Smart News: History & Archaeology | Smithsonian Magazine

Although it's called "hay fever" it refers to an allergy caused by a variety of grasses.

The First Description of Allergies Was Published On This Day in 1844

John Bostock was a British doctor suffering from what he called “summer catarrh”

March 16, 2017

King Tut captivated the U.S. in 1976, thanks in part to an NEH grant.

Since 1965, the agency has bestowed more than 63,000 humanities-related grants

March 15, 2017

Reddi-wip's aerosol canisters are a symbol of mid-century convenience culture.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

This Patent Was the Hallmark of an Aerosol Whip Cream Empire

Aaron “Bunny” Lapin had already made Reddi-Wip a national concern when he finally received the patent for the aerosolizing whip cream nozzle

March 15, 2017

Bernard Fantus coined the term "blood bank" (and opened the world's first) in 1937.

The First-Ever Blood Bank Opened 80 Years Ago Today

Its inventor also coined the term “blood bank”

March 15, 2017

Thornbury Castle, Honeymoon Spot of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, On Sale for $10.3 million

The property boasts boasts 28 bedrooms, sprawling Tudor gardens and restaurant experience in the dungeons

March 14, 2017

National Archives of Korea's Busan Repository

The kaizuka trees represent a long and complicated history with the country’s former colonial occupier

March 14, 2017

John F. Kennedy's permanent gravesite at the Arlington National Cemetery.

The Man Who Dug JFK’s Grave, Twice

Clifton Pollard dug graves in the Arlington National Cemetery for more than thirty years

March 14, 2017

The First Baptist Cemetery was supposed to have been moved in 1859, but as it turned out many of the graves were left behind

March 14, 2017

A re-engraving of the best-known picture of Jane Austen, the "memoir portrait," based on a drawing by her sister Cassandra.

Researchers Float (Unlikely) Theory That Jane Austen Died of Arsenic Poisoning

A contested hypothesis says the author’s glasses may offer new insight into her death

March 13, 2017

These two diagrams appear in Chester Greenwood's patent for hinged earmuffs.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

The Teenager Who Patented Earmuffs Kept His Town Employed for 60 Years

Chester Greenwood became an earmuff tycoon whose factory kept his hometown in business

March 13, 2017

This once-secret memo lays out methods for secret writing once used by intelligence agencies.

The National Archives wants you…to make documents more accessible to future generations

March 13, 2017

A reproduction of the "Tower of Blue Horses," which hasn't been spotted since the late 1940s.

Cool Finds

Two New Exhibitions Celebrate a Long-Lost Painting

The “Tower of the Blue Horses” is gone, but not forgotten

March 13, 2017

The Bizarre Beliefs of Astronomer Percival Lowell

Lowell’s theories were treated with skepticism even in his own lifetime

March 13, 2017

In the early days of the Civil Rights Movements, students took a stand by sitting down.

The lunch counter where John Lewis and others were arrested will now be part of a soul food eatery and music venue

March 13, 2017

A boy rides his bike by the recently discovered statue that may be of Pharaoh Ramses II, one of the Egypt's most famous ancient rulers.

Huge Statue of Egyptian Pharaoh Discovered in Cairo

It may be a likeness of Ramses II, ancient Egypt’s most powerful ruler

March 10, 2017

Sylvia Townsend Warner, the author whose first book was chosen as the first Book of the Month selection in 1926, was openly involved in relationships with both men and women, a fact that scandalized readers.

Don’t Judge the Book-of-the-Month Club By Its Cover

Although today you might associate its name with staid offerings, the club’s first book was by an openly queer author

March 10, 2017

Daylight saving time, which has a history dating back to Benjamin Franklin, starts this Sunday.

During (and After) WWII, Some States Had Year-Round Daylight Saving Time

A 1963 ‘Time Magazine’ article called it “a chaos of time”

March 10, 2017

Portrait of Alexander Hamilton by John Trumbull, 1806

Collection of Alexander Hamilton’s Documents Can Now Be Viewed Online

Among them are Hamilton’s first report as Secretary of Treasury, and a steamy love letter to his wife

March 9, 2017

Mildred and Richard Loving, subjects of the documentary The Loving Story and the feature-film Loving. Their story will be a topic of discussion at the History Film Forum.

The four-day Forum looks into time travel, black America, Poe and other depictions of history in the media

March 9, 2017

This Adopt-A-Highway sign is located on the Florida Keys Scenic Highway. The program, which began in Texas, is now used by states across the country.

Two States Have Gone to Court to Keep the KKK From Adopting a Highway

In 2016, Georgia’s Department of Transportation actually put the program on hold so it wouldn’t have to respond to the hate group’s application

March 9, 2017

Smart News / Smart News History & Archaeology