Bear-Sized Giant Beavers Once Roamed North America, and They’re Now the Official State Fossil of Minnesota
The large, extinct creatures roamed the Twin Cities area more than 10,000 years ago and could grow to more than 200 pounds
Why Were Ancient Statues of This Egyptian Female Pharaoh Destroyed?
Shattered depictions of Hatshepsut have long thought to be products of her successor’s violent hatred towards her, but a new study presents a different narrative
A Century Ago, a Mob Brutally Attacked an American Diplomat in Persia. His Death Shaped U.S.-Iran Relations for Decades
The July 1924 killing of Robert Imbrie fueled the rise of the Pahlavi dynasty and set the stage for both a CIA-backed 1953 coup and the 1979 Iran hostage crisis
American Schools Have Been Feeding Children for More Than 100 Years. Here’s How the School Lunch Has Changed
A new exhibition in Philadelphia explores how nutritional science, technological advances and political debates shaped the foods on schoolchildren’s trays
![Senator Joseph McCarthy “comes along really chronologically halfway through the story [in the early 1950s], and there’s a lot that happened before he was even on the scene,” says author Clay Risen.](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/ee-zkNhyyeZSehRcxDnYUB-QAj4=/450x300/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/dd/f0/ddf0fc8a-56de-40d6-ae40-efcb46ac804b/gettyimages-515261284.jpg)
Newly Declassified Documents Reveal the Untold Stories of the Red Scare, a Hunt for Communists in Postwar America
In his latest book, journalist and historian Clay Risen explores how the House Un-American Activities Committee and Senator Joseph McCarthy upended the nation
Discover the Short Life and Long Legacy of Casimir Pulaski, a Polish Cavalry Officer Who Became an American Revolutionary Hero
On the first Monday in March, Pulaski Day festivities at Chicago’s Polish Museum of America honored the “Father of American Cavalry,” 280 years after his birth
Untold Stories of American History
Born Enslaved, This Black Millionaire Attempted to Colonize Mexico and Aspired to Be the Emperor of Ethiopia
William Henry Ellis masqueraded as a Mexican businessman, but he never shied away from his Black roots
President Trump Orders the U.S. to Exit the World Health Organization and Paris Climate Agreement on His First Day in Office
The actions will take effect in a year, reinstating withdrawals he had set in motion during his first term
How the Nation’s First ‘Madam Secretary’ Fought to Save Jewish Refugees Fleeing From Nazi Germany
A new book spotlights Frances Perkins’ efforts to challenge the United States’ restrictive immigration policies as President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s secretary of labor
Alcohol Consumption Raises the Risk of Seven Cancers, Says U.S. Surgeon General in a New Health Advisory
The “Nation’s Doctor” has called for a cancer warning label on alcoholic beverages and suggests the recommended limits for alcohol consumption should be reassessed
Martin Van Buren Created America’s Partisan Political System. We’re Still Recovering
The eighth president of the United States, the so-called little magician, saw political parties as the key to achieving power
Why Union General Ulysses S. Grant Issued an Order to Expel Jews From Certain Confederate States During the Civil War
An attempt to cut down on the illegal cotton trade, Grant’s decision, announced on this day in 1862, was immensely controversial and hounded him for years
See Winston Churchill Through the Eyes of the Political Cartoonists He Inspired
A new exhibition at London’s Imperial War Museum brings together political cartoons from around the world that celebrate and satirize the wartime prime minister
‘Polarization’ Is Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year for 2024
The winning word beat out finalists such as “demure,” “pander,” “totality,” “fortnight,” “allision” and “democracy”
NASA Pushes Back America’s Return to the Moon to 2027, With the Next Artemis Program Flight Slated for 2026
The space agency’s decision comes after an investigation into the Orion spacecraft’s heat shield, which suffered damage during the Artemis 1 test mission in 2022
When No Candidate Won the 1824 Presidential Election, the House of Representatives Was Given the Rare Task of Deciding the Victor
A “corrupt bargain” that delivered John Quincy Adams the presidency ended the Era of Good Feelings and prompted a new period of partisan hostility
Harvey Milk, One of the World’s First Openly Gay Politicians, Was Assassinated on This Day in 1978
A disgruntled former San Francisco politician killed Milk and the city’s mayor, George Moscone
A Rare First-Edition Copy of Machiavelli’s Notorious Political Treatise ‘The Prince’ Heads to Auction
This copy of the 16th-century text is owned by a private collector. Until recently, historians weren’t aware that it existed
When White Supremacists Staged the Only Successful Coup in U.S. History
The 1898 Wilmington massacre left dozens of Black North Carolinians dead. Conspirators also forced the city’s multiracial government to resign at gunpoint
How the Berlin Wall Became a 100-Mile Bike and Pedestrian Trail
Once one of the world’s most dangerous border crossings, Berlin’s symbol of death and division has been turned into a tangible way to experience history
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