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History / World History

Tourists and Cubans gamble at the casino in the Hotel Nacional in Havana, 1957. Meyer Lansky, who led the U.S. mob’s exploitation of Cuba in the 1950s, set up a famous meeting of crime bosses at the hotel in 1946.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Cuba

When the Mob Owned Cuba

Best-selling author T.J. English discusses the Mob’s profound influence on Cuban culture and politics in the 1950s

Holy card from the collection of Emilio Cueto

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Cuba

The Surprising History of Cuba’s Patron Saint

Nicknamed “Cachita,” the 15-inch-tall wooden figurine of the Virgin Mary unites Cubans across class and race lines

Waiting three years for his visa to come through, Wahdat rarely left his home.

The Tragic Fate of the Afghan Interpreters the U.S. Left Behind

These men risked their lives for the U.S. military. Now many would like to come to America but are stranded — and in danger

The Curious George series has sold 10,000 times the initial print run.

When Curious George Made a Daring Escape From the Nazis

The authors of the children’s book series fled wartime France with the manuscript tied to their bikes

The spycatcher in the disguise he wore when he testified in court

The FBI’s Fake Russian Agent Reveals His Secrets

In an exclusive interview, a retired FBI agent who posed as a KGB officer finally spills the beans about his greatest sting operations

Cedar 7 at take-off

The Bizarre Tale of the Middle East’s First Space Program

In Lebanon, reminders of what could have been still stand

A rehearsal takes place at Teatro América, on Galiano Street in Havana. From the outside, the theater is nothing special, concealed behind a dull screen of gray polygon concrete. But step inside and you’ve entered the museum that is Cuban architecture.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Cuba

Havana’s Hidden Architectural Gems

The city’s eclectic architecture is both extraordinary and imperiled

U.S. Ambassador to Russia, George F. Kennan, chats with a newsman after the Russian government told the U.S. State Department that Kennan must be recalled immediately. The Russians charged that the ambassador made completely false statements hostile to the Soviet Union. At the time, Russia demanded his recall (three days ago) Kennan was in Geneva, where he'd been visiting his daughter who is a student at the International School. U.S. Secretary of State Dean Acheson called the Russian charges, outrageous.

George Kennan’s Love of Russia Inspired His Legendary “Containment” Strategy

It’s impossible to overstate the impact the American diplomat had on the United States’ Cold War policy

Outside the Winter Palace stands a column honoring Alexander I, who took kindly to the presence of the Adamses when they lived in St. Petersburg.

The Russian-U.S. Relationship Goes Way Back to John Quincy Adams

Before he became president, Adams was the nascent country’s first ambassador to Russia

Today Santiago de Cuba, which lies at the foot of the Sierra Maestra, is a bustling cultural capital.

Tony Perrottet's Cuba

How Cuba Remembers Its Revolutionary Past and Present

On the 60th anniversary of Fidel Castro’s secret landing on Cuba’s southern shore, our man in Havana journeys into the island’s rebel heart

“Three days after the attack on the armored train, Churchill arrived in Pretoria, the Boer capital, with the other British prisoners of war. Surrounded by curious Boers eager to see the new prisoners, he glared back at them with unconcealed hatred and resentment. Although he respected the enemy on the battlefield, the idea that average Boers would have any control over his fate enraged him.”

Even When He Was in His 20s, Winston Churchill Was Already on the Verge of Greatness

The future Prime Minister became known throughout Britain for his travails as a journalist during the Boer War

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