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World War II

Gary Oldman plays Winston Churchill in the new release The Darkest Hour.

Winston Churchill’s Historic “Fight Them on the Beaches” Speech Wasn’t Heard by the Public Until After WWII

The recordings we hear today didn’t air over the BBC at the time, but that hasn’t stopped many Britons from remembering otherwise

A radio built in the 1930s.

How a New Accent Overturned BBC Tradition and Messed With the Nazis

A man with the name of Wilfred Pickles brought regional dialect to the BBC as part of an anti-Nazi-propaganda strategy

A 1939 photo of German Jewish refugees aboard the German liner Saint Louis.

Women in Science

The Forgotten Women Scientists Who Fled the Holocaust for the United States

A new project from Northeastern University traces the journeys of 80 women who attempted to escape Europe and find new lives in America during World War II

A poster from the Vichy period shows a disintegrating France on the left, with words like "communism" and "Jewishness" causing the foundation to crumble. On the right are the words of Pétain's France: work, family, fatherland.

Was Vichy France a Puppet Government or a Willing Nazi Collaborator?

The authoritarian government led by Marshal Pétain participated in Jewish expulsions and turned France into a quasi-police state

Sleek new entranceways will grace the refurbished museum.

Here’s Why Washington’s Beloved Air and Space Museum Is Facing a Sweeping Seven-Year Upgrade

The museum will remain open as it works to enhance the visitor’s experience

Claude Monet's "Waterloo Bridge" is one of the roughly 1,500 works in Gurlitt's collection

The Public Can Finally See Works From the Infamous Nazi-Looted Art Trove

Two exhibitions are exploring the treasures and context behind the cache of “degenerate” art uncovered in a Munich apartment in 2012

Adolf Hitler and his deputy Rudolf Hess

History of Now

Eight Historical Archives That Will Spill New Secrets

Declassified records and journals to be released in coming decades will shed new light on pivotal 20th-century figures and events

This manuscript on astronomy by Issachar Ber Carmoly dates to 1751.

Hidden in a Basement for 70 Years, Newly Discovered Documents Shed Light on Jewish Life and Culture Before WWII

The 170,000 pages found might be “the most important collection of Jewish archives since the Dead Sea Scrolls.”

Why Hedy Lamarr Was Hollywood’s Secret Weapon

The starlet patented an ingenious technology to help with the war effort, but it went unrecognized for decades

Cool Finds

Footage Recalls the Night Madison Square Garden Filled With Nazis

A short documentary shows the 20,000-strong rally held by the Nazi-supporting German-American Bund in 1939

Trending Today

Virtually Explore a World War II Shipwreck in 360 Degrees

High-resolution video and 3D scanning brings the SS Thistlegorm to armchair archaeologists everywhere

TKTK

The Sweet Story of the Berlin Candy Bomber

Gail Halvorsen’s efforts made children happy but they also provided the U.S. military with an opportunity

Photo of the world's first atomic explosion at the Trinity Site in New Mexico.

Trinity Site Offers a Rare Chance to Visit Ground Zero of the World’s First Atomic Bomb Explosion

The detonation site is only open to civilians twice a year

Thousands of women tirelessly worked in close quarters throughout the war breaking codes for the Army and Navy. Vowed to secrecy, they have long gone unrecognized for their wartime achievements.

How the American Women Codebreakers of WWII Helped Win the War

A new book documents the triumphs and challenges of more than 10,000 women who worked behind the scenes of wartime intelligence

Le Corbusier's vision for cities profoundly influenced New York, though never to the degree that this concept (originally designed for Marseille, France) was ever built.

How a Controversial European Architect Shaped New York

Le Corbusier’s ideas arguably helped shape the city more than his own designs

An engraving from later in the 1880s shows rioters burning an orphanage for black children.

The Civil War Draft Riots Brought Terror to New York’s Streets

This dark event remains the largest civil insurrection—the Civil War itself aside—in American history

A Young Princess Elizabeth’s First Radio Broadcast

In 1940, Princess Elizabeth was tasked with an important job by prime minister Winston Churchill: to give a morale-boosting radio speech to her subjects

A Minecraft rendering of the Smithsonian Castle in Washington, D.C. Participants in Minecraft: Education Edition online festivities will be able to let their own imaginations run wild this Museum Day.

Family Travel

Fans of Minecraft Are Sure to Dig this Nationwide Museum Fest

The indie hit is the perfect game for a day devoted to unearthing knowledge

Did Nazis Hide Loot Beneath This Giant Polish Castle?

Ksiaz Castle in southern Poland sits atop a remarkable complex of underground tunnels built by the Nazis in 1944

The Titan Who Founded L’Oréal Prospered Under the Nazis

How the head of the world’s top cosmetic firm fell in with the Nazi-sympathizers of German-occupied France and emerged from the war as successful as ever

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