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Monument

The original King Taco location in the Los Angeles Cypress Park neighborhood is now a historic-cultural monument.

A Couple From Mexico Became Soft Taco Pioneers in Los Angeles 50 Years Ago. Now, Their Restaurant Is a Landmark

Raúl and Lupe Martinez opened King Taco and served up soft corn tortillas like they remembered from home. The rest is—now officially—history, thanks to a vote from the Los Angeles City Council

Magawa the rat detected unexploded ordnance in Cambodia

A Small Rodent Hero Left a Giant Legacy. Now, Cambodia Honors This Famous Bomb-Sniffing Rat With a Seven-Foot Statue

Magawa the African giant pouched rat cleared more 1.5 million square feet of land mines during his five-year career, making him one of the most successful bomb-sniffing rodents in the country’s history

Built between 180 and 193 C.E., the column depicts the battles of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, with more than 2,000 highly detailed figures spiraling around the shaft.

Archaeologists Are Using Lasers to Clean Decades of Grime Off a Towering 1,800-Year-Old Marble Column in Rome

Standing 154 feet tall, the column of Marcus Aurelius is located in the Piazza Colonna and intricately decorated with gruesome scenes of warfare

Many believe Augusta Charlotte Beysser Bartholdi, the mother of sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, was the inspiration for the Statue of Liberty’s iconic face.  

These 15 Snapshots Capture the Inspirational Aura of the Lovely Lady Liberty

See iconic images of the Statue of Liberty from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest

The Parthenon, photographed here on October 17, is free from scaffolding for the first time in decades.

You Can See the Parthenon Without Scaffolding for the First Time in Decades

The temporary structures will return next month—but in the meantime, visitors will enjoy rare unobstructed views of the ancient hilltop temple in Athens

A depiction of George Washington and his mother, Mary Ball Washington, attending a ball celebrating the surrender at Yorktown in 1781

America's 250th Anniversary

The Reinvention of George Washington’s Mother, From Paragon of Virtue to Greedy Shrew to Widow Striving for Independence

A new biography examines how 19th-century Americans remembered Mary Ball Washington, who raised the future president largely on her own after her husband’s death in 1743

Stonehenge at sunset. Construction of the iconic stone circle began around 3000 B.C.E. and continued in several phases.

A Neolithic Cow’s Tooth Helps Point to the Mysterious Origins of Stonehenge’s Iconic Stones

Isotope analysis of a molar from a cow’s jawbone found buried at the monument provides details of the life story of the animal—and how it may relate to the construction of Stonehenge

The Dudderhouse Hill long cairn is located inside the Yorkshire Dales National Park in northern England.

Rare 5,000-Year-Old Neolithic Monument in Northern England Granted Protected Status

The Dudderhouse Hill long cairn is one of the oldest known sites built by humans in England. It now has the highest level of heritage protection available in the country

A view of the exhibition “Tsedaye Makonnen—Sanctuary :: Mekdes” at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art

These Seven Stunning Towers Memorialize Lost Black Lives With Mirrors, Light and Ethiopian Cross Designs

At the National Museum of African Art, a Washington, D.C. artist’s work illuminates a gallery room and honors 54 people who died this century

Experts are concerned that artifacts and bootprints on the moon might be affected by lunar landing missions, space tourism and space junk.

The Moon Makes the List of the World’s Most Endangered Cultural Heritage Sites in 2025

Earth-bound landmarks ravaged by war, climate change, tourism and other threats also landed in the World Monuments Watch report

Stonehenge is located on Salisbury Plain in southern England.

New Research

Ancient Britons May Have Built Stonehenge to Symbolize Unity

The monument was built during a period of immigration from mainland Europe, and it may been intended to unify communities across the British Isles

Next May, Airbnb will host two nights of immersive, three-hour gladiator experiences.

Airbnb Plans to Host an Immersive ‘Gladiator’ Experience in the Colosseum, and Politicians in Rome Are Furious

The short-term rental giant will help pay for the Colosseum Archaeological Park’s educational programs in exchange for use of the monument

Three new bells arrived for installation at Notre-Dame on November 7. One of the bells had been used for the Summer Olympics in Paris.

Hear the Bells of Paris’ Notre-Dame Cathedral Ring Out for the First Time in More Than Five Years

The cathedral has been under renovation since 2019, when it was badly damaged in a fire. Crews are testing the bells before the historic structure reopens on December 8

Cyclists pass a preserved section of the Berlin Wall.

How the Berlin Wall Became a 100-Mile Bike and Pedestrian Trail

Once one of the world’s most dangerous border crossings, Berlin’s symbol of death and division has been turned into a tangible way to experience history

Allied soldiers rescued the portrait and other works from Germany's Neuschwanstein Castle in 1945.

A Nazi-Looted Painting Recovered by the Monuments Men During World War II Is Going on Sale

When the war ended, Allied soldiers tracked down Nicolas de Largillierre’s “Portrait de femme à mi-corps” with the help of a savvy French curator who had been working for the resistance

Robert Smalls made headlines when he commandeered a Confederate ship during the Civil War.

Untold Stories of American History

He Escaped Slavery and Became a Civil War Hero. Now, Robert Smalls Is Getting a Statue in South Carolina

A special committee has until January 15 to finalize the design, location and funding for a monument that will be erected on the lawn of the South Carolina State House

By age 11, Theodore Roosevelt boasted that he had 1,000 scientific specimens in the collections of his Roosevelt Museum of Natural History.

How a Dead Seal Sparked Theodore Roosevelt’s Lifelong Passion for Conservation

As a child, the future president acquired a marine animal’s skull, which became the first specimen in his natural history collection

The temple walls' reliefs were restored to reveal colorful paint that decorated carvings of Egyptian gods.

See an Ancient Egyptian Temple’s Brilliant Colors, Newly Revealed Beneath Layers of Dust and Soot

Experts are carefully uncovering traces of the original paint and fragments of gold leaf that once adorned the 2,000-year-old Temple of Edfu

A Soldier's Journey by Sabin Howard was unveiled at the new National World War I Memorial on September 13.

The Sprawling Sculpture at the Center of the National World War I Memorial Has Been Unveiled in Washington, D.C.

“A Soldier’s Journey,” a 58-foot-long bronze artwork depicting vivid scenes from the war, was illuminated for the first time at a ceremony on September 13

Pieces of the Arch of Constantine came loose during a thunderstorm on September 3.

Rome’s Ancient Arch of Constantine Has Been Struck by Lightning

A fierce thunderstorm dislodged marble fragments of the 1,700-year-old monument

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