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Smart News / Smart News History & Archaeology

Some of the 3,000 commemorative letters sent in the first Postal Department rocket mail are still around. Some made it into the National Postal Museum's collection.

Mail Delivery By Rocket Never Took Off

Although the Postmaster General was on board with the idea of missile mail, the Navy was ultimately less interested

Terrace rice fields in Yunnan Province, China.

New Research

Domestic Rice Was Grown in China 9,400 Years Ago

A new study offers evidence that prehistoric villages in the area of Shangshan were growing half-domesticated rice

Niagara Falls is beautiful, but it can also be destructive.

When the Niagara River Crushed a Power Plant

A cascade of rock slides left Schoellkopf Power Station’s three generators in ruins and killed one worker

An excerpt from the first road map of Britain, published by John Ogilby when Fiennes was 15, in 1675. No word on whether Fiennes ever saw it, although she did write about visiting a college in Manchester that had a map collection.

See 17th-Century England Through the Eyes of One of the First Modern Travel Writers

Celia Fiennes traveled and wrote about her adventures—including a bit of life advice

Before St. Martin's living digestive system was studied, doctors knew what the digestive system looked like but not how it looked or behaved while working.

This Man’s Gunshot Wound Gave Scientists a Window Into Digestion

The relationship between St. Martin and the doctor who experimented on him was ethically dubious at best

The mass grave recovered from Lutzen

New Research

Researchers Catalogue the Grisly Deaths of Soldiers in the Thirty Years’ War

The 47 bodies were found in a mass grave from the Battle of Lützen, one of the turning points in the devastating conflict

Paratroopers from the 1st Allied Airborne land in Holland during Operations Market Garden, September 1944.

Meet the Daredevil Parachutist Who Tested the First Nylon Parachute 75 Years Ago

Adeline Gray was just 24, but she was already an experienced parachutist and a trained pilot

Bob Dylan has finally delivered his Nobel Prize lecture.

Trending Today

Dylan Finally Delivers on Nobel Prize Lecture

The reclusive singer-songwriter muses on literature and music in characteristic style

Trending Today

Restored Roman Catacombs Reveal Stunning Frescoes

Centuries of grime have been removed from two chambers of the Domitilia catacombs, exposing images of fourth-century Rome

Meet Pedro the “Voder,” the First Electronic Machine to Talk

Pedro was an experiment in reproducing speech electronically, but took on a kind of life of its own

Although ketchup has roots in Southeast Asia, tomato ketchup may be an American original.

There’s Something Fishy About the Ketchup You Put On Your Burgers

The red stuff that Americans eat on their French Fries doesn’t look much like the ‘kôechiap’ it’s based on

Thoreau kept—and illustrated—journals throughout his lifetime.

Cool Finds

Snoop Inside Thoreau’s Journals at This New Exhibition

It’s your chance to get up-close and personal with the philosopher-poet’s possessions

Roman roof tile with its cat print

Cool Finds

Cat Left a Pawprint in a 2,000-Year-Old Roman Roof Tile

While excavating a highway in Lincolnshire UK, archaeologists found thousands of artifacts, including tiles with dog, cat and deer prints

Why Does Every American Graduation Play ‘Pomp and Circumstance’?

The song was written for a British king’s coronation and its name is a Shakespeare reference. What gives?

"The Drunkard's Progress" shows how temperance advocates wanted to position alcohol consumption: as a choice leading, inevitably, to ruin and death.

Why Was Maine the First State to Try Prohibition?

The groundbreaking “Maine law” laid the groundwork for other states to experiment with temperance laws

The interior of the 1876 Glaciarium

The First Artificial Skating Rinks Looked Pretty But Smelled Terrible

Before the technology to reliably freeze water existed, the first rinks used pig fat and salts

Recent research found that fully one third of humanity can't see the Milky Way because of light pollution

Is Light Pollution Really Pollution?

As countries grow richer, light pollution gets worse–but some are fighting to change that

Head of Acheolus on the cauldron

New Research

Researchers Analyze Burial of Ancient Celtic Prince

French researchers are looking at the construction, composition and origin of artifacts found with the 2,500-year-old skeleton

A McDonald’s in Tangiers, Morocco. The sign is in Arabic.

What Do They Call a Quarter Pounder With Cheese in Casablanca?

McDonalds has been international for 50 years now… and its restaurants have learned how to blend in to the local scene

New Online Database Catalogues 20,000 Threatened Archaeological Sites

The Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and North Africa Database includes an interactive map and a detailed search function

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