https://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/military/RSS feed for MilitaryenThu, 03 Sep 2026 11:45:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/to-defeat-the-royal-navy-during-the-american-revolution-a-rebel-inventor-designed-a-secret-weapon-a-bomb-carrying-submarine-180989400/David Bushnell developed the "Turtle" submersible as a student at Yale University. The vessel's attack on a British flagship failed, but the trailblazing boat's legacy endures 250 years laterThu, 03 Sep 2026 11:45:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/to-defeat-the-royal-navy-during-the-american-revolution-a-rebel-inventor-designed-a-secret-weapon-a-bomb-carrying-submarine-180989400/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/stones-from-one-of-henry-viiis-fortresses-spent-more-than-a-century-hidden-in-plain-sight-new-research-suggests-the-victorians-repurposed-them-as-building-materials-180989427/Recently discovered archival records indicate that workers constructing an extension of the Constable's Gate at Dover Castle in the late 19th century reused fragments of the Tudor-era Sandown CastleTue, 01 Sep 2026 12:52:03 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/stones-from-one-of-henry-viiis-fortresses-spent-more-than-a-century-hidden-in-plain-sight-new-research-suggests-the-victorians-repurposed-them-as-building-materials-180989427/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/this-american-commando-parachuted-behind-enemy-lines-in-both-the-european-and-pacific-theaters-of-world-war-ii-180989396/A direct descendant of Thomas Jefferson, Francis Lowell Coolidge was an agent with the Office of Strategic Services, a predecessor to the CIA. Read his goodbye letter to his wife, published here for the first timeThu, 27 Aug 2026 12:33:42 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/this-american-commando-parachuted-behind-enemy-lines-in-both-the-european-and-pacific-theaters-of-world-war-ii-180989396/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/shipwreck-hunters-discover-the-ruins-of-a-british-destroyer-that-split-in-half-during-a-tragic-peacetime-accident-118-years-ago-180989379/Minutes after it collided with a 10,000-ton cruiser, the HMS "Tiger" sank to the bottom of the English Channel. Divers and historians have spent the past four years searching for the Royal Navy vesselFri, 21 Aug 2026 18:04:39 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/shipwreck-hunters-discover-the-ruins-of-a-british-destroyer-that-split-in-half-during-a-tragic-peacetime-accident-118-years-ago-180989379/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/construction-in-austria-revealed-roman-era-mass-grave-beneath-soccer-field-new-research-suggests-that-the-mens-enemies-targeted-their-sensitive-areas-180989372/No written records mention a fight in this specific part of Vienna at the time of the men's deaths. But the brutal nature of their injuries, particularly to the pelvis area, indicates that these individuals died on the battlefieldThu, 20 Aug 2026 15:06:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/construction-in-austria-revealed-roman-era-mass-grave-beneath-soccer-field-new-research-suggests-that-the-mens-enemies-targeted-their-sensitive-areas-180989372/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-marine-life-mosaic-discovered-near-the-colosseum-offers-a-surprising-clue-its-building-may-have-housed-firefighters-in-ancient-rome-180989273/At the time of the structure's construction in the second century C.E., firefighting in ancient Rome was a formalized professionThu, 06 Aug 2026 19:51:22 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-marine-life-mosaic-discovered-near-the-colosseum-offers-a-surprising-clue-its-building-may-have-housed-firefighters-in-ancient-rome-180989273/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-has-history-forgotten-world-war-iis-largest-prison-break-which-claimed-the-lives-of-more-than-200-japanese-pows-180989246/During the 1944 Cowra breakout, over 900 prisoners attempted to escape from an Allied camp in Australia. The uprising resulted in the deaths of 234 Japanese men and 5 AustraliansWed, 05 Aug 2026 11:45:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-has-history-forgotten-world-war-iis-largest-prison-break-which-claimed-the-lives-of-more-than-200-japanese-pows-180989246/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/tsa-officers-found-five-cannonballs-stolen-from-a-civil-war-fort-in-a-checked-suitcase-at-an-alabama-airport-180989212/The inert artifacts gave security officers in Gulf Shores a good scare. Investigators say the weapons came from Fort Morgan, which guards Mobile BayTue, 28 Jul 2026 19:42:28 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/tsa-officers-found-five-cannonballs-stolen-from-a-civil-war-fort-in-a-checked-suitcase-at-an-alabama-airport-180989212/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/before-cultural-and-natural-wonders-earn-unesco-world-heritage-status-they-are-put-on-a-tentative-list-here-are-five-nominees-worth-visiting-now-180989155/Featuring more than 1,800 sites from 181 countries and territories, UNESCO’s tentative list is a treasure trove of lesser-known marvelsThu, 23 Jul 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/before-cultural-and-natural-wonders-earn-unesco-world-heritage-status-they-are-put-on-a-tentative-list-here-are-five-nominees-worth-visiting-now-180989155/