Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

History

Zora Neale Hurston wanted to tell the world about the "real ... historical Herod, instead of the deliberately folklore Herod."

Why Was Zora Neale Hurston So Obsessed With the Biblical Villain Herod the Great?

The Harlem Renaissance author spent her last years writing about the ancient king. Six decades after her death, her unfinished novel has finally been published for the first time

Archaeologists unearthed roughly 1,500 decorated stone blocks that once made up part of Hatshepsut's valley temple.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth Intricately Decorated Blocks From Hatshepsut’s Temple in Egypt

Officials have announced a number of discoveries during excavations around the valley temple of the powerful Egyptian queen, who reigned during the 15th century B.C.E.

Experts are concerned that artifacts and bootprints on the moon might be affected by lunar landing missions, space tourism and space junk.

The Moon Makes the List of the World’s Most Endangered Cultural Heritage Sites in 2025

Earth-bound landmarks ravaged by war, climate change, tourism and other threats also landed in the World Monuments Watch report

Researchers studied tattoos on this mummified hand.

New Research

Scientists Are Using Lasers to Reveal Intricate Tattoos on Peruvian Mummies

A new study sheds light on tattoo designs found on more than 100 mummies from Chancay culture, a group that lived on the Peruvian coast between roughly 900 and 1500 C.E.

The two Just Stop Oil activists spray-painted "1.5 is dead" on the gravestone of Charles Darwin.

Climate Activists Spray-Paint Warning on Charles Darwin’s Grave

The two protesters hoped to draw attention to reports that global temperatures in 2024 exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels for the first time

Researchers think there may be as many as 20 graves at the site in southwest Norway.

Metal Detectorists Discover 1,200-Year-Old Graves That May Have Belonged to High-Status Viking Women

Excavations in Norway revealed a rich variety of artifacts, including jewelry, textile tools and stones positioned in the shape of a ship

Researchers found the pieces covered in newspaper and tucked beneath a staircase in the crypt.

Cool Finds

Medieval Crowns and Scepters Discovered Hidden Inside the Walls of a Crypt Beneath a Lithuanian Cathedral

The royal treasures were stashed away at the beginning of World War II. Experts knew the trove existed, but previous attempts to find it had failed

An international team of scientists spent four summers working in average temperatures of -25.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

Scientists Drill 1.7 Miles Into Antarctic Ice, Revealing 1.2 Million Years of Climate History

Researchers say a collected sample is the longest continuous record of Earth’s past climate from an ice core

The tomb's walls are painted and carved with images of objects the doctor might have used.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover Intricately Decorated Tomb Belonging to a Doctor Who Treated Egyptian Pharaohs 4,100 Years Ago

The chamber holds a stone coffin engraved with the physician’s name and titles, which include “director of medicinal plants” and “chief dentist”

People suspected of collaborating with the Nazis were rounded up after American troops liberated the Dutch town of Nijmegen at the end of World War II.

The Netherlands Has Published a List of 425,000 Suspected Nazi Collaborators

In the past, the names could only be viewed in person. But due to expiring access restrictions, they’re now available to anyone with an internet connection

The coffin was found in a small Roman cemetery.

Cool Finds

Construction Workers Discover Ancient Stone Coffin Filled With Plaster While Expanding Highway in England

The intricately crafted coffin dates back more than 1,500 years. Researchers say it weighs around 1,650 pounds, “comparable to an adult male polar bear”

Portrait of a Jester looking through his fingers, circa 1548

The Fool Has Appeared in Art for Centuries. What Do These Portrayals of the Complex Character Say About Us?

A new exhibition at the Louvre takes visitors on a visual journey, exploring how the figure of the fool evolved between the Middle Ages and the 19th century

For several months, archaeologists carried fragments of the shipwreck to the surface.

Divers Recover Ancient Shipwreck That Sank 2,600 Years Ago Off the Coast of Spain

Piece by piece, experts carefully transported the Phoenician vessel to dry land, where it will be studied and preserved

The eruption at Zavaritskii volcano created a nearly two-mile-wide caldera with layers of red, black and white from previous eruptive deposits.

Scientists Find the Mysterious Source of the Massive 1831 Volcanic Eruption That Cooled Earth and Made the Sun Appear Blue

The climate-altering eruption came from the Zavaritskii volcano on an uninhabited island in the Pacific that once hosted a Soviet submarine base, according to a new study

At the same time as the Romans were building the Colosseum, they were also breathing in high amounts of toxic lead from silver mining and smelting operations.

Ancient Romans Breathed in Enough Lead to Lower Their IQs, Study Finds. Did That Toxin Contribute to the Empire’s Fall?

Using Arctic ice core samples, researchers estimate silver mining and smelting released enough lead during the Pax Romana to cause a 2.5- to 3-point drop in IQ

A Goodyear Blimp hovering above the Rose Bowl game in Pasadena, California, in 1978, when the Washington Huskies faced off against the Michigan Wolverines

A Brief History of the Goodyear Blimp, Which Celebrates Its 100th Anniversary This Year

The tire company’s iconic “lighter-than-air” craft debuted in 1925 and began providing aerial coverage of events across the country in 1955

Experts are currently examining the sword in a lab.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth Early Medieval Sword Engraved With Mysterious Runes in a Cemetery in England

Dating to the fifth and sixth centuries C.E., the burials held a trove of grave goods—but the team was particularly impressed by the sword, which was covered in intricate decorations

Volunteers in Pennsylvania discovered a valuable Elizabeth II coin wrapped up in a dollar bill in one of their red kettles.

Anonymous Donors Across the Country Are Dropping Valuable Coins Into the Salvation Army’s Red Kettles

Many donors search their pockets for spare change, but some generous individuals are giving away historic coins worth thousands of dollars during the charity’s annual fundraising campaign

The R46 trains started running in the subway system during the 1970s.

New York City Is Getting Rid of Its Iconic Orange and Yellow Subway Cars

Many New Yorkers feel attached to the instantly recognizable R46s, which debuted in the summer of 1975. Officials say their replacements will arrive by 2027

Painted around 1730, the angels were covered up in 1912.

Conservators Are Uncovering Elaborate Angel Murals Hidden Behind Seven Layers of White Paint at a Colonial-Era Church

The colorful wall paintings adorn Boston’s Old North Church, which played a crucial role during Paul Revere’s famed 1775 midnight ride

Page 26 of 124