History

The Unsavory History of Sugar, the Insatiable American Craving

How the nation got hooked on sweets

May 2017

New Research

New Technique Shows San Rock Art Is 5,000 Years Old

Using a highly refined form of carbon dating, researchers were able to date the pigments in art in Botswana, Lesotho and South Africa

April 19, 2017

Aromatic New Museum Celebrates the Art and History of Perfume

From the ancient Egyptians to Elizabeth Taylor, the Grand Musée du Parfum tells the story of fragrance

April 14, 2017

The Bizarre Story of Saddam Hussein’s Failed “Supergun”

It was called “Big Babylon” and it was originally supposed to fire satellites into orbit

April 11, 2017

Your Alaskan Cruise Is Possible Because Canada Blew Up an Underwater Mountain

People predicted tsunamis and an earthquake, but nothing particularly bad happened

April 5, 2017

Found: One of the Oldest North American Settlements

The discovery of the 14,000-year-old village in Canada lends credence to the theory that humans arrived in North America from the coast

April 5, 2017

World War I: 100 Years Later

Why It Matters Whether Students Learn About World War I in American History or World History Class

Some of the most important lessons of the Great War get lost between the two approaches

April 4, 2017

12 Cafés Every History Buff Needs to Visit

The best historic coffee shops around the world, from Paris to Buenos Aires

March 29, 2017

What Did WWI Soldiers Leave Behind in Their Secret Bunkers?

The French-German border is littered with as many as 500 underground sites used during World War I. Researcher Jeff Gusky explores them

March 22, 2017

A Photographer Captures Papier-Mâché and Politics on Parade in Haiti’s Jacmel

Michael Magers photographs high art and cutting cultural critiques during the annual Kanaval celebration

March 20, 2017

What It Was Like to Be on the Ground at Iwo Jima

Weapon Hunter host Paul Shull is tracing the history of the iconic American gun known as the Stinger

March 20, 2017

Trending Today

Five Things You Didn’t Realize Were Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities

Since 1965, the agency has bestowed more than 63,000 humanities-related grants

March 15, 2017

This Orphanage Did More Than Find Homes for Children of the Holocaust. It Helped Them Reclaim Their Humanity

Run by the United Nations, Kloster Indersdorf took a revolutionary approach in caring for its charges

March 14, 2017

How a Soap Opera Virus Felled Hundreds of Students in Portugal

The “Strawberries With Sugar” outbreak is just one example of mass hysteria, which goes back centuries

March 6, 2017

Trending Today

New Foundation is Looking to Level Up Video Game Culture

The non-profit aims to preserve game code and the magazines, marketing materials and culture surrounding video games

March 1, 2017

How a Chinese Empress Built the Largest Palace in the World

Seeking to consolidate her grip on the Chinese throne, Empress Wu Zetian embarked on an audacious project: expanding the imperial palace

March 1, 2017

A Child From 17th-Century Europe Might Have Rewritten the History of Smallpox

The deadly scourge goes back for centuries, but how many?

March 2017

Ask Smithsonian 2017

Why Did Greenland’s Vikings Vanish?

Newly discovered evidence is upending our understanding of how early settlers made a life on the island — and why they suddenly disappeared

March 2017

Russian Revolution

Vladimir Lenin’s Return Journey to Russia Changed the World Forever

On the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, our writer set out from Zurich to relive this epic travel

March 2017

Virtual Travel

See the Ancient World Through Virtual Reality

An archaeological VR company wants to show you what ruins looked like before they were, well, ruins

February 22, 2017