Smart News History & Archaeology

Whiskey? Check. Man bun? Check. Presidential presence? Check.

Cool Finds

In This New Portrait, George Washington Trades His Curls for a Man Bun

The first president turns hipster at a new D.C. restaurant

Sabbathday Shaker Village in New Gloucester, Maine used to be a thriving community.

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There Are Only Two Shakers Left in the World

One of America’s oldest religious sects still survives

Isaac Newton got caught up in one of the world's first investment "bubbles," supposedly saying at the time that he “could calculate the motions of the heavenly bodies, but not the madness of the people."

The Market Crash That Cost Newton a Fortune

The esteemed scientist wasn't the only one to fall for the first investment bubble

The Titanic leaving Belfast on April 2, 1912. The black streak can be seen just above the water line.

Cool Finds

A Coal Fire May Have Helped Sink the 'Titanic'

A new documentary claims the <i>Titanic</i>’s hull was weakened before it struck an iceberg

Dorothy Levitt, one of the first female racecar drivers, wrote some not-so-timeless advice for other drivers way back in 1909.

Advice for Drivers From Dorothy Levitt, the Pre-War Racing Record Breaker You’ve Never Heard Of

Levitt’s story is proof that women were in auto racing almost from the start, and she has some ideas for other drivers

President Harry S. Truman, addressing Americans by radio in 1945.

We Can Thank Harry Truman for TV Politics

Truman was the first president to regularly appear on television

Mikhael A. Menshikov, new Soviet ambassador, outside White House, going to visit with President Eisenhower

Cool Finds

How Adlai Stevenson Stopped Russian Interference in the 1960 Election

The Soviets offered the former presidential candidate propaganda support if he ran in 1960, an offer he politely declined

Refugees wait for water at a camp in Delhi. The partition of India put millions on the move.

Cool Finds

After Nearly 70 Years, the India-Pakistan Partition Gets a Museum

The Partition Museum is unrelenting in its portrayal of a brutal era

This six-shooter, in the collection of the National Museum of American History, is not the very first Colt six-shooter, but an updated, slightly lighter version Colt produced between 1848 and 1861.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

On This Day in 1847, a Texas Ranger Walked Into Samuel Colt’s Shop and Said, Make Me a Six-Shooter

Samuel Colt was a clever marketer as well as a talented inventor

An illustration of Topsy from the St. Paul Globe on June 16, 1902.

Topsy the Elephant Was a Victim of Her Captors, Not Thomas Edison

Many believe Edison killed Topsy to prove a point, but some historians argue otherwise

The Institute for Contemporary History's reissued version of Mein Kampf is an anonymous-looking doorstop packed with footnotes and historical context.

Germany’s Controversial New Version of ‘Mein Kampf’ Is Now a Bestseller

Once kept under lock and key, the book is now available in a critical edition

Anna May Wong in an undated image.

Happy Birthday to Hollywood’s First Chinese-American Star

She was a leading lady, but racism held her career back

The first-known photograph of the White House, by John Plumbe, Jr.

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The First-Known Photograph of the White House Was Taken by an Immigrant

John Plumbe, Jr. was one of America’s first rockstar photographers

President Franklin D. Roosevelt exits a car during a campaign stop in California. Roosevelt was the first U.S. president with a visible disability, caused by polio.

People Mailed Dimes 'By The Truck Load' to FDR's White House to Cure Polio

He was America’s first and only president with a visible—and known—disability

After a 2011 version of this statue was installed outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul, they began to pop up around the world.

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"Comfort Woman" Statue Stokes Old Tensions Between Japan and South Korea

She’s a silent reminder of the plight of hundreds of thousands of women forced into sexual slavery by Japan during World War II

Nixon campaigning during the 1968 election

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Notes Indicate Nixon Interfered With 1968 Peace Talks

Documents from aide seem to confirm long-time speculation that Nixon tried to scuttle a Vietnam peace deal to help his presidential campaign

Cherry-Garrard during the Scott expedition

This Catastrophic Polar Journey Resulted in One of the Best Adventure Books Ever Written

Apsley Cherry-Garrard's travel memoir is still the one to beat, and not only because it features penguins

Isaac Asimov at age 70.

If Isaac Asimov Had Named The Smartphone, He Might Have Called It The “Pocket Computer Mark II”

The sci-fi author correctly predicted a number of innovations that have come to pass

Thatcher visits with President Bush in Aspen, Colorado in 1990 during a diplomatic reception. News of her resignation lit up diplomatic channels around the world.

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The World Finally Knows How Leaders Reacted to Margaret Thatcher’s Resignation

The Iron Lady glistens in newly released papers about her last years as Prime Minister

Yosemite National Park

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The Year in National Parks

From people stealing baby bison and Yosemite trademarks to epic blooms in Death Valley, 2016 has been an eventful centennial year for the NPS

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