ten Commandments’

Director Cecil B. DeMille gave the order for the entire set be buried beneath the sand after shooting on the blockbuster concluded

11 Cauldrons Found at Iron Age Settlement in England

The cauldrons, most of which were buried in a circle, appear to have been used in ceremonial feasts

A family of four buying gas at a service station.

A Short Picture History of Gas Stations

Gas stations have evolved a lot from their humble roots

The face of a dreamer.

Winston Churchill Imagined the Lab-Grown Hamburger

But he was off about the year when it would be created

A Thomas Gainsborough painting of Queen Charlotte

Five Things to Know About Queen Charlotte

Before Meghan Markle, the late 18th-century Queen Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz may have been the country’s first biracial royal

Some of the Roman defenses at Pegwell Bay

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover Where Julius Caesar Landed in Britain

A large camp along Pegwell Bay is the likely spot where 20,000 Romans landed in 54 B.C.

Cool Finds

Ancient Orca Geoglyph Rediscovered in Peru

Found on a hillside in the Palpa desert, the 200-foot image was likely made by peoples of the Paracas and Nazca cultures

A square dance on Skyline Farms in Alabama, circa 1937.

Square Dancing is Uniquely American

Like the culture it came from, square dance has roots in European, Native American and African practices

Spandex, under the brand name Lycra, quickly took off after it was introduced in 1962. This ad was published in Good Housekeeping in October of that year.

Thank(?) Joseph Shivers For Spandex

From Spanx to space suits, spandex has shaped modern garments

Close-up of tent detail in Verplancks Point watercolor

Newly Discovered 235-Year-Old Watercolor Shows Off General Washington’s Wartime Tent

The painting offers a unique glimpse into the Revolutionary War

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre's Edicule, a shrine that encloses Jesus’ purported resting place

Mortar Found at “Jesus’ Tomb” Dates to the Constantine Era

The new analysis correlates with historical accounts stating that the tomb was discovered by the Romans, under the direction of emperor Constantine

The 1848 "Grand Panorama of a Whaling Voyage ‘Round the World."

Museum Restores North America’s Longest Painting

Completed in 1848, the quarter-mile-long panorama deteriorated after it toured the country on wagons and trains

Tibetan manuscripts

A Look Inside China’s Effort to Preserve Historical Mongolian Manuscripts

Various projects are attempting to digitize the more than 200,000 volumes of Mongolian books and documents in the country

Page 231 of 346