Eli Wizevich

Eli Wizevich

 

Eli Wizevich is a history correspondent for Smithsonian. He studied history at the University of Chicago and previously wrote for the El Paso Times.

Engraving of General Sherman's "March to the Sea"

General Sherman Offered Savannah as a ‘Christmas Gift’ to President Lincoln . The Victory Signaled the End of His Brutal March to the Sea

Unlike much of Georgia, the historic port city was preserved from Sherman’s wrath, but suffered psychological terror nonetheless

James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, holding a soccer ball and a basket

How a College Gym Teacher in Massachusetts Invented a New Sport to Keep His Students Entertained and Fit During the Frigid Winter

From a humble first game with peach baskets and a soccer ball on this day in 1891, basketball evolved quickly into one of the world's most popular sports

A California ground squirrel carries a vole in its mouth after hunting the rodent.

Squirrels Are Displaying 'Widespread Carnivorous Behavior' for the First Time in a California Park, New Study Finds

The familiar rodents, known for eating nuts and seeds, have been spotted hunting and decapitating voles in a gruesome dietary adaptation. Scientists say it might signal resiliency in face of future environmental pressures

These four lightbulbs augured a future with nuclear power.

On This Day in 1951, Four Illuminated Lightbulbs in Idaho Were Evidence of the First Time a Nuclear Power Plant Generated Electricity

Although it was just a byproduct of developing a new type of reactor, the generation of electricity from nuclear energy signaled a bright future ahead

The wasp species known as the "velvet ant" has a pattern of white and ultra-black coloration.

Meet the Brazilian Velvet Ant, a Rare 'Ultra-Black' Wasp That's So Dark It Absorbs Almost All Visible Light

While the distinctive coloration is thought to be a warning to predators, it also has intriguing implications for designing man-made materials

The title page of the first edition of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol

'A Christmas Carol' Marvelously Captured the Holiday's Victorian Spirit and Inspired New Traditions for Centuries to Come

Published on this day in 1843, at a time when Christmas was undergoing great transformation, Charles Dickens' novel centered the virtues of kindness, charity and reform

Crows congregate in Delano, California, in 2014. The birds tend to gether in urban areas, prompting some city officials—spanning New York, Illinois and Oregon—to try to disperse them.

Officials Ward Off 20,000 Crows With Flares and Lasers in Upstate New York, an Annual Battle Waged in Cities Nationwide

Massive roosts of crows in Rochester leave streets covered in feces, but some "corvid fanatics" aren't pleased about certain methods for dealing with the birds

Fred Korematsu in 1983 

On This Day in 1944, the Supreme Court Upheld the Executive Order That Incarcerated Over 120,000 Japanese Americans During World War II

Even at the time, the now-notorious decision provoked strong dissent from three justices worried about sliding into the "ugly abyss of racism"

An 1864 photo of General Ulysses S. Grant

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

Last week, scientists conducted the first-ever dissection of a spade-toothed whale, the rarest whale species on Earth.

Scientists Just Dissected the World's Rarest Whale in New Zealand. Here's What They Found

Only seven spade-toothed whales have ever been identified, and the species has never been seen alive. After one washed ashore last summer, researchers have made new discoveries—including that the animal had nine stomach chambers and vestigial teeth

 Mount Fuji from Lake Shōji

It’s Been More Than 300 Years Since Japan’s Breathtaking Mount Fuji Last Erupted

Mount Fuji’s last eruption, which happened on this day in 1707, was also its largest, spewing ash and debris over cities and farms, causing famines, respiratory problems and untold death

A circa 1883 photograph of Lakota leader Sitting Bull

Why Sitting Bull Was Killed by Indian Agency Police at His Cabin on the Standing Rock Reservation

Because of his alleged involvement with the Ghost Dance movement, the Lakota leader, who died on this day in 1890, was seen as a threat to the U.S. government's efforts to subdue Indigenous Americans

Suffragettes protest along a London street wearing sandwich boards in 1912.

What Happened When British Women Voted in a General Election for the First Time

The enfranchisement of property-owning women over 30 on this day in 1918 came at a time of great strife within political parties in post-World War I Britain

DNA on Earth is built from sugars with a property known as right-handedness. Though left-handed sugars aren't used by any known life, scientists can create them—but now, researchers say they shouldn't.

Scientists Warn of an 'Unprecedented Risk' From Synthetic 'Mirror Life,' Built With a Reverse Version of Natural Proteins and Sugars

So-called mirror cells could rampage through our ecosystems, food supply and immune systems, experts say, potentially without existing barriers to protect against them

Siberian tigers Boris and Svetlaya lounge together in the wild. Boris walked 120 miles to reunite with her after their release from a rehabilitation program.

Two Orphaned Siberian Tigers Reunite as Mates After a 120-Mile Trek Through Russian Wilderness

Conservationists hope the love story between Boris and Svetlaya might indicate a new, successful chapter in tiger repopulation efforts

A 1583 portrait of Sir Francis Drake

In 1577, an English Explorer Set Out to Circumnavigate the World. Here's What His Groundbreaking Journey Accomplished

Francis Drake's successful voyage included British sailors' arrival in California and the plundering of a glut of Spanish riches that sustained Elizabeth I's empire

The tail, or fluke, of a humpback whale is identifiable, like a fingerprint is for a human.

Humpback Whale Makes Record-Breaking 8,000-Mile Migration Across Three Oceans, but the Reason Is Still a Mystery

Biologists say mating, climate change or simply being confused might have driven the creature to swim great distances, between Colombia and Zanzibar

The Scream by Edvard Munch

Meet the Mysterious and Brooding Norwegian Painter Responsible for 'The Scream'

Born on this day in 1863, Edvard Munch lived a life marked by mental health struggles and sought to brush themes of anxiety and dread into his art

A fossil skull of a prehistoric amphibian, found in a 230-million-year-old burrow in Wyoming, turned out to be from an unknown species.

A Paleontologist Cracked Open a Rock and Discovered a Prehistoric Amphibian With a Clever Survival Strategy

Named "Ninumbeehan dookoodukah" by Eastern Shoshone students and elders, the creature burrowed in riverbeds to stay moist during extreme droughts

Edward VIII abdicated the throne to marry Wallis Simpson. Here, the couple is pictured in the Bahamas, where Edward served as governor between 1940 and 1945.

When a British King Stunned the Royal Family by Abdicating the Throne to Marry a Divorced American Socialite

Scandal dogged Edward VIII, a suspected Nazi sympathizer, even after he relinquished his crown to marry Wallis Simpson, the woman he loved

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