Smart News History & Archaeology

Does this look like a stoner to you?

New Research

Did Shakespeare Smoke Pot?

Tobacco pipes in the Bard’s backyard may retain traces of cannabis, but some historians remain skeptical

A hyalotype photo printed and mounted as a glass lantern slide, by William and Frederick Langenheim.

Cool Finds

This is the First Known Photo of the Smithsonian Castle

On the Smithsonian's 175th birthday, a glimpse into the iconic Castle's construction

Cool Finds

Bats and Balloon Bombs: The Weird Weapons That Could Have Won WWII

World War II's lesser-known weapons were ingenious, indeed

Johannes Vermeer's "The Concert" was one of the most valuable paintings stolen from the Gardener Museum

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Could This Video Solve One of History's Greatest Art Mysteries?

Footage shows an unknown man entering the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum the night before the infamous robbery

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These Academics Are Outracing (and Outwitting) ISIS

Historians, archaeologists and librarians scramble to save precious cultural capital before it can be sold or destroyed by militants

A family tunes in to the 1976 debate

Trending Today

Americans Have Always Loved to Hate Presidential Debates

Audiences are ambivalent — but they still tune in

The crew of the Bockscar

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The Nagasaki Bombing Almost Didn’t Happen

What really happened on the mission to drop the second atomic bomb

Tsuyuko Nakao, 92 and Kinuyo Ikegami, 77 both survived the atomic bombing in Hiroshima, pictured here in 2010.

Trending Today

The Health Effects of the Atom Bomb Are Still Being Studied

Studies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors influence worldwide radiation standards, even 70 years later

Cool Finds

Blueberries: A Biography

The world's commercial blueberries all have their roots in New Jersey

The Sydney Opera House at night

Cool Finds

He Designed the Sydney Opera House...But Wasn't Even Invited to its Opening

Somehow, an inexperienced architect and a mismanaged project still produced one of the world's most iconic buildings

Aldrin was became the second human to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969.

Cool Finds

Astronauts Fill Out Customs Forms, Too

Read Buzz Aldrin's expense report and customs form from his Apollo 11 mission to the moon

New Research

Teen Schools Professor on "No Irish Need Apply" Signs

Armed with a Google search and a theory, a 14-year-old enters the fray on a longstanding historical debate

Red Rocks Park, Jefferson County, Colorado.

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The Parks Service Just Added Four New National Historic Landmarks

Masonic memorials, bison jumps and parks

A vintage Antonov An-2 in Poland.

Trending Today

North Korea's Military Still Uses Stealth Planes From the 1940s

The An-2 can hover and fly backwards

Cool Finds

A 13th-Century Sword Is Giving Historians a Headache

The sword's inscription is an 800-year-old mystery

Cool Finds

Scientists Have Been Talking About Greenhouse Gases for 191 Years

The first explorations of the greenhouse effect began in 1824

U.S. Marines search for Haitian rebels in 1919.

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The United States Once Invaded and Occupied Haiti

In 1915, American troops began a 19-year, unofficial occupation of the Caribbean nation

The 7 Line is currently undergoing a system upgrade from one that was installed in the 1930s to one run by computers.

Cool Finds

NYC Subway Technology Goes Way Back...to the 1930s

America's busiest subway system relies on vintage machines

Photo shows a section of the Florida-Caribbean map. In lower left, an insert section shows part of the Caribbean treasure ground. Note heavy concentration of numbers (each location a shipwreck) off the Louisiana coast, and in the Florida Keys.

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Florida Divers Dig Up $1 Million in Sunken Treasure

Treasure hunters find 300-year-old coins from a Spanish fleet off the Florida coast

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70 Years Ago, a B-25 Bomber Crashed Into the Empire State Building

14 people died in the accident

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