Articles tagged as World War II | Smithsonian Magazine

This concept drawing shows a swarm of "Gremlin" drones.

Cool Finds

The U.S. Military Named Their Swarming Drones After This Fairy Tale

These “Gremlins” take their cue from WWII fighter pilots’ lucky charms

September 8, 2015

The identity card of Johanna Koch with Marie Jalowicz's photo. The date of birth and the stamp over the photo were forged.

A Holocaust Survival Tale of Sex and Deceit

One Jewish woman’s personal story reveals what it took to elude capture in Nazi Germany

September 8, 2015

Polish culture minister is “99 percent sure” the train has been found

September 1, 2015

Treasure hunters have searched for it since the end of World War II, but it may have never existed in the first place

August 24, 2015

Cool Finds

Bats and Balloon Bombs: The Weird Weapons That Could Have Won WWII

World War II’s lesser-known weapons were ingenious, indeed

August 10, 2015

What really happened on the mission to drop the second atomic bomb

August 7, 2015

Tsuyuko Nakao, 92 and Kinuyo Ikegami, 77 both survived the atomic bombing in Hiroshima, pictured here in 2010.

Studies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors influence worldwide radiation standards, even 70 years later

August 6, 2015

The Yamaki Pine, which survived the bombing of Hiroshima, resides at the U.S. National Arboretum. The tree serves as a reminder of the continued peace between the United States and Japan.

The Bonsai Tree That Survived the Bombing of Hiroshima

Now living in Washington, D.C., this bonsai tree outlasted the atomic blast

August 4, 2015

Scripps oceanographer Eric Terrill and BentProp founder Pat Scannon investigate the main fuselage of a TBM Avenger lost 70 years ago during a bombing mission near Palau.

Cool Finds

Divers Turn to Robots for Help Scouring the Pacific for Long-Lost WWII Soldiers

An ongoing effort to recover those missing in action teams military historians, volunteers and scientists

July 17, 2015

After World War II, Gottschee ceased to exist as an independent community

An Attempt to Keep the Dying Gottschee Culture Very Much Alive

Inspired by a trip to Slovenia with her grandmother, one New Yorker took it upon herself to chronicle the story of a lost piece of European history

July 14, 2015

Hitler's signature on one of his watercolors.

A collection of Hitler’s paintings just sold for $450,000

June 25, 2015

Cool Finds

Los Alamos’s “Atomic Secretary” Was Never Told What the Manhattan Project Was For

Dorothy McKibbin coordinated entry of all people and property to the Los Alamos site

June 16, 2015

The washable knitwear c. 1950s suit by Claire McCardell resides in the collections of the National Museum of American History.

What a 1950s Fashion Maven Might Teach Us About What To Wear

When it was time to suit up for work, politics or social engagements, Claire McCardell’s fans embraced her chic, but comfortable style

June 8, 2015

The Hall of Names at Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial museum.

Cool Finds

This Company is Turning Holocaust Survivor Interviews into Holograms

Researchers are using new technology to keep Holocaust testimonies alive

May 13, 2015

Cool Finds

Seventy Years Ago Today, Queen Elizabeth Secretly Partied with Commoners

Before she became Elizabeth II, the then-princess slipped into London’s streets incognito to celebrate Europe’s victory over Germany

May 8, 2015

An image of Alexanderplatz in May 1945, set in Alexanderplatz today. Behind it, poking just above the image, is the Park Inn Hotel.

Dramatic Images of Berlin in May 1945, Set Against the City’s Prosperous Present

“Spring in Berlin” compares Germany’s capital city at the end of World War II and today

May 6, 2015

70 years later, Munich’s mayor says the city is ready to “face up to its Nazi past”

May 1, 2015

How Do Seals Find Their Prey and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

May 2015

The flight deck of the U.S. aircraft carrier Hornet, some 800 miles off Tokyo Japan, where it shows some of 16 Billy Mitchell (B-25) Bombers, under the command of Major Jimmy Doolittle, just before they were guided off flight deck for historic raid on Tokyo, April of 1942.

The Untold Story of the Vengeful Japanese Attack After the Doolittle Raid

When the U.S. responded to Pearl Harbor with a surprise bombing of Tokyo, the Imperial Army took out its fury on the Chinese people

April 15, 2015

New Research

There’s New Information About Anne Frank’s Death

New research challenges the notion that if the Frank sisters had lived a few days more, they’d have survived the war

April 1, 2015