Smart News History & Archaeology

Hitler's signature on one of his watercolors.

Trending Today

Did an Auction of Hitler’s Art Go Too Far?

A collection of Hitler’s paintings just sold for $450,000

A mermaid as depicted in Sea Fables Explained by Henry Lee, published in 1883.

Cool Finds

The Murky Tale of John Smith and the Mermaid

Alexander Dumas probably just made it up

Little Havana, Miami, Florida.

Urban Explorations

These Are the Most Threatened Historical Places in America

The Grand Canyon, The Factory and the A.G. Gaston Motel are just a few of the 11 names on the list

New Research

In Egypt, There Was Once a Tomb Full of Eight Million Dog Mummies

Devotees of the Ancient Egyptian deity Anubis buried dogs at the necropolis of Saqqara

These 15th-century female musicians are clearly in grave medical danger.

Cool Finds

Some 19th-Century Physicians Thought Music Could Infect the Brain

When it comes to music in the brain, medicine has come a long way

These tags were used to identify slaves before emancipation

Trending Today

Juneteenth Didn’t Stop the Enslavement of Black People in Houston

The delayed enforcement of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation still didn’t bring freedom to many black Texans

Napoleon in battle, presumably craving rotisserie chicken

Cool Finds

Napoleon Had a Thing for Rotisserie Chicken

The military powerhouse ate chicken dinners 24/7 — even as his army starved

The first $10 Federal Reserve Note featured Andrew Jackson.

Trending Today

Andrew Jackson Wasn't Always on the $20 Bill

The controversial president's face has only been on $20 bills since 1928

Cool Finds

Michigan Owns 1,500 Shipwrecks

Divers, historians and state officials team up to preserve the state’s underwater heritage

Cool Finds

Los Alamos’s “Atomic Secretary” Was Never Told What the Manhattan Project Was For

Dorothy McKibbin coordinated entry of all people and property to the Los Alamos site

Afghan men stand near the ruins of the ancient Buddhas of Bamiyan.

Cool Finds

Destroyed Buddha Statues Are Coming Back to Life in Afghanistan as Beautiful 3D Projections

3D light projections recreate a pair of statues destroyed by the Taliban

A screen shot from a video about how Indo-European languages spread around the globe.

Cool Finds

Half of All Languages Come From This One Root Tongue. Here’s How it Conquered the Earth.

Today, three billion people speak Indo-European langauges

New Research

How Much Water Did Rome’s Aqueducts Really Carry?

Not as much as previously thought

Fear the claw. More often than no, claw machines are likely rigged for you to lose.

Cool Finds

Here's How Claw Machines Are Rigged to Make Sure You Lose

That's why simply grabbing a prize is so deceptively difficult

Trending Today

A Playmobil Figure of Martin Luther Has Become the Fastest-Selling of All Time

The first edition of 34,000 figurines sold out in 72 hours

Cool Finds

This Film Shows a Glimpse of Amelia Earhart Before Her Final Flight

After 70 years in storage, the footage shows the pilot posing for press photographs

Copies of Hitler's Mein Kampf are displayed at a German museum. The controversial manifesto has been banned in Germany since the end of World War II.

Trending Today

Houghton Mifflin Once Sued Another Publisher on Behalf of Hitler and Mein Kampf

Rival versions of the book once vied for American readers

Cool Finds

How George Washington Did His Hair

Despite the powder and curls it wasn't a wig at all

One of the chalkboards shows a calendar in the process of switching from November 1917 to December — only the month label and the first day apply to the new month.

Cool Finds

100-Year-Old Chalkboards, With Drawings Still Intact, Discovered in Oklahoma School

The find includes lessons on pilgrims, math and music

Trending Today

Auction House is Selling Decades-Old Slices of Royal Wedding Cake

Boxed slices of wedding cakes from British royals are not-so-edible pieces of history

Page 260 of 294