Smart News History & Archaeology

These early Jim Henson puppets (you might recognize the frog on the right) appeared in a local Washington, D.C. television show “Sam and Friends” that ran from 1955 to 1961. Headed by Kermit, Henson’s muppets went on to wider fame.

Why Puppets (and Puppeteers) Are Still Important

Puppets aren't just children's toys, as this look into the Smithsonian's collection shows

This 17th-century French noblewoman will become the first woman ever included in the curriculum for the nation's high school exams.

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France’s Famous High School Exam Will Soon Feature Its First Woman Author

Madame da La Fayette will infuse a much-needed POV into France’s literary curriculum

You know what he looks like, but you probably don't know his actual last name.

Chef Boyardee Was A Real Person

What’s more: Hector Boiardi was a respected chef who even helped cater Woodrow Wilson’s second wedding

This illustration, depicting Uncle Tom's Cabin antagonist Simon Legree looming over, and perhaps preparing to beat, Tom, appeared in the 1853 edition of the book. Pro-slavery Southerners argued that the book misrepresented slavery by cherry-picking the worst examples.

White Southerners Said “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” Was Fake News

So its author published a “key” to what’s true in the novel

The Whanganui River has finally been granted legal status.

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This New Zealand River Just Got the Legal Rights of a Person

It’s the end of more than a century of struggle

The future Lucy Maud Montgomery Museum and Literary Centre.

L.M. Montgomery’s Ontario Home Will Open As a Museum

While living in the village of Norval, the beloved author enjoyed stunning literary success. But this chapter of her life was tinged with darkness

This grapefruit-sized object is Vanguard TV-3, an exact replica of Vanguard 1 that failed to launch into orbit. It's now on display at the National Air and Space Museum.

The World’s First Solar-Powered Satellite is Still Up There After More Than 60 Years

This tiny grapefruit-sized satellite will still be up there well into the 2100s if we don’t take it down

Did Catherine Parr Write a Propaganda Song for Henry VIII?

'Gaude gloriosa Dei mater,' purportedly penned by the king’s sixth wife, will be performed in London for the first time in more than 470 years

These reproduction huts in Jockey Hollow are similar to what Washington's army would have used during the brutal winter of 1779-1780.

Washington’s Army Celebrated St. Patrick’s Day to Cure Winter Blues

Washington declared the day a holiday in an attempt to raise morale and acknowledge the army's many soldiers of Irish descent

Spiral Jetty is on its way to becoming Utah's official work of land art.

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Utah Chooses New State Works of Art

Ancient rock art and Robert Smithson's “Spiral Jetty” are poised to become state symbols

Joseph Lister's work was influenced by Louis Pasteur's work on fermentation.

The Idea of Surgeons Washing Their Hands is Only 154 Years Old

The world of surgery before that was much grosser and less effective

John Huston, Orson Welles and Peter Bogdanovich on the set of The Other Side of the Wind.

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Netflix Will Finish Orson Welles’ Last Film

Will <i>The Other Side of the Wind</i> live up to its iconic reputation?

Although it's called "hay fever" it refers to an allergy caused by a variety of grasses.

The First Description of Allergies Was Published On This Day in 1844

John Bostock was a British doctor suffering from what he called “summer catarrh”

King Tut captivated the U.S. in 1976, thanks in part to an NEH grant.

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Five Things You Didn’t Realize Were Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities

Since 1965, the agency has bestowed more than 63,000 humanities-related grants

Reddi-wip's aerosol canisters are a symbol of mid-century convenience culture.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

This Patent Was the Hallmark of an Aerosol Whip Cream Empire

Aaron “Bunny” Lapin had already made Reddi-Wip a national concern when he finally received the patent for the aerosolizing whip cream nozzle

Bernard Fantus coined the term "blood bank" (and opened the world's first) in 1937.

The First-Ever Blood Bank Opened 80 Years Ago Today

Its inventor also coined the term "blood bank"

Thornbury Castle.

Thornbury Castle, Honeymoon Spot of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, On Sale for $10.3 million

The property boasts boasts 28 bedrooms, sprawling Tudor gardens and restaurant experience in the dungeons

National Archives of Korea's Busan Repository

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Why South Korea’s National Archive Uprooted 12 Japanese Trees

The kaizuka trees represent a long and complicated history with the country's former colonial occupier

John F. Kennedy's permanent gravesite at the Arlington National Cemetery.

The Man Who Dug JFK’s Grave, Twice

Clifton Pollard dug graves in the Arlington National Cemetery for more than thirty years

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Archaeologists Worked Feverishly to Excavate Colonial-Era Graves at Philly Construction Site

The First Baptist Cemetery was supposed to have been moved in 1859, but as it turned out many of the graves were left behind

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