Meilan Solly

Meilan Solly

 

Meilan Solly is Smithsonian magazine's senior associate digital editor, history.

Richard’s life has long sparked debate, with two competing views of the last Yorkist king emerging in the centuries after his reign ended in 1485.

'The Lost King' Dramatizes the Search for Richard III's Remains. The Monarch's Life Was Even More Sensational

A new film offers a sympathetic portrait of the 15th-century ruler, who seized the crown from his nephew before dying on the battlefield

“Marie Antoinette,” a new series premiering in the United States on March 19, is the first major English-language television show to tell the French queen’s story.

Why Marie Antoinette's Reputation Changes With Each Generation

A new television series portrays the French queen as a feminist, drawing criticism from historians

Traute Lafrenz in 2019

Traute Lafrenz, Last Surviving Member of Anti-Nazi Resistance Group the White Rose, Dies at 103

During World War II, the rest of the movement's core members were executed for distributing leaflets critical of the Nazi regime

Edward Brooke-Hitching's The Madman Gallery spotlights such artworks as John Singer Sargent's Portrait of Madame X, a statue of Glycon and Franz Xaver Messerschmidt's Character Heads.

The Most Enigmatic Works in Art History

A new book highlights 100 artistic curiosities, from the nude "Mona Lisa" to portraits of a dog-headed saint

All but seven of the letters were previously thought to be lost.

Code Breakers Discover—and Decipher—Long-Lost Letters by Mary, Queen of Scots

The deposed monarch wrote the 57 encrypted messages during her captivity in England

The gold pendant likely dates to around 1521.

Metal Detectorist Discovers Rare Gold Pendant Celebrating Henry VIII's First Marriage

The heart-shaped accessory features the entwined initials of the Tudor king and Catherine of Aragon

A portrait of Anne d’Alégre, a 17th-century French noblewoman who masked her poor dentition with gold wire and an elephant ivory false tooth

What Secrets Lie Beneath This 17th-Century French Aristocrat's Smile?

New research suggests noblewoman Anne d’Alégre used gold wire to keep her decaying teeth in place

Jill Biden addresses a crowd at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History on January 25. Inaugural ensembles by Gabriella Hearst (left) and Alexandra O'Neill (right) stand next to her.

Jill Biden's Inaugural Attire Is on View at the Smithsonian

The day and evening ensembles are now the centerpiece of the American History Museum's popular "First Ladies" exhibition

The animals were preserved in a different manner than most mummified crocodiles.

Archaeologists in Egypt Unearth 2,500-Year-Old Mummified Crocodiles

The remains include five reptile heads and five nearly intact specimens

An illustration of Charles Byrne, whose bones were displayed at the Hunterian Museum in London for some 200 years

Why a London Museum Is Removing the Skeleton of an 'Irish Giant' From View

Charles Byrne asked for his body to be buried at sea. Instead, an anatomist bought his bones and displayed them to the public

The researchers' facial reconstruction shows a bearded, brown-eyed man in his 30s or 40s.

See the Face of a Neolithic Man Who Lived in Jericho 9,500 Years Ago

Prehistoric people modified a skull to create a rudimentary likeness of its owner. Now, scholars have produced a more accurate facial reconstruction

Our ten-most read stories of the year featured the all-woman army of the African kingdom of Dahomey, mischievous felines, J.R.R. Tolkien and more.

Our Top Ten Stories of 2022

From a teen inventor to invasive fish to lost cities of the Amazon, these were our most-read articles of the year

Fascinating finds unveiled in 2022 ranged from a 2,000-year-old statue of a dog to colorful sarcophagi at Saqqara to a Qing dynasty vase.

Ninety-Six Fascinating Finds Revealed in 2022

The year's most exciting discoveries included hidden portraits by Cézanne and van Gogh, sarcophagi buried beneath Notre-Dame, and a medieval wedding ring

This year's picks include Half American, Saving Yellowstone and River of the Gods.

The Ten Best History Books of 2022

Our favorite titles of the year resurrect forgotten histories and illuminate how the nation ended up where it is today

Rhea L. Combs (left) and Ava DuVernay (right) share a laugh in front of DuVernay’s portrait during the National Portrait Gallery's 2022 Portrait of a Nation Gala on Saturday, November 12, 2022.

See Stunning Portraits of Ava DuVernay, José Andrés and the Williams Sisters

The National Portrait Gallery's 2022 Portrait of a Nation Award honors seven changemakers, from Anthony Fauci to Clive Davis

Prince Charles and Princess Diana in South Korea in November 1992, shortly before they officially separated

Why 1992 Was Such a 'Horrible Year' for Elizabeth II and the Royal Family

The fifth season of "The Crown" explores the dissolution of Charles and Diana's marriage, a catastrophic fire and other Windsor tragedies

From Henry VII’s usurpation of the throne in 1485 to the death of Elizabeth in 1603, Tudor monarchs relied on paintings, sculptures, tapestries and other art forms to legitimize their nascent dynasty.

Why Art Was Such a Powerful Tool for England's Tudor Monarchs

An exhibition at the Met features 100-plus paintings, sculptures, decorative works and objects that testify to the splendor of 16th-century English court

“The first people to look at the Rosetta Stone thought it would take two weeks to decipher,” says Edward Dolnick, author of The Writing of the Gods: The Race to Decode the Rosetta Stone. “It ended up taking 20 years.”

Two Hundred Years Ago, the Rosetta Stone Unlocked the Secrets of Ancient Egypt

French scholar Jean-François Champollion announced his decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs on September 27, 1822

The Woman King tells the story of the Agojie, an elite, all-woman army in the West African kingdom of Dahomey.

The Real Warriors Behind 'The Woman King'

A new film stars Viola Davis as the leader of the Agojie, the all-woman army of the African kingdom of Dahomey

Catherine de' Medici was the mother of three kings.

The Many Myths of Catherine de' Medici

A new Starz series, "The Serpent Queen," dramatizes the life of the much-maligned 16th-century ruler

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