Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

History

Restorers working on the USS Silversides discovered a flood valve that appears to have been destined for sister ship USS Trigger.

Historic Submarine Restoration Reveals a Hidden Connection to a Lost Sister Ship That Sank During World War II

Experts working on the USS “Silversides” found a flood valve that appears to have been destined for its sister ship, the USS “Trigger.” The vessel sank in the East China Sea on March 28, 1945

"Kiama Library" is stamped on the book's title page.

Cool Finds

This Library Book Was 150 Years Overdue. Fortunately for the Man Who Just Returned It, Librarians Won’t Be Enforcing a $20,000 Late Fee

“The Antiquities of Athens” had likely been missing from an Australian library since the 1870s. Staffers say its recovery is “an unlikely story of survival (of the book) and redemption (of the borrower)”

A new study, which has not been peer reviewed, suggests Denisovans might have towered over their ancient hominin peers.

Thousands of Years Ago, Denisovans Might Have Been Huge, Especially Compared to Their Archaic Human Neighbors

New research offers rare insight into our extinct cousins who lived in Asia and who may have towered over petite “Homo erectus”

The sealed Guinness bottle was found at the shipwreck of the Mindoro.

Shipwreck Divers Discovered a 162-Year-Old Bottle of Guinness Brewed During the Reign of Queen Victoria—and They Want to Take a Swig

The beer was preserved in a sealed glass bottle and may be safe to sample. The team is also hoping to sequence the DNA of the yeast to recreate what the stout would have tasted like in the 19th century

The artifact’s original owner may have viewed the penis-topped fingernail cleaner as a good luck charm.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists in England Preparing for Road Construction Unearthed a Roman-Era Fingernail Cleaner With a Handle Shaped Like a Penis

The Romans considered the phallus a symbol of good luck and used it to decorate objects, mark walls and inspire sculptures

Amphorae from the Macquarie University history museum

Off the Coast of Sicily, Divers Discovered a Roman-Era Shipwreck With Hundreds of Amphorae, Ancient Jars Frequently Used to Hold Wine

The site could offer fresh insights into Mediterranean trade routes more than 2,000 years ago

Speedy called his wife, Frances, by many affectionate pet names, including "Meatball."

Cool Finds

This Box of 300 Love Letters Showed Up Out of the Blue. Who Was the Whimsical World War II Soldier Who Wrote Them?

Nobody knows who dropped Speedy Weber’s correspondence at a USO office in 2022. Researchers have finally tracked down two living relatives who remember him

The granite sculpture is being installed on the Liberty Bell Center Block of Independence Mall in Philadelphia.

A Serpentine Sculpture Inspired by Benjamin Franklin’s ‘Join, or Die’ Call for Unity Is Taking Shape—Segment by Segment—in Philadelphia

Created by John Collins, the 46-foot-long granite artwork inspired by an 18th-century political cartoon is slated to be unveiled on Independence Mall sometime this fall

Introduced in 1919, the Oriole was a three-seat biplane produced by the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company in Garden City, New York.

These Early Biplanes Documented the Arctic, Captured Newsreel Footage and Witnessed Lindbergh’s Historic Flight. Now, a Rare Example Will Hang in a Museum

The Cradle of Aviation Museum recently acquired a Curtiss Oriole, three-seat biplane manufactured at a nearby Garden City factory

A Texas man displayed the Civil War-era artifact as a conversation piece for years.

Cool Finds

A Man Used This Civil War Artifact as a Paperweight on His Desk. The Bomb Squad Told Him It Was Actually a Live Explosive

The device turned out to be an artillery shell designed for a Parrott rifle in the mid-1800s. Experts safely detonated it at a firing range near San Antonio

Each bird figurine measures less than an inch long.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover Two Thumbnail-Size Bird Sculptures Carved From Mammoth Ivory 40,000 Years Ago

Measuring less than an inch long, the figurines were buried beneath Germany’s Hohle Fels Cave, where some of the world’s oldest known figurative artworks have been found

A collection of mammoth bones in a pit in Austria

Ice Age Humans Mostly Killed Female Woolly Mammoths, Suggests Ancient DNA

After analyzing more than 500 mammoth bones, researchers found that ancient humans disproportionately hunted female mammoths for reasons still unknown

Archaeologists used lidar to “see” through the Amazon’s dense canopy and discovery nearly 400 previously undocumented geoglyphs.

Mysterious Shapes Hidden Beneath the Amazon Canopy Reveal a Sprawling Ancient Civilization Much Bigger Than Researchers Expected

Scientists recently discovered hundreds of monumental, geometric earthworks known as “geoglyphs” in northern Brazil from the Aquiry civilization

The bronze sword measures nearly two feet long.

Cool Finds

A Man Unearthed a Mysterious Metal Object Sticking Straight Up From the Ground. It Turned Out to Be a 2,700-Year-Old Sword

Marcin Wiśniewski found the weapon while metal detecting in a forest near the Polish city of Gdańsk. Experts told him that it likely dates to between 900 and 700 B.C.E.

The sandstone blocks were photographed at the wreck site in the 1970s.

Australia’s Most Notorious Shipwreck Tells a Story of Murder, Slavery, Mutiny—and, Now, ‘Surprisingly Sophisticated’ Trade in the 17th Century

When the Dutch East India Company’s flagship “Batavia” sank in 1629, it went down with large, carved sandstone blocks in its hold. The stones are now shedding light on trade at the dawn of global capitalism

Students and volunteers have been excavating the Roman mosaic from a field near near Halberton, Devon.

Cool Finds

A Metal Detectorist Discovered Tiny Tiles in a Farmer’s Field. A Spectacular Ancient Roman Mosaic Was Buried Beneath the Surface

The polychrome mosaic once decorated a small room in a lavish villa complex. Researchers, students and volunteers have been working together to excavate the rare site in southwestern England

A copy of the first daguerreotype photograph of a total solar eclipse

A Little-Known Photographer Captured the First Clear Image of a Total Solar Eclipse 175 Years Ago. Today, These Celestial Events Still Reveal the Mysteries of the Sun

Ever since that first daguerreotype on a light-sensitive metal plate, eclipse observations have continued to unveil the star’s corona and bring people together to experience the solar system’s majesty

Felicio (played by Frankie Treadaway) and his mother (Madeleine Walker) try to escape Mount Vesuvius' eruption in "Pompeii: Out of Time With Tom Hiddleston."

Based on a True Story

We All Know the Story of the Pompeii Victims Who Died When Mount Vesuvius Erupted 2,000 Years Ago. Archaeologists Are Still Learning About Those Who Made It Out Alive

A semi-fictionalized documentary series hosted by actor Tom Hiddleston follows three people in the ancient towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum who experienced the disaster in 79 C.E.

Archaeologists created a curved support structure that mimics the ceiling’s original shape.

Cool Finds

See a Rare Ceiling Fresco From Pompeii That Archaeologists Are Carefully Reassembling, Piece by Piece, Like an Ancient Puzzle

Located in the banquet hall of a home with an adjoining bakery, the fresco shows the mythological romance of Dionysus, the god of revelry and wine, and Ariadne, the Cretan princess

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

Page 1 of 127