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Smart News / Smart News History & Archaeology

Greek actor Mary Mina played the role of the high priestess at the ceremony, which took place in Olympia in front of the ruins of the temple of Hera.

The Paris Olympics

The Olympic Torch Relay Began in Nazi Germany

After a torch-lighting ceremony this week, the Olympic flame began its long journey from Olympia to Paris

French author Arsène Houssaye wrote the book in 1879, then gave a copy to French physician Ludovic Bouland.

A Book Bound With Human Skin Spent 90 Years in Harvard’s Library. Now, the Binding Has Been Removed

In the late 19th century, a French physician took the skin, without consent, from a female psychiatric patient who had died

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov performs a dance at his 35th birthday celebration in 2011.

Chechnya Bans Music That Isn’t Between 80 and 116 Beats Per Minute

Officials have given artists until June 1 to rewrite material that does not fall within the accepted range

Workers install solar panels on the roof of King's College Chapel in Cambridge, England.

How King’s College Added 438 Solar Panels to a 500-Year-Old Chapel

The project sparked debate over how to decrease carbon emissions while preserving the historic structure’s architectural beauty

Researchers found the train car during excavations in northern Antwerp.

Cool Finds

Rare 100-Year-Old Train Carriage Found Buried in Belgium

The wooden LNER train wagon was a “removals truck” used to move people’s belongings between residences

Researchers uncovered this fresco of Helen of Troy and Paris in a newly excavated Pompeii dining room.

Cool Finds

‘Spectacular’ Frescoes of Helen of Troy, Apollo and Zeus Unearthed Among the Ruins of Pompeii

Found in an ancient dining hall, the artworks depict characters associated with the Trojan War

The nearly complete skeleton has been identified as a member of an extinct fox species, Dusicyon avus, which once roamed Patagonia’s grasslands.

New Research

Did Ancient South Americans Keep Foxes as Pets?

At a cemetery in Argentina, a 1,500-year-old fox buried alongside humans suggests a “close relationship” between the species, researchers say

Ringgold was best known for her colorful "story quilts," an art form anchored in narrative storytelling and influenced by Black American artistic traditions.

Women Who Shaped History

Pioneering Artist Faith Ringgold Stitched Together Stories of Black Life

The Harlem-born painter, who died this week at age 93, elevated the everyday lives of Black Americans and fought for representation in major museums

Shababeek for Contemporary Art was leveled during an Israeli military campaign in late March.

Arts Center in Gaza Destroyed in Israeli Hospital Siege

Shababeek for Contemporary Art was the last established visual arts center still standing in the enclave

Photographed in 1979, the late Elizabeth II loved to spend time at Balmoral Castle.

Northern Europe and the British Isles

The Royal Family Is Opening Balmoral Castle to the Public For the First Time in History

The special interior tours of the royal family’s Scottish retreat sold out in less than a day

An aerial view of the excavation site in Crowland, a town in Lincolnshire, England

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Were Looking for a Medieval Hermitage. They Found a ‘Monumental’ Prehistoric Henge

The site in eastern England may have served as a sacred space for groups across thousands of years

Dozens of 300-year-old letters that Ben Browne wrote to his father are now on display in England.

This Is What Being in Your Twenties Was Like in 18th-Century London

A newly restored collection of letters describes a 27-year-old’s office job, social life and financial concerns beginning in 1719

Researchers tested 49 medieval coins, finding the older ones were minted from silver Byzantine goods and the newer ones were made of silver mined in western France.

New Research

Medieval English Coins Were Made With Melted Byzantine Silver

Researchers have solved the mystery of the silver coin boom that took place around 660 C.E.

The Crosby-Schøyen Codex is part of the Schøyen collection, one of the largest private manuscript collections in the world.

One of the World’s Oldest Surviving Books Is for Sale

The rare early Christian text was written in a monastery in Egypt between 250 and 350 C.E.

The first-century C.E. helmet alongside a newly created replica

Cool Finds

See a Restored Ancient Roman Helmet—and Two Shiny New Replicas

The 2,000-year-old Hallaton Helmet is now on permanent display at the Harborough Museum in England

Members of the Little Rock Nine study together after being blocked from Little Rock Central High in 1957.

Little Rock Nine and Paul McCartney React to Beyoncé’s ‘Blackbird’ Cover

McCartney was inspired to write the song after hearing about the battle to integrate Little Rock Central High School in 1957

Readers were first introduced to Superman in June 1938.

The First Issue of Superman Just Became the Most Valuable Comic Book in the World

An original copy of 1938’s “Action Comics No. 1” sold for a record-breaking $6 million at auction

The Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration has been open since 1990.

The Ellis Island Museum Is Revitalizing the Story of American Immigration

A $100 million renovation will help preserve the history of the millions of immigrants who passed through the island in the late 19th and early 20th centuries

The cargo ship Dali ran into the Key Bridge after losing power on March 26.

History of Now

A Massive Crane Helping With the Baltimore Bridge Cleanup Was Built to Recover a Sunken Soviet Submarine

The Chesapeake 1000 was used to construct a ship for a top-secret CIA mission in the 1970s

An artistic representation of the Gotlant burial of a Viking-era woman with a modified skull

New Research

Vikings May Have Used Body Modification as a ‘Sign of Identification’

A recent study analyzes Scandinavian examples of filed teeth and elongated skulls dating to the Viking Age

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