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History

Austria

How Did an Ottoman War Camel End Up in an Austrian Basement?

Archaeologists think they have solved the mystery

The newfound ruins could outshine their neighbor, the underground city of Derinkuyu (pictured).

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unfold World’s Largest Underground City in Turkey

Archaeologists find evidence to believe a site just discovered in 2012 could be a complex subsurface labyrinth

Cool Finds

Isaac Newton’s Laundry List of Sin

The famous physicist kept a catalog of very human transgressions

A close-range view of a landspout tornado in western Kansas, 2008.

Cool Finds

Why Forecasters Were Once Banned From Using the Word “Tornado”

Before meteorologists developed reliable prediction techniques, the t-word was off the table

Pi Day pies.

Indiana Almost Made Pi Equal to 3.2, and Other Pi Day Facts

As you celebrate the mathematical holiday, here’s a history of notable moments in the irrational number’s past

Were the Terracotta Warriors Based on Actual People?

To answer that question, archaeologists are looking at variations in the soldiers’ ears

DNA from Richard III’s bones revealed two instances of royal infidelity since the 14th century.

They Found Richard III. So Now What?

What the remains of the “hunchback” king can teach us about other English royals

The familiar SkyMall magazine on planes is now unfortunately bankrupt.

How SkyMall Captured a Moment of Technological and American History

The now-bankrupt catalog had a meteoric rise and fall

Teens from the Njarainjari Aboriginal Community walk in the shallows of Lake Albert in Southern Australia

New Research

Australian Stories Capture 10,000-Year-Old Climate History

Aboriginal groups from coast to coast describe walking to places that are now islands

Small town travel, the Monuments Men, Chernobyl and Stonehenge were all among reader favorites in 2014

Our Top Stories of 2014

From weird red waterfalls to the pleasures of small-town America, these were the most read articles on Smithsonian.com this year

Window at Chartres Cathedral.

Why Colors You See in an Art Museum Can’t Be Replicated Today

A look into the history of the pigments used in spectacular art

X-ray technology was invented in 1985 by Wilhelm Röntgen. This early image, along with others set to be on the block, were taken just a year later.

Cool Finds

Amazing Artifacts From the History of Science Are Going Up for Auction

Now if only we all had infinite money

I don't mind being nursed along, ca. 1915: In addition to being associated with loose morals and lower class status, private duty nurses at the turn of the century were also often portrayed as romantic love interests for their patients.

The Evolution of the Nurse Stereotype via Postcards: From Drunk to Saint to Sexpot to Modern Medical Professional

A postcard exhibit at the National Library of Medicine shows how the cultural perception of nurses has changed over the decades

"Map with Ship" has the informality of a "napkin sketch on vellum," says map expert John Hessler, suggesting its maker was not a trained cartographer.

Did Marco Polo “Discover” America?

Maps attributed to the 13th-century traveler sketch what looks like the coast of Alaska

A standard 10-hole Hohner harmonica.

Industrial Espionage and Cutthroat Competition Fueled the Rise of the Humble Harmonica

How a shrewd salesman revolutionized the instrument industry

Teamwork Builds Ships, ca. 1918, William Dodge Stevens

World War I: 100 Years Later

The Posters That Sold World War I to the American Public

A vehemently isolationist nation needed enticement to join the European war effort. These advertisements were part of the campaign to do just that

Parisian taxis assemble before being dispatched to the front.

World War I: 100 Years Later

A Fleet of Taxis Did Not Really Save Paris From the Germans During World War I

The myth of the Battle of the Marne has persisted, but what exactly happened in the first major conflict of the war?

The initiation ceremony for a 19th century secret society, as imagined by an artist.

The Cannibal Club: Racism and Rabble-Rousing in Victorian England

These 19th-century gentlemen of good standing let their inner boors loose in secret London backrooms

The famous "Big Hole" in Kimberley, South Africa

Peering Into Some of the World’s Largest Mines

This interactive map will show you the sources of the planet’s precious metals

14 Fun Facts About Fireworks

Number three: Fireworks are just chemical reactions

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