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European History

The Luxury Picnic Company in London launched in April 2020 to a rush of orders over social media, and the enthusiasm for the luxury picnic continued to rise.

Picnics Are Back

Gen-Z is spurning restaurants to enjoy hot dates outdoors—echoing the picnic’s racy beginnings

Flint points from Grotte Mandrin in France and Ksar Akil in Lebanon

54,000 Years Ago, Humans and Neanderthals May Have Inhabited Europe Together

Similarities between artifacts found in Lebanon and France suggest Homo sapiens migrants brought tool traditions with them

Elizabeth II's 1953 coronation portrait

History of Now

A Not-So-Brief History of British Coronations

Ahead of Charles III’s ceremony, here’s what you need to know about the origins and evolution of the centuries-old tradition

The island spans 25 acres and is located roughly six miles from the nearest town.

You Can Buy a Beautiful Uninhabited Scottish Island for $187,000

The 25-acre Barlocco Island has seabird colonies and stunning scenery—but no utilities or buildings

Researchers uncovered 50 burials dated to roughly the second century C.E.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover Ancient Necropolis Near Parisian Train Station

Residents of Lutetia buried their dead at Saint-Jacques between the first and fourth centuries C.E.

Archaeologists are uncovering a Roman mosaic located in front of a vape shop at a shopping mall in southeast England.

Roman Mosaic Revealed at Shopping Mall in England

First discovered in the 1980s—then covered back up—the mosaic will now be displayed under a layer of glass for all patrons to see

More than 2.9 million people visited the Pompeii Archaeological Park last year.

High-Speed Train Will Connect Rome to Pompeii

The new route will make the ruins of the ancient city more accessible for visitors

Mather Brown's portrait of Joseph Bologne, dated April 4, 1788

Based on a True Story

Why Has History Forgotten Joseph Bologne, the Brilliant 18th-Century Composer Showcased in ‘Chevalier’?

A new film dramatizes the story of a Black immigrant to France whose musical talents have long been overlooked

Father Gabriel Amorth served in his role at the Vatican for 30 years.

Based on a True Story

Who Was the Real Pope’s Exorcist?

A new film dramatizes the story of Father Gabriele Amorth, the chief exorcist of the Diocese of Rome

Of the roughly 750 First Folios printed, at least 235 known copies survive today.

Without the First Folio, Half of Shakespeare’s Plays Would Have Been Lost to History

The 400-year-old text presented the Bard’s plays as serious literature, muddling the boundaries between popular culture and high art

Peter J. Ortiz receives the first of the two Navy Crosses he was awarded for extraordinary heroism during World War II.

The American Spy Who Surrendered to the Nazis to Save Civilians

In 1944, Pierre Julien Ortiz parachuted into occupied France, where the Gestapo offered a reward of half a million francs for his capture

The hair strands were found inside decorative tubes.

New Research

Ancient Europeans Took Hallucinogenic Drugs 3,000 Years Ago

Hair strands from the Bronze Age reveal the first direct evidence of drug use in Europe

Julius and Leni Löwin, a Jewish couple who met in Oberstdorf, with World War I hero Ernst Jünger

How the Nazi Regime Upended the Lives of These Bavarian Villagers

A new book draws on long-overlooked sources to chronicle how Oberstdorf’s residents navigated the rise—and dictatorship—of Adolf Hitler

The analysis focused on 67 manillas from five shipwrecks off the coasts of Spain, Ghana, the United States and England. The largest study of manillas to date, the project aimed to use lead isotope analysis to pinpoint where the bracelets were produced. 

New Research

What Shipwrecks Reveal About the Origins of the Benin Bronzes

A new study traces the metal used to craft the brass sculptures to manilla bracelets produced in Germany and used as currency in the slave trade

Discovered in a bog in Glen Affric, the tartan is now on view at V&A Dundee.

Cool Finds

This 16th-Century Cloth Is Scotland’s Oldest-Known Tartan

A bog in the Highlands preserved the fabric, now on view for the first time, for hundreds of years

Workers removed a statue of enslaver Robert Milligan in 2020. Eventually, the new monument will be located nearby.

New Monument in London Will Honor Victims of Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

After removing a statue of an enslaver in 2020, the city aims to tell a new story

The coin was one of 29 antiquities returned to Greece

Rare Gold Coin Celebrating Julius Caesar’s Death Returned to Greece

Minted in 42 B.C.E., the looted coin broke auction records in 2020 when it sold for $4.2 million

A woman throws flowers on the boxes containing human remains at Waldfriedhof cemetery.

Berlin Holds Funeral for Bone Fragments Linked to Nazi Research

Discovered in 2014, the remains of at least 54 victims were buried at a ceremony this week

Richard’s life has long sparked debate, with two competing views of the last Yorkist king emerging in the centuries after his reign ended in 1485.

Based on a True Story

‘The Lost King’ Dramatizes the Search for Richard III’s Remains. The Monarch’s Life Was Even More Sensational

A new film offers a sympathetic portrait of the 15th-century ruler, who seized the crown from his nephew before dying on the battlefield

Rome's Pantheon was built around 27 B.C.E.

Rome’s Pantheon Will Start Charging an Entrance Fee

The 2,000-year-old structure is Italy’s most visited cultural site, attracting millions of tourists each year

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