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.

A whale attacks a boat in Frank Goodrich's 1858 novel "Man upon the sea : or, a history of maritime adventure, exploration, and discovery, from the earliest ages to the present time".

Inside the Terrifying True Story of the Sperm Whale That Sank the Whale-Ship ‘Essex’ and Inspired Herman Melville’s ‘Moby-Dick’

Survivors of the whale attack drifted at sea for months, succumbing to starvation, dehydration—and even cannibalism

One of just two confirmed photographs of Abraham Lincoln (seated in center, facing the camera) at Gettysburg on the day of his address

Abraham Lincoln's Legendary Gettysburg Address Promised 'Government of the People, by the People, for the People'

The president's humble speech, delivered on this day in 1863, was filled with profound reverence for the Union's ideals—and the men who died fighting for them

American civil rights leader Susan B. Anthony

When Susan B. Anthony and 14 Other Women Were Arrested for Voting Illegally in a Presidential Election

After her detainment on this day in 1872, Anthony was found guilty by a federal court. She refused to pay her "unjust" $100 fine

An illustration of opening of the Suez Canal in 1869

How the Groundbreaking Suez Canal Forever Transformed the World's Shipping Routes

The massive global shortcut linking the Mediterranean and Red Seas took ten years to dig through the Isthmus of Suez and was built on the path of an ancient canal

Albert Hoffman, the chemist who first synthesized LSD, as photographed in 1976

Discover the Origins of a Psychedelic Drug Synthesized by a Swiss Chemist Who Claimed It 'Found and Called Me'

Five years after he created LSD in a lab on this day in 1938, Albert Hofmann accidentally underwent the first acid trip in human history, experiencing a kaleidoscope of colors and images in a sleepy Swiss city

Officers display the weapons used in the November 15, 1959, killings of the Clutter family.

Inside the Brutal Murders That Inspired a Foundational Work in the True Crime Genre

Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" documented the killings of a family of four in rural Kansas on this day in 1959

Walfang nach neuster Fangmethode (1885) by Jean Bungartz

Herman Melville's Great American Novel, 'Moby-Dick,' Only Got Mixed Reviews When It First Hit Bookstores

The now-beloved book, which centers on a sailor seeking revenge against a sperm whale, was initially met with lukewarm sales, only achieving iconic status after the author's death

A depiction of the 1833 Leonids, based on a first-person account of the 1833 storm by a minister, Joseph Harvey Waggoner, on his way from Florida to New Orleans.

Americans Fell in Love With Science When the Breathtaking Leonid Meteor Shower Lit Up the Skies Across the Nation

In 1833, hundreds of thousands of shooting stars inspired songs, prophecies and a crowdsourced research paper on the origins of meteors

Robert Falcon Scott (far left) and his crew at the South Pole in January 1912

When a Search Party Discovered the Frozen Body of a British Explorer Who Raced to the South Pole—and Lost

On this day in 1912, a team found the remains of Robert Falcon Scott and the crew of the "Terra Nova" expedition. A would-be rescuer said he was forever haunted by the "horrible nightmare"

Kate Winslet as Lee Miller in Lee, a new film directed by Ellen Kuras

The Real Story Behind the 'Lee' Movie and Lee Miller, the Legendary Surrealist Photographer and World War II Journalist Who Inspired It

In a new biopic starring Kate Winslet, Miller's many lives—as an artist, model, muse, cook and war correspondent—need little embellishment

Frustrated residents of Sheridan, Wyoming, coalesced around the idea of secession, allying with nearby communities to petition for their own state.

How the Great Depression Fueled a Grassroots Movement to Create a New State Called Absaroka

In the 1930s, disillusioned farmers and ranchers fought to carve a 49th state out of northern Wyoming, southeastern Montana and western South Dakota

Is the Smithsonian Castle haunted? The Institution's founder, James Smithson, is said to be among the otherworldly visitors.

Busting 13 of the Smithsonian’s Most Persistent Myths

From castle hauntings to hiding evidence of giant humans, the Smithsonian has long been the subject of wild rumors and tall tales

One of the four newly translated cuneiform tablets

Newly Deciphered, 4,000-Year-Old Cuneiform Tablets Used Lunar Eclipses to Predict Major Events

Ancient Babylonians linked astronomical phenomena to pestilence, the death of kings and the destruction of empires

This bronze helmet found near Corinaldo, Italy, belongs to the Piceni civilization.

Aristocratic Tomb Discovered in Italy Offers Clues to a Mysterious Pre-Roman Civilization

The burial site, rife with Iron Age artifacts like a chariot and a helmet, likely belonged to a Piceni prince

NASA's Perseverance rover took this selfie next to "Cheyava Falls," the rock in the center of the photo that might hold evidence of ancient life on Mars.

Mars Rover Finds Three Possible Signs of Ancient Life on a Single Rock

Scientists were cautiously optimistic about Perseverance's discovery, though they indicated further research is needed before drawing definitive conclusions

After Curiosity unexpectedly cracked open a Martian rock, it revealed yellow crystals that scientists determined were elemental sulfur.

NASA's Curiosity Rover Accidentally Discovers Sulfur Crystals on Mars

The rover’s wheel cracked open a rock and revealed pure elemental sulfur, which researchers have never seen on the Red Planet before

Bridge, Glenn Kaino, fiberglass, steel, wire and gold paint, 2013-2014

Tommie Smith’s Raised Fist at the 1968 Olympics Inspired a Massive Golden Sculpture That Signifies the Art of His Protest

At the Smithsonian American Art Museum, an installation by artist Glenn Kaino made in collaboration with Smith reclaims the Olympian’s iconic gesture

Excavations underway in the Piazza San Giovanni in Laterano in Rome

Ruins of Centuries-Old Palace That Housed Dozens of Popes Discovered in Rome

Before the papacy relocated in the 1300s, first to Avignon and then to the Vatican, pontiffs lived at the Lateran Palace

Established in 2019, Indiana Dunes National Park represents one of the most understated successes of 20th-century conservation—and the battle is far from over today.

Inside the Fight to Save the Indiana Dunes, One of America's Most Vulnerable National Parks

Caught between steel mills, suburbs and a hard place, the 15,000-acre site is a fantasia of biodiversity—and a case study for hard-fought conservation

The origins of the word "OK" have long been a subject of scholarly debate.

How One Man Discovered the Obscure Origins of the Word 'OK'

From Civil War biscuits to a Haitian port town, theories about the word's beginnings abounded

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