In A Woman Sewing With Two Children, the central character wears a light wash denim apron. (Galerie Canesso, Paris)

When Were Blue Jeans Invented? These Paintings Suggest the Fashion Trend Dates Back to the 1600s

Ten paintings attributed to the "Master of the Blue Jeans" depict Italian peasants wearing the storied fabric

Sonja Anderson

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Chicago Museum Unveils the 'Most Important Fossil Ever Discovered': the Feathered Dinosaur Archaeopteryx

Roman-Era Ship Was Carrying Jugs Full of Fish Sauce When It Sank 1,700 Years Ago

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Bumblebee Nests May Be Overheating With Rising Global Temperatures, Study Finds

Almost All People With Two Copies of This Genetic Variant Develop Signs of Alzheimer's Disease, Study Finds

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How a Fantastical Labyrinth Became a Crucial Habitat for Europe’s Bats

FROM THE ARCHIVES

This Forgotten Masterpiece Was Hanging Above an Elderly French Woman's Hot Plate. Now, It's Heading to the Louvre

Medieval Squirrels and Humans May Have Spread Leprosy Back and Forth

French Bakers Set a New World Record by Making a 461-Foot-Long Baguette

SMITHSONIAN VOICES

Anna May Wong's Long Journey From Hollywood to the Smithsonian

Ellen Ochoa, Former NASA Astronaut and First Hispanic Woman in Space, Receives Presidential Medal of Freedom

A Canaletto Masterpiece Stowed in a Mine During World War II Returns to Wales

On this day in 558, the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul) partially collapsed due to an earthquake. Byzantine emperor Justinian I had the "Great Church" immediately rebuilt following this structural failure. In its long history, the Hagia Sophia has gone from Christian church to mosque to museum and back to mosque again.

Read more about how scientists have digitally recreated the Hagia Sophia's acoustics, carrying its iconic sounds beyond Istanbul.

Ghosts of Yasuni | Story of Huaorani People

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