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World War II

Hitler and his half-niece Geli Raubald photographed in 1930

Hitler Had an Intense, Mysterious Relationship With His Half-Niece. New Research Suggests His Alibi for Her Murder Might Not Hold Up

Recently uncovered documents about the timing of Geli Raubal’s death cast new doubt on the Nazi leader’s alibi, which had been considered reasonably sound for nearly a century

Jean Metzinger’s Woman With a Fan (1913) was gifted to the Art Insitute of Chicago by Mr. and Mrs. Sigmund Kunstadter.

This Cubist Painting With a Mysterious Provenance Hung in the Art Institute of Chicago for Decades. Now, the Museum Will Return It to Its Rightful Jewish Heirs

Infrared imaging links the 20th-century Jean Metzinger work to a collector whose pieces were forcibly auctioned under Nazi orders during World War II

The New York Times building, with its newspaper logo sign above the entrance, seen in New York City on August 6, 2026

The Founders of the ‘New York Times’ Pledged to Cover ‘Every Subject of Public Importance.’ 175 Years Later, the Paper Continues to Publish ‘All the News That’s Fit to Print’

Much has changed since the publication debuted on September 18, 1851. What hasn’t changed, staff members say, is the paper’s mission

Art expert Ariel Bassano speaks at last year’s press conference in front of Portrait of a Lady, the 18th-century painting stolen by Nazis in 1945 and rediscovered in Argentina. A judge ruled this month that the artwork must be returned to its rightful heirs.

A Rare Nazi-Looted Painting, Lost for Some 80 Years, Turned Up in a Real Estate Listing. Now, a Judge Has Ordered It Returned to Its Rightful Heirs

Missing since it was stolen in Amsterdam in 1945, Giacomo Ceruti’s ‘Portrait of a Lady’ will be restored to its true owners, a court in Argentina has ruled in a landmark decision

Researchers spotted invasive devil firefish swimming around the wreck.

This Hospital Ship Sank Off Albania’s Coast During World War II. Now, It’s Teeming With Marine Life

A new survey of the “Po” has revealed a thriving underwater ecosystem, including rare Mediterranean monk seals

The ration kept an individual's daily intake of sugar at around 40 grams, about ten cubes of sugar. After the restriction ended, consumption of the sweetener nearly doubled.

World War II Sugar Rationing Data Hints That Limiting Intake of the Sweet Stuff Early in Life Lowers the Risk of Dementia and Cancer

For roughly a decade leading up to September 1953, the United Kingdom limited sugar purchases. Scientists studied health outcomes in people born during the ration and right after

A large pumpkin sculpture by Yayoi Kusama, on view at the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in 2023. The Japanese artist died this month.

Yayoi Kusama Created Fantastical ‘Infinity Mirror Rooms’ That Became the Art World’s Most Famous Backdrops. Her Work Spanned Counterculture to the Cosmos

The Japanese artist, who died on August 14 at 97, sought solace from hallucinations in her art, developing a visual language of polka dots, pumpkins and mirrors that entranced the world

A 1945 photo of Francis Lowell Coolidge (third from left) in the Pacific theater of World War II

Untold Stories of American History

This American Commando Parachuted Behind Enemy Lines in Both the European and Pacific Theaters of World War II

A direct descendant of Thomas Jefferson, Francis Lowell Coolidge was an agent with the Office of Strategic Services, a predecessor to the CIA. Read his goodbye letter to his wife, published here for the first time

A woman kneels in prayer in front of children's coffins in Freckleton, England, on August 26, 1944.

When an American Airplane Crashed Into a School in 1944, an English Village Lost Almost All of Its Youngest Children. Why Has WWII’s Worst Civilian Aviation Accident Been Forgotten?

On August 23, 1944, a test flight over the village of Freckleton, located in northwest England, ended in disaster, claiming the lives of 61 people, including 38 students between the ages of 4 and 6

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

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 glassy sphere of hiroshimaite created in the atomic blast that contained a previously unknown metal alloy. 

The Hiroshima Atomic Bombing Birthed a Strange, Never-Before-Seen Material, According to a New Study

The devastating blast vaporized buildings, metal, glass, soil and water. When the substances cooled and condensed, the process created spherical glassy grains—and some of them seem to contain a previously unknown metal alloy

A label from an outfit by Horrockses Fashions

A British Museum Is Searching for a Rare 1940s Housecoat From a Fashion Brand That Dressed the Queen—and, on Special Occasions, Ordinary Women Too

Patterned with a map of the British Isles, the housecoat was an early design by the pioneering brand Horrockses, which turned cotton cloth into whimsical women’s wear after World War II

The USS Silversides entered dry dock for the first time in more than 50 years, giving crews a chance to perform major repairs and maintenance work.

This World War II Submarine Noted for Sinking Enemy Ships Just Journeyed Across Lake Michigan for a Multimillion-Dollar Makeover

The USS ‘Silversides’ earned a dozen battle stars for its work patrolling the Pacific Ocean. The Gato-class sub is now the star of a museum in Michigan

A 2014 photo of Teruo Murakami, the last survivor of the Cowra breakout. He died in 2023 at 103.

Why Has History Forgotten World War II’s Largest Prison Break, Which Claimed the Lives of More Than 200 Japanese POWs?

During the 1944 Cowra breakout, over 900 prisoners attempted to escape from an Allied camp in Australia. The uprising resulted in the deaths of 234 Japanese men and 5 Australians

Wisconsin Air National Guard officers carry the wingtip on July 12.

This American Pilot Downed 40 Enemy Aircraft During World War II. Researchers Discovered the Wreck of His Plane in a Pacific Jungle and Brought a Wing Back to His Home State

Richard I. Bong, flying a plane decorated with a portrait of his future wife, Marge, became America’s highest-scoring “ace” and received a Medal of Honor

German warships dating to World War II are visible again in the Danube River, as they were in 2024 as pictured here.   

The Danube River Has Fallen to Record-Low Water Levels, Revealing Nazi Warships, Bombs and Woolly Mammoth Bones In Its Channel

Residents and researchers are finding historic and prehistoric relics as Europe’s second-longest river dries

A man discovered the wreckage while picking berries.

Cool Finds

A Man Picking Berries in the Forest in Poland Might Have Stumbled Upon the Wreckage of an Allied Airplane From World War II

Experts are still investigating but note that an earlier discovery nearby identified part of the wing of a British Lancaster bomber

The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site this week. 

This Alligator-Rich Swamp in the American South Just Joined the UNESCO World Heritage List, Along With the Home of the Greek Gods

The 25 new locations, determined to bear “outstanding universal value” for the world, also include the D-Day landing site in Normandy, France

A 1937 photo of Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja, the maharaja of Nawanagar

This Indian Maharaja Saved Hundreds of Polish Orphans During World War II, Offering Them Refuge When No One Else Would

Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja, ruler of the princely state of Nawanagar, opened his realm to young Poles who had been detained in Soviet labor camps as the children of the intelligentsia

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