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World War II

The Painter in His Bed etc., Georg Baselitz, 2023

After World War II, This German Artist Turned the Art World Upside Down—Literally, by Inverting His Paintings

Georg Baselitz, the renowned painter who played with perspective and flipped canvases on their head, died recently at age 88

William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies

‘Lord of the Flies’ Comes to Television for the First Time in a New Miniseries. In the 1950s, the Now-Famous Novel Almost Never Got Published

Publishers rejected the original manuscript for “Lord of the Flies” many times, yet the story still sparks a buzz today. Author William Golding later won the Nobel Prize in Literature

A photograph taken in 1926 depicting paintings by Peter Paul Rubens that likely burned in a fire in 1945

Fires in Berlin Destroyed Hundreds of Paintings During World War II. Now, a Museum Will Publish Photo Archives of the Lost Artworks Online

A proactive effort to document the collection of the Gemäldegalerie will pay off a century later as negatives of lost paintings by Rubens and Caravaggio are digitized and published online

The Strait of Gibraltar 

Cool Finds

In a Graveyard of Shipwrecks Between Europe and Africa, Archaeologists Discovered Vessels Doomed Over Thousands of Years

The “harbor” of the Strait of Gibraltar is the final resting place for shipwrecks from ancient Rome, the medieval era and World War II, according to a new archaeological survey

Archaeologists uncovered a Cold War bunker underneath an English castle.

Cool Finds

Why Is a Cold War Bunker Buried Underneath This Medieval English Castle? In Case of Nuclear ‘Armageddon’

Archaeologists uncovered a relic of the 20th-century conflict beneath Scarborough Castle, decades after the bunker was sealed and its exact location was forgotten

Fish swim around the Antilla shipwreck.

The ‘Antilla’ Shipwreck Tells the Story of When World War II Came to Aruba

Tourists can learn about this history by snorkeling over the wreck of the German ship in shallow waters just off the island’s coast

The left page contains a photo of Lee Miller with Pablo Picasso, while the right contains a never-before-seen alternate version of the famous picture of Miller in Hitler’s bathtub

War Can Feel Surreal. See How This American Photojournalist Captured the Horrors—and Dark Humor—of World War II

A rediscovered scrapbook showcases never-before-seen images by Lee Miller, a war correspondent for British “Vogue” who followed American troops through Europe

A damaged portrait of Mary Magdalene by Artemisia Gentileschi (left) and a similar version of the same scene (right) housed at the Pitti Palace in Florence, Italy

Rolled Up in a Cellar for Decades, This Artemisia Gentileschi Painting Is Now Up for Auction. Why Is Mary Magdalene’s Face Missing From the Portrait?

Found in Berlin, the artwork was probably damaged in the chaotic aftermath of World War II. Despite the gaping hole in the canvas, it could sell for upwards of $180,000 later this month

“Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes Art” is showing at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

This Fashion Designer Collaborated With Salvador Dalí and Jean Cocteau to Imagine Fabulous Surrealist Ensembles

A new exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum lays out the history and legacy of the House of Schiaparelli, focusing on its founder’s unique creative processes

A photograph of Sophia Duleep Singh (on the right) with her older sisters, Catherine (left) and Bamba (middle)

This Punjabi Princess Fought for Women’s Suffrage and Sheltered Refugees During World War II. A Goddaughter of Queen Victoria, She Rejected British Imperialism

A new exhibition at Kensington Palace tells the riveting story of Sophia Duleep Singh, daughter of the last maharaja of the Sikh Empire

Demolition expert Thomas Zowalla after defusing the World War II-era bomb in Dresden

Specialists Carefully Defuse a 550-Pound Bomb in Dresden—Eight Decades After It Fell During World War II

After the ordnance was discovered, 18,000 people were evacuated from the city. Experts worked for several hours to safely dispose of the device

Caitríona Balfe as Claire Fraser (left) and Sam Heughan as Jamie Fraser (right) in season one of "Outlander"

Based on a True Story

The Final Season of ‘Outlander’ Is Here. See the Most Iconic Kilts, Gowns and Other Costumes From the Time Travel Drama

An exhibition at the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown showcases 26 ensembles from the Starz series’ first four seasons

The Asama Maru, a Japanese ship that transported Allied civilians to the east coast of Africa, where they were traded for Japanese civilians from North and South America during World War II

After Pearl Harbor, Americans Living in Japan Endured Imprisonment, Torture and a Lengthy Battle to Return Home

A new book chronicles the tense negotiations that secured the return of nearly 3,000 Allied civilians held by the Japanese during World War II

Combat, Lee Krasner, 1965

You’ve Seen Jackson Pollock’s Dizzying Drip Paintings. But His Wife, Lee Krasner, Was Also a Major Player in the Abstract Expressionist Movement

Titled “Krasner and Pollock: Past Continuous,” a new exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art will examine the lives and careers of both artists, who met in New York in the 1940s

The Rothschild Vienna Mahzor was created in 1415 by a medieval scribe who identified himself as Moses, son of Menachem.

The Nazis Stole This Rare Jewish Prayer Book Decorated With Dragons, Unicorns and Intricate Floral Patterns. It Just Sold for $6.4 Million at Auction

A scribe created the volume, now known as the Rothschild Vienna Mahzor, in Vienna 600 years ago. It was recently returned to the heirs of its 20th-century owners, who decided to sell the text at a Sotheby’s sale

A photo of the Prochnik family on Easter Sunday in 1925. Gretchen Prochnik is standing second from left.

Untold Stories of American History

This Austrian Diplomat Resigned When the Nazis Annexed His Country. To Make Ends Meet, His Wife Turned to Dressmaking—and Captivated the American Public

Gretchen Prochnik was known around Washington, D.C. for her stylish looks. She capitalized on this interest to launch a successful business after Austria “ceased to exist” in 1938

This 2014 artwork by J.R. superimposes a historic photograph of immigrants on a broken window at the Ellis Island hospital.

A Stay at Ellis Island Hospital Could Determine Whether an Immigrant Had a Chance to Start a New Life in America

Some 276,000 patients were admitted to the medical facility between 1892 and 1951. But the abandoned complex has long been overlooked, and preservationists are fighting to save it

She was known as Vicky With Three Kisses— a German radio star whose singing and sweet talk comforted weary Nazi soldiers. She was actually a secret weapon in a little-known Allied propaganda effort.

One of the Allies’ Secret Weapons Against the Nazis Was a 21-Year-Old Woman Armed With a Microphone and a Script of Lies

As “Vicky With Three Kisses,” she strategically sweet-talked and sang to German troops over the airwaves of Europe. But Agnes Bernauer didn’t mean anything she was saying

Helen Desmond of the United States competes at the 2025 ISMF Ski Mountaineering World Championships on March 6, 2025 in Switzerland.

What Is Skimo? The Newest Olympic Sport Has a Long History in Europe

With roots in military training, high-endurance ski mountaineering is finally catching on in the United States

The Château de Montal's early Renaissance style marked a transition from the medieval fortresses that dot a landscape so keenly fought over by the English and French during the Hundred Years’ War.

How a Little-Known French Region Safeguarded the Louvre’s Treasures During World War II

More than 3,000 artworks from national museums were stowed in chateaus in the Lot—about 350 miles south of Paris

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