Soviet History | smithsonianmag.comhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/soviet-history/RSS feed for Soviet HistoryenThu, 12 Feb 2026 15:00:00 +0000Scientists Say They May Have Found a Long-Lost Lunar Lander—the First to Successfully Touch Down on the Moon 60 Years Agohttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-say-they-may-have-found-a-long-lost-lunar-lander-the-first-to-succesfully-touch-down-on-the-moon-60-years-ago-180988182/Data from a NASA lunar orbiter has helped researchers deduce two potential locations for a defunct Soviet spacecraft called Luna 9Thu, 12 Feb 2026 15:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-say-they-may-have-found-a-long-lost-lunar-lander-the-first-to-succesfully-touch-down-on-the-moon-60-years-ago-180988182/During the Great Depression, This Black Educator Looked to Conflicts Abroad for Lessons on Fighting Racism at Homehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/during-the-great-depression-this-black-educator-looked-to-conflicts-abroad-for-lessons-on-fighting-racism-at-home-180987321/The Second Italo-Ethiopian War and the Spanish Civil War offered Melva L. Price and her fellow female activists an opportunity to examine the links between racism and fascismMon, 15 Sep 2025 11:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/during-the-great-depression-this-black-educator-looked-to-conflicts-abroad-for-lessons-on-fighting-racism-at-home-180987321/This Heroic Japanese Diplomat Defied His Government to Save Thousands of Jewish Refugees From the Holocausthttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/this-heroic-japanese-diplomat-defied-his-government-to-save-thousands-of-jewish-refugees-from-the-holocaust-180987067/Stationed in Lithuania, Chiune Sugihara granted transit visas that allowed holders to escape Europe and travel through Japan as they sought safety abroadThu, 31 Jul 2025 11:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/this-heroic-japanese-diplomat-defied-his-government-to-save-thousands-of-jewish-refugees-from-the-holocaust-180987067/This Exiled Romanov Princess Fled the Bloodshed of the Russian Revolution and Reinvented Herself as a Fashion Iconhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/this-exiled-romanov-princess-fled-the-bloodshed-of-the-russian-revolution-and-reinvented-herself-as-a-fashion-icon-180986776/A new exhibition spotlights Natalia Pavlovna Paley, the granddaughter of a czar. She built a new life for herself in France and the U.S., appearing in films and on the pages of glossy magazinesFri, 13 Jun 2025 10:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/this-exiled-romanov-princess-fled-the-bloodshed-of-the-russian-revolution-and-reinvented-herself-as-a-fashion-icon-180986776/The Daring Polish Resistance Fighter Who Volunteered to Be Sent to Auschwitz So He Could Sabotage the Nazi Death Camp From the Insidehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-daring-polish-resistance-fighter-who-volunteered-to-be-sent-to-auschwitz-so-he-could-sabotage-the-nazi-death-camp-from-the-inside-180986559/Witold Pilecki smuggled reports about Germany's war crimes to the Allies, urging them to stop the atrocities at Auschwitz by bombing the camp. But his warnings went unheededThu, 08 May 2025 10:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-daring-polish-resistance-fighter-who-volunteered-to-be-sent-to-auschwitz-so-he-could-sabotage-the-nazi-death-camp-from-the-inside-180986559/A Soviet Spacecraft Is About to Crash Back to Earth After Being Stuck in Orbit for 53 Yearshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-soviet-spacecraft-is-about-to-crash-back-to-earth-after-being-stuck-in-orbit-for-53-years-180986522/The Cosmos 482 lander was intended to reach Venus, but it has instead been circling Earth since 1972Wed, 30 Apr 2025 12:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-soviet-spacecraft-is-about-to-crash-back-to-earth-after-being-stuck-in-orbit-for-53-years-180986522/Newly Declassified Documents Reveal the Untold Stories of the Red Scare, a Hunt for Communists in Postwar Americahttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/newly-declassified-documents-reveal-the-untold-stories-of-the-red-scare-a-hunt-for-communists-in-postwar-america-180986344/In his latest book, journalist and historian Clay Risen explores how the House Un-American Activities Committee and Senator Joseph McCarthy upended the nationTue, 01 Apr 2025 15:28:46 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/newly-declassified-documents-reveal-the-untold-stories-of-the-red-scare-a-hunt-for-communists-in-postwar-america-180986344/Two Trailblazing Spacewalks in 1965 Opened the Door to Decades of Astronauts Pushing the Limits of Their Capabilitieshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/two-trailblazing-spacewalks-in-1965-opened-the-door-to-decades-of-astronauts-pushing-the-limits-of-their-capabilities-180986268/Since those early steps, extravehicular activity has helped provide the solutions to many problems that astronauts face in spaceTue, 18 Mar 2025 18:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/two-trailblazing-spacewalks-in-1965-opened-the-door-to-decades-of-astronauts-pushing-the-limits-of-their-capabilities-180986268/The Liberation of Auschwitz—Where More Than One Million Jews Were Killed—Took Place on This Day in 1945https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-liberation-of-auschwitzwhere-more-than-one-million-jews-were-killedtook-place-on-this-day-in-1945-180985840/The Nazi concentration and extermination camp was the site of the largest mass murder in human historyMon, 27 Jan 2025 10:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-liberation-of-auschwitzwhere-more-than-one-million-jews-were-killedtook-place-on-this-day-in-1945-180985840/When Russian Radar Mistook a Norwegian Scientific Rocket for a U.S. Missile, the World Narrowly Avoided Nuclear Warhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/when-russian-radar-mistook-a-norwegian-scientific-rocket-for-a-us-missile-the-world-narrowly-avoided-nuclear-war-180985836/The Norwegian rocket incident, which took place on this day in 1995, marked the only known activation of a nuclear briefcase in response to a possible attackSat, 25 Jan 2025 10:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/when-russian-radar-mistook-a-norwegian-scientific-rocket-for-a-us-missile-the-world-narrowly-avoided-nuclear-war-180985836/