World History

Alice Roosevelt and Nicholas Longworth disembark in Manila

Global Diplomacy Was in Theodore Roosevelt's Hands, But His Daughter Stole the Show

Alice Roosevelt's 1905 journey to Japan, Korea and China is documented in rare photographs held by the Freer and Sackler Galleries

Women Were Some of the Fiercest Samurai Warriors Ever

In ancient Japan, battle was typically reserved for male samurai. That all changed when Takeko Nakano and her sister, Yuko, decided to fight for their clan

The identity card of Johanna Koch with Marie Jalowicz's photo. The date of birth and the stamp over the photo were forged.

A Holocaust Survival Tale of Sex and Deceit

One Jewish woman’s personal story reveals what it took to elude capture in Nazi Germany

American South

The Oldest City in the United States

St. Augustine, Florida, was the first city founded by European settlers in North America

Three of the fifteen escaped Chibok girls have been integrated into a special American University of Nigeria program. They pose with their tutor-matron next to the library.

Escape From Boko Haram

In northern Nigeria, a fearless American educator has created a refuge for young women desperate to evade the terrorist group

The Yamaki Pine, which survived the bombing of Hiroshima, resides at the U.S. National Arboretum. The tree serves as a reminder of the continued peace between the United States and Japan.

The Bonsai Tree That Survived the Bombing of Hiroshima

Now living in Washington, D.C., this bonsai tree outlasted the atomic blast

After World War II, Gottschee ceased to exist as an independent community

An Attempt to Keep the Dying Gottschee Culture Very Much Alive

Inspired by a trip to Slovenia with her grandmother, one New Yorker took it upon herself to chronicle the story of a lost piece of European history

Urban Explorations

There Are New World Heritage Sites, Here Are the Ones You Should Travel to Now

This year, 24 sites from across the globe have been added to the heralded Unesco list

Past and Presence: The Power of Photographs

The shattering nature of violence. The resilience of the human spirit. The power of photographs. A Smithsonian special project

Yepraksia Gevorgyan fled Turkey with her family. Her father was killed along the way, and her mother died soon after they crossed into Armenia.

Armenia: Smithsonian Guide

One Photographer's Personal Endeavor to Track Down Survivors of the Armenian Genocide, 100 Years Later

As children, they escaped ruthless state-sponsored violence. Now, these Armenian women and men visit the aching memory of what they left behind

Runnymede meadow in Surrey, England, is the site of historic Magna Carta negotiations.

The Mad King and Magna Carta

How did a peace treaty signed — and broken — more than 800 years ago become one of the world's most influential documents?

Hiram Bingham called Machu Picchu “the most important ruin discovered in South America since the Spanish conquest.”

What It's Like to Travel the Inca Road Today

A rocky rollicking journey to Machu Picchu along one of the greatest engineering feats in the Americas

The view inside Pompeii's old granary

The Fall and Rise and Fall of Pompeii

The famous archaeological treasure is falling into scandalous decline, even as its sister city Herculaneum is rising from the ashes

Rumi Colca gateway, Cusco, Peru, 2014

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Inca Road

How the Inca Empire Engineered a Road Across Some of the World's Most Extreme Terrain

For a new exhibition, a Smithsonian curator conducted oral histories with contemporary indigenous cultures to recover lost Inca traditions

The Most Loved and Hated Novel About World War I

An international bestseller, Erich Maria Remarque's <em>All Quiet on the Western Front</em> was banned and burned in Nazi Germany

Battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815, by Artaria

The American at the Battle of Waterloo

The British remember William Howe De Lancey, an American friend to the Duke of Wellington, as a hero for the role he played in the 1815 clash

The Stars and Stripes are enjoying an extraordinary status in American public culture.

Americans Are Not the Only Ones Obsessed With Their Flag

From the mild-mannered Danes to crazed soccer fans, people all over the world go nuts for their national colors

The Very Reverend June Osborne, Dean of Salisbury, takes a selfie with a laminated copy of the 1215 Magna Carta that is on display at Salisbury Cathedral.

How Magna Carta Went Viral

In a world before the printing press, how did news of the famous document make the rounds?

Chasseur, Chasseurs à Cheval de la Garde Impériale, France

Relive the Battle of Waterloo With These Astonishing Portraits of War Reenactors

Photographer Sam Faulkner shoots a portrait series that gives a face to the more than 200,000 soldiers who fought in the historic conflict

The 1856 British Guiana One-Cent Magenta, with its three-masted sailing ship, carries the postal clerk Edmond D. Wight's initials to deter counterfeiters.

Urban Explorations

The Remarkable Story of the World’s Rarest Stamp

The rarely seen, one-of-a-kind 1856 British Guiana One-Cent Magenta, which recently sold for a whopping $9.5 million, gets its public debut

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