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History / World History

A Persian calligraphy that developed in 14th-century Iran, nasta'liq, is the focus of a new exhibition at the Sackler Gallery. The script in this work dates to the early 1600s.

Long Before Emojis, the Picassos of Persian Calligraphy Brought Emotion to Writing

The world’s first exhibition devoted to nasta’liq, a Persian calligraphy, is now on view at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

Khufu Pyramid at Giza.

Google Street View Brings Egypt’s Pyramids To A Computer Near You

From ancient citadels to the Great Sphinx, you can now explore Egypt’s wonders in the digital world

No Man's Land could be the most terrifying of places. "Men drowning in shell-holes already filled with decaying flesh," wrote one scholar.

World War I: 100 Years Later

The Legend of What Actually Lived in the “No Man’s Land” Between World War I’s Trenches

Born of the horrors of trench warfare, a ghoulish tale of scavengers and scofflaws took hold 100 years ago

Standing Stones, also known as "the First Stonehenge," in the Ring O Brodgar in Orkney

What the Scottish Independence Referendum Could Mean for Orkney

Sovereignty over Orkney, home to the First Stonehenge, has been debated for more than 5,000 years

Roman Vishniac, [Dancers Emily Frankel and Mark Ryder, Vishniac Portrait Studio, New York], early 1950s.

See Jewish Life Before the Holocaust Through a Newly Released Digital Archive

Roman Vishniac’s extensive work, now open to the public, is ready for some crowd-sourced historical detective work

An undated wash drawing depicts the burning of Washington, DC, in August of 1814.

Your Guide to the Three Weeks of 1814 That We Today Call the War of 1812

From the burning of Washington to the siege of Baltimore, what happened in those late summer days?

A page out of the diary of William H. Dall, one of the many documents being transcribed by the Smithsonian Transcription Center's small army of volunteers. At the ripe age of 21, Dall set off in 1865 to explore the Arctic on a Western Union Telegraph Expedition.

The Smithsonian Wants You! (To Help Transcribe Its Collections)

A massive digitization and transcription project calls for volunteers at the Smithsonian

William James Aylward depicted a soldier looking down at the grave of his bunk mate in His Bunkie..

This Riveting Art From the Front Lines of World War I Has Gone Largely Unseen for Decades

During WWI, the War Department sent American artists to Europe. The Smithsonian recently digitized the captivating artwork

The art installation "Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red" marking the anniversary of the World War One is seen at the Tower of London July 28, 2014.

World War I: 100 Years Later

For WWI Anniversary, the Tower of London Has Become Surrounded by a Sea of Poppies

888,246 red ceramic flowers encircle the landmark structure in remembrance of fallen soldiers

A Royal Naval Air Service Bristol Scout D during a reconnaissance mission over the Western Front, February 1916. One of the first British single-seat fighter aircraft, the Bristol D was developed primarily for scouting. It was fast and maneuverable. The aircraft above was based on the HMS Vindex, a Royal Navy seaplane carrier operating in the North Sea.

World War I: 100 Years Later

World War I Special Report

Remembering the Great War and how we’re still living through its legacy today

Teamwork Builds Ships, ca. 1918, William Dodge Stevens

World War I: 100 Years Later

The Posters That Sold World War I to the American Public

A vehemently isolationist nation needed enticement to join the European war effort. These advertisements were part of the campaign to do just that

Parisian taxis assemble before being dispatched to the front.

World War I: 100 Years Later

A Fleet of Taxis Did Not Really Save Paris From the Germans During World War I

The myth of the Battle of the Marne has persisted, but what exactly happened in the first major conflict of the war?

The initiation ceremony for a 19th century secret society, as imagined by an artist.

The Cannibal Club: Racism and Rabble-Rousing in Victorian England

These 19th-century gentlemen of good standing let their inner boors loose in secret London backrooms

The train after the initial police investigation in Cheddington, Buckinghamshire.

The Big Mystery Behind the Great Train Robbery May Finally Have Been Solved

Chris Long’s A Tale of Two Thieves examines the largest cash theft of its time

The famous "Big Hole" in Kimberley, South Africa

Peering Into Some of the World’s Largest Mines

This interactive map will show you the sources of the planet’s precious metals

14 Fun Facts About Fireworks

Number three: Fireworks are just chemical reactions

A pre-war daguerrotype of James R. McClintock. Inventor, likely crook, possible spy.

The Amazing (If True) Story of the Submarine Mechanic Who Blew Himself Up Then Surfaced as a Secret Agent for Queen Victoria

The leading mechanic of the famed H.L. Hunley led quite the life, if we can believe any of it

The Middle East’s austere terrain lured Lawrence: “The abstraction of the desert landscape,” he wrote in Seven Pillars of Wisdom, “cleansed me.”

World War I: 100 Years Later

The True Story of Lawrence of Arabia

His daring raids in World War I made him a legend. But in the Middle East today, the desert warrior’s legacy is written in sand

Constructed between 510 and 500 B.C., the base of a funerary kouros in Athens is decorated with the image of wrestlers fighting.

Document Deep Dive

Wrestling Was Fixed, Even in Ancient Rome

New analysis of an ancient document reveals classical roots of fake wrestling

Maunsell Sea & Air Forts in the U.K.

17 Amazing Photographs of Abandoned Places

Top places you should see before they die… or at least disappear

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