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Colonialism

Joshua Reynolds, Portrait of Mai, circa 1776 

A Monumental 18th-Century Portrait of a Young Polynesian Man—a ‘Supreme Work of Art’—Visits the U.S. for the First Time

The massive “Portrait of Mai” depicts the first Pacific Islander to visit Britain, a young man who became a quasi-celebrity in the 1770s after joining the expedition of explorer James Cook

A close-up view of a 1798 Gilbert Stuart portrait of Louis-Marie, Viscount de Noailles

The Marquis de Lafayette’s Brother-in-Law Participated in Three Revolutionary Wars, Supporting American Independence but Brutally Suppressing an Uprising by Enslaved Africans in Haiti

Louis-Marie, Viscount de Noailles, served during the American, French and Haitian Revolutions. “He fights wherever France fights, because he’s a soldier and he believes in France,” a historian says

On display in Mexico City’s National Museum of Anthropology, the pictorial manuscript is opened to a folio that depicts eight Indigenous communities preparing for their voyage to Tenochtitlan, the eventual Aztec capital.

A Rare Aztec Codex Detailing the Rise and Fall of Tenochtitlan Returns to Mexico for the First Time in Nearly Two Centuries

The artifact, among the most prized visual accounts of Aztec history, will be on display in Mexico City for three months

Each bison is controlled by three puppeteers, who spent days learning choreographed movements and commands. 

A Herd of 40 Life-Size Bison Puppets Will Stampede Through New York This Weekend to Honor Indigenous History and Resilience

The massive bovines, each maneuvered by three puppeteers, will roam through Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn

A staircase leads into the central chamber of the newly discovered Chimú tomb near Trujillo, Peru.

Unsealed for the First Time in 600 Years, This Tomb in Peru Was Just Declared the ‘Discovery of the Decade’

Archaeologists excavating Chan Chan, the capital of the pre-Inca Chimú civilization, found an undisturbed mausoleum that held the remains of at least 38 individuals, as well as a trove of rich funerary goods

A European depiction of Spanich and Inca conflict

Smallpox DNA Hidden for Centuries in Mummies Found in Chile Suggests European Colonists Brought the Virus to the Americas

Researchers say they found the first direct, molecular proof of the deadly trajectory the virus took

At Nona Manis, dining guests can enjoy a prix-fixe menu that may include any of these dishes: ikan pindang patin (braised fish), steak semur (steak with kecap manis sauce), laksa (seafood curry soup), oyster sambal matah and oyster gulai Aceh (oyster on the half shell with Balinese sambal and Aceh curry).

A New Generation of Chefs Reimagines Indonesian Cuisine in the Netherlands to Tell the Stories of Its Origins

The shift reflects a larger cultural moment, with chefs asking whether the cuisine should remain tied to colonial nostalgia or evolve into a reflection of modern Indonesian identity

The pot was unearthed by University of Florida students this spring.

Cool Finds

Students in Florida Discovered a 400-Year-Old Intact Pot That Reveals Conflict Among Indigenous, Spanish and English Powers

Archaeology students at the University of Florida discovered the rare vessel at the site of the former Mission San Francisco de Potano, established in 1606 when Florida was under Spanish rule

The true story of the gin and tonic is less about a singular invention and more about the convergence of science, medicine, commerce and empire over several centuries.

The Gin and Tonic Is a Cocktail With a Storied History. Don’t Overlook Scotland’s Connection to the Classic

The country’s scientists, doctors, merchants and distillers all played significant roles in transforming the simple combination that packs a complicated mythology

Baptism records identifying the boy

New Clues Help Solve the Mystery of an Enslaved Boy Pictured in a Portrait by a Leading English Artist

An oil painting by Joshua Reynolds features a named naval officer and a Black child whose life story was unknown until researchers searched through captains’ logs, letters and admiralty records

Archaeologists found the historic structures while preparing for renovations at the Fox Tech High School campus, located in downtown San Antonio.

Cool Finds

New Archaeological Discoveries Reveal How San Antonio’s Earliest Settlers Irrigated Crops and Accessed Drinking Water

While preparing for school renovations, researchers in Texas found remnants of the historic San Pedro acequia, a centuries-old technology that provided water to the burgeoning village

This coin was found near Chile’s Strait of Magellan.

Cool Finds

Hundreds of Spanish Settlers Died at the ‘Port of Famine.’ This Newly Discovered Silver Coin Reveals Where the Doomed Colony Was Founded 400 Years Ago

Ciudad del Rey Don Felipe was established on the north shore of Chile’s Strait of Magellan in 1584. When an English navigator came across it several years later, few survivors remained

A detail of Lucknow From the Gomti, made between 1821 and 1826 in India

A Mysterious, Monumental Scroll on Public Display for the First Time Paints a Picture of Artistic Fusion in Colonial India

A new exhibition shares the artistic legacy of centuries of British East India Company influence in East and Southeast Asia

A photograph of Sophia Duleep Singh (on the right) with her older sisters, Catherine (left) and Bamba (middle)

This Punjabi Princess Fought for Women’s Suffrage and Sheltered Refugees During World War II. A Goddaughter of Queen Victoria, She Rejected British Imperialism

A new exhibition at Kensington Palace tells the riveting story of Sophia Duleep Singh, daughter of the last maharaja of the Sikh Empire

The first episode of "Lucy Worsley Investigates: The American Revolution" premieres on April 7, with the second installment following on April 14. Note: The upside-down Union Jack as seen here was in the original publicity photograph provided by PBS.

America's 250th Anniversary

In a New Documentary, One of Britain’s Most Famous Historians Reframes the American Revolution as a ‘Messy Divorce’

Lucy Worsley’s PBS series highlights the emotional fallout of the conflict, with a focus on the British perspective

An illustration of British General John Burgoyne addressing a group of his Native allies

America's 250th Anniversary

Native Nations Fought in the American Revolution to Protect Their Ancestral Lands. After the War, Settlers Seized Their Territory Anyway

The conflict divided the six tribes of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, most of whom decided to join the British. The former allies clashed at the Battle of Oriskany in New York in 1777

Gertrude Lawrence as Anna Leonowens and Yul Brynner as Mongkut in the 1951 Broadway production of The King and I. The musical turns 75 on March 29.

Based on a True Story

‘The King and I’ Spotlights an English Governess Who Modernized Siamese Society. The Real Anna Leonowens Exaggerated Her Influence and Lied About Her Origins

The beloved musical is loosely based on a Eurasian schoolteacher’s accounts of her time at King Mongkut’s court. These memoirs masked her mixed-race status and unfairly portrayed the monarch as a tyrant

An equestrian portrait of General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, father of the novelist Alexandre Dumas

Based on a True Story

The Real Count of Monte Cristo Was Alexandre Dumas’s Father, a Trailblazing Black General

Ahead of the March 22 premiere of a new TV adaptation, learn about the life of Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, the French Army officer who inspired the beloved novel

A full-scale reconstruction of the 1738 Fort Mose was built in 2025 after decades of planning and archaeological research.

The Little-Known Story of the Enslaved Africans Who Found Freedom in the European Fight Over North America

Long before the famous Underground Railroad, those seeking freedom from slavery traveled on foot, by boat and under cover of darkness to Fort Mose in Spanish-controlled Florida

Once treated by humans as prey, horses became key to transportation, warfare, trade and companionship. Their history is intertwined with our own.

Gallop Into the Year of the Horse With These Five Amazing Equine Discoveries

Since their domestication, horses have changed the course of human history. It’s no wonder the Chinese zodiac associates them with prosperity and success

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