Smart News History & Archaeology

New Research

Did the Greeks Help Sculpt China's Terra Cotta Warriors?

New analysis and DNA evidence suggests the 8,000 life-sized figures in emperor Qin Shi Huang's necropolis owe their inspiration to the Greeks

John Cohen photographs a young Bob Dylan playing his guitar and harmonica in New York City in 1962.

Trending Today

Five Things to Know About Bob Dylan

When it comes to awards, the times are a' changin'—and now the iconic musician is a Nobel laureate

This map changed how the world saw itself.

Cool Finds

Discover One of History’s Most Ambitious Maps

Martin Waldseemüller's 1507 map was the oldest document to use "America" to describe the body of land between Africa and Asia

Cool Finds

Capsules Reveal Once Highly Classified Pieces of WWII Air Campaign

Two shipping barrels opened by the Commemorative Air Force contain one of the more intriguing technologies of the second world war

A diver recovering a bottle of beer from the wreck of the Sydney Cove.

Cool Finds

Australian Researchers Brew Beer With Yeast Believed to Be from a 220-Year-Old Shipwreck

A glimpse into the boozy past

The Countess of Computing was the daughter of the Princess of Parallelograms.

Trending Today

Five Things to Know About Ada Lovelace

The “Countess of Computing” didn’t just create the world’s first computer program—she foresaw a digital future

Alfred Jacob Miller's "Buffalo Jump," 1859-1860

Cool Finds

1,600-Year-Old Feast Unearthed in Alberta

Archeologists at Head-Smashed-in-Buffalo Jump have excavated a rare roasting pit with the meal still left inside

A set of Civil War-era cannonballs were uncovered on a South Carolina beach after Hurricane Matthew.

Trending Today

Civil War-Era Cannonballs Unearthed by Hurricane Matthew

The destructive storm dug up some old history

People protest the Ethiopian government's alleged killing of Oromo students and seizure of Oromo lands in Addis Ababa in 2014.

Trending Today

Why Ethiopia Just Declared a State of Emergency

Anti-government protests have roiled the fast-growing country

Mohanda Gandhi, center, spent years living in South Africa where he worked as a lawyer.

Trending Today

Why a Ghanaian University Is Getting Rid of a Statue of Gandhi

The civil rights leader’s legacy is complicated

Clyde R. Meyers, Denham Springs flood survivor, holds a photograph of his parents, saturated with floodwater from the 2016 historic flooding in Louisiana.

Trending Today

How to Save Family Heirlooms from Natural Disasters

It isn't easy to save cultural heritage from the ravages of nature, but a national task force thinks it's worth trying

Paris, 1739.

Cool Finds

This Is What 18th-Century Paris Sounded Like

A bygone age comes back to life in this painstaking reconstruction of the sounds of 1739

New Research

Check Out This 3D Tour of a Villa in Ancient Pompeii

The Swedish Pompeii Project has digitally recreated a wealthy bankers villa and an entire city block using 3D scans from the devastated city

Trending Today

Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Colombian President Who Got Guerillas to Come to the Table

As Colombia faces an uncertain future, the Nobel Committee recognizes its president who has worked to broker peace

Trending Today

How the Reno Gang Launched the Era of American Train Robberies

150 years ago today, the first-ever train robbery took place in Indiana, setting off decades of shoot outs and bloodshed

The room has plenty of "Hudson River light" to spark the artist in a lucky bidder and their guest.

Cool Finds

Channel Edward Hopper With a Night in His Bedroom

Stay in the childhood home of one of history’s greatest painters

Scores of lives were lost while building the 816 Nuclear Plant, a long-abandoned nuclear project now open to the public.

Cool Finds

Tour the World’s Biggest Manmade Cave in China

The 816 Nuclear Plant stands as a reminder of a paranoid past

Gold signet ring showing five elaborately dressed female figures gathered by a seaside shrine

New Research

Gold Rings Found in Warrior's Tomb Connect Two Ancient Greek Cultures

Analysis of four gold rings and some 2,000 other recently uncovered objects points to the exchange of ideas and goods between two ancient peoples

New Research

Campsite Places Humans in Argentina 14,000 Years Ago

Excavations at the site Arroyo Seco 2 include stone tools and evidence that humans were hunting giant sloths, giant armadillos and extinct horse species

Whoops.

Trending Today

People Really Hate a Newly Repaired Stretch of the Great Wall of China

And for good reason

Page 230 of 294