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European History

The 1,500-year-old skeleton of a man and his prosthesis was found in a grave next to medieval church in Hemmaberg, Austria.

New Research

1,500-Year-Old Prosthetic Foot Discovered in Austria

The skeleton of a middle-aged man may have been missing a lower limb but in its place researchers found a wooden ‘foot’

"John Dee Performing an Experiment before Elizabeth I"

Cool Finds

A Painting of John Dee, Astrologer to Queen Elizabeth I, Contains a Hidden Ring of Skulls

The life and work of John Dee contained a strange mix of science and magic

A blue bead uncovered at the Iron Age village archeological site in Norway.

Cool Finds

There’s a 1,500-Year-Old Farming Village Beneath a Norwegian Airport

An airport expansion gives archaeologists the chance to dig for historical treasures in a pre-Viking settlement

A nautical-themed hairstyle from the mind of Danny Lewis.

Cool Finds

Create Your Own Delightful, Excessive Version of 18th-Century Women’s Hairstyles

A museum’s interactive tool gives the powdered styles of the French Court of the 1700s some fierce competition

Spanish dictator Francisco Franco (left) and Philippe Petain (right), head of state for Vichy France, salute during the French national anthem during a meeting in Montpelier, France, March, 1941.

Trending Today

France Is Making Thousands of Vichy-Era Documents Public

Archives regarding the Vichy regime’s collaboration with the Nazis made “freely accessible”

Portrait of Suleyman I (1520-1566), 10th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

Cool Finds

Suleiman the Magnificent’s Lost Tomb Might Finally Be Found

Hungarian historians believe they have found the Ottoman sultan’s final resting place

An illustration of a Spanish galleon at the time when European travelers searched for treasure across the seas.

Cool Finds

Legendary Shipwreck May Have Been Found off the Colombia Coast

The sunken treasure on the Spanish galleon San Jose could be worth up to $17 billion

New Research

Europeans Only Started Digesting Dairy 4,000 Years Ago

They can enjoy that cheese thanks to ancient nomadic herders

Document Deep Dive

How Anne Frank’s Diary Changed the World

The most famous account of life during the Holocaust has been read by tens of millions of people

A victorious commander rides in a chariot during a triumphal procession in ancient Rome.

What You Don’t Know About Ancient Rome Could Fill a Book. Mary Beard Wrote That Book

The British historian reveals some surprises about the ancient Roman people and their customs

Europe

Experience Alpine Enchantment at These Eight Austrian Huts

Grander than their name might imply, these hütten are the perfect perch for weary travelers

Images of survivors of the Herero genocide foreshadowed similar scenes from the liberation of Nazi death camps

A Brutal Genocide in Colonial Africa Finally Gets its Deserved Recognition

Activist Israel Kaunatjike journeyed from Namibia to Germany, only to discover a forgotten past that has connections to his own family tree

A hiker is dwarfed by the landscape of the mountain plateau where the Viking sword was found

Cool Finds

Hiker Accidentally Discovers 1,200-Year-Old Viking Sword in Norway

The wrought iron weapon is an extraordinary find

Europe

The Real-Life Places That Inspired Frankenstein

How Mary Shelley used ideas, events and places to invent her famous monster

Cool Finds

There’s an Elephant Buried Underneath the Vatican

The forgotten remains of a beloved, 16th-century papal pet

Will Catalan Elections Allow an Old Nation to Become a New State In Europe?

Catalonians have long asserted they are not part of Spain, now the historical question of independence is on the ballot

Turkey’s ‘Fairy Chimneys’ Were Millions of Years in the Making

Nature built them, but humans made them their own

American South

The Oldest City in the United States

St. Augustine, Florida, was the first city founded by European settlers in North America

Krzyżtopór Castle in Ujazd, Poland, once the largest castle in all of Europe, now in a state of ruin.

Visit the Ruined Castles of Poland

Grand but dilapidated structures from many centuries ago dot the country’s landscape

After World War II, Gottschee ceased to exist as an independent community

An Attempt to Keep the Dying Gottschee Culture Very Much Alive

Inspired by a trip to Slovenia with her grandmother, one New Yorker took it upon herself to chronicle the story of a lost piece of European history

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