History | smithsonianmag.comhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/history/RSS feed for HistoryenWed, 06 Nov 2024 15:57:01 +0000One of America's First Spectator Sports Was Professional Walkinghttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/one-of-americas-first-spectator-sports-was-professional-walking-180985397/Before fitness influencers made getting your steps in a trend, pedestrianism had the nation on their feetWed, 06 Nov 2024 15:57:01 +0000These Black Americans Were Killed for Exercising Their Political Right to Votehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/these-black-americans-were-killed-for-exercising-their-political-right-to-vote-180985383/In the Jim Crow South, activists became martyrs at the hands of white racists, all for the just cause of using the vote to fight for equality and freedomMon, 04 Nov 2024 11:00:00 +0000To Divine the Future, the Ancients Relied on These Chance-Based Fortune-Telling Toolshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/to-divine-the-future-the-ancients-relied-on-these-chance-based-fortune-telling-tools-180985349/Texts like the "Sortes Astrampsychi" promised insights on clients' love lives, career prospects, financial woes and familiesThu, 31 Oct 2024 10:00:00 +0000This 19th-Century 'Toy Book' Used Science to Prove That Ghosts Were Simply an Illusionhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/this-19th-century-toy-book-used-science-to-prove-that-ghosts-were-simply-an-illusion-180985347/"Spectropia" demystified the techniques used by mediums who claimed they could speak to the dead, revealing the "absurd follies of Spiritualism"Tue, 29 Oct 2024 15:41:01 +0000Discover the Mysteries of Italy's Park of Monsters, a 16th-Century Garden Filled With Strange, Colossal Stone Creatureshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/discover-the-mysteries-of-italys-park-of-monsters-a-16th-century-garden-filled-with-strange-colossal-stone-creatures-180985318/The Sacro Bosco's meaning is the subject of debate, with scholars alternatively describing the sprawling complex as a memorial, an allegorical site or a tribute to ancient civilizationsFri, 25 Oct 2024 10:15:00 +0000When the Nazis Seized Power, This Jewish Actor Took on the Role of His Lifehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-nazis-seized-power-this-jewish-actor-took-on-role-life-180985228/After he was forced off the German stage in 1934 by antisemitic hecklers, Leo Reuss found a daring way to hide in plain sightThu, 24 Oct 2024 11:00:00 +0000These Rare Artifacts Tell Medieval Women's Stories in Their Own Wordshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/these-rare-artifacts-tell-medieval-womens-stories-in-their-own-words-180985317/A new exhibition at the British Library explores the public, private and spiritual lives of such figures as Joan of Arc, Christine de Pizan and Hildegard of BingenThu, 24 Oct 2024 10:15:00 +0000The Enterprising Woman Who Built—and Lost, and Rebuilt—a Booming Empire During the Klondike Gold Rushhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/enterprising-woman-belinda-mulrooney-built-booming-empire-klondike-gold-rush-180985221/With flinty perseverance and a golden touch, Belinda Mulrooney earned an unlikely fortune in the frozen north and reshaped the Canadian frontierWed, 23 Oct 2024 20:00:00 +0000How Recovering the History of a Little-Known Lakota Massacre Could Heal Generational Painhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-recovering-history-little-known-lakota-massacre-could-heal-generation-pain-180985226/When the U.S. Army massacred a Lakota village at Blue Water, dozens of plundered artifacts ended up in the Smithsonian. The unraveling of this long-buried atrocity is forging a path toward reconciliationTue, 22 Oct 2024 14:30:00 +0000Back in the 19th Century, Your Election Ballot Could Double as a Work of Arthttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/back-in-19th-century-your-election-ballot-could-double-work-art-180985220/During and after the Civil War, inventive illustrations allowed Democrats and Republicans to turn American ballots into powerful propagandaMon, 21 Oct 2024 12:00:00 +0000How a Dead Seal Sparked Theodore Roosevelt's Lifelong Passion for Conservationhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-a-dead-seal-sparked-theodore-roosevelts-lifelong-passion-for-conservation-180985255/As a child, the future president acquired a marine animal's skull, which became the first specimen in his natural history collectionWed, 16 Oct 2024 10:00:00 +0000How Captain George Vancouver Mapped and Shaped the Modern Pacific Northwesthttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-captain-george-vancouver-mapped-and-shaped-the-modern-pacific-northwest-180985233/The British explorer named dozens of geographical features and sites in the region, ignoring the traditions of the Indigenous peoples who’d lived there for millenniaTue, 15 Oct 2024 10:15:00 +0000The Real Story Behind 'Saturday Night,' the Movie About the Television Show That Changed Comedy Foreverhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-real-story-behind-saturday-night-the-movie-about-the-television-show-that-changed-comedy-forever-180985236/A new film revisits the 90 minutes before the first episode of "Saturday Night Live" premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975Fri, 11 Oct 2024 10:00:00 +0000A Secret Sculpture Built for John F. Kennedy's Grave Vanished in the 1970s. Half a Century Later, the Mystery Has Been Solvedhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-secret-sculpture-built-for-john-f-kennedys-grave-vanished-in-the-1970s-half-a-century-later-the-mystery-has-been-solved-180985235/The bronze wreath immortalized the moment when the members of the Honor Guard removed their hats and placed them on the president's grave during his burialWed, 09 Oct 2024 18:52:29 +0000How Artists, Writers and Scientists of the Past Documented Climate Changehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-artists-writers-and-scientists-of-the-past-documented-climate-change-180985199/An exhibition at the Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens explores how Western intellectuals viewed the climate crisis between 1780 and 1930Tue, 08 Oct 2024 10:00:00 +0000Why a Minnesota Man Walked Around the World, Traversing 13 Countries and 14,450 Miles in Four Yearshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-a-minnesota-man-walked-around-the-world-traversing-13-countries-and-14450-miles-in-four-years-180985172/Fifty years ago, on October 5, 1974, David Kunst completed the first verified circumnavigation of the globe on foot. Along the way, he met Princess Grace of Monaco, raised money for UNICEF and lost a brother to banditsFri, 04 Oct 2024 09:15:00 +0000Inside Disney's Controversial Plan to Open a Theme Park Inspired by American Historyhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/inside-disneys-controversial-plan-to-open-a-theme-park-inspired-by-american-history-180985150/In the early 1990s, historians and the public alike questioned how Disney's America would accurately and sensitively document the nation's thorny pastMon, 30 Sep 2024 10:00:00 +0000The Real Story Behind the 'Lee' Movie and Lee Miller, the Legendary Surrealist Photographer and World War II Journalist Who Inspired Ithttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-real-story-behind-the-lee-movie-and-lee-miller-the-legendary-surrealist-photographer-and-world-war-ii-journalist-who-inspired-it-180985139/In a new biopic starring Kate Winslet, Miller's many lives—as an artist, model, muse, cook and war correspondent—need little embellishmentFri, 27 Sep 2024 10:00:00 +0000This Defeated Presidential Candidate, Once the 'Best-Known Man in America,' Died in a Sanatorium Less Than a Month After Losing the Electionhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/this-defeated-presidential-candidate-once-the-best-known-man-in-america-died-in-a-sanatorium-less-than-a-month-after-losing-the-election-180985083/Newspaper editor Horace Greeley unsuccessfully ran against incumbent Ulysses S. Grant in November 1872. Twenty-four days later, he died of unknown causes at a private mental health facilityThu, 19 Sep 2024 09:30:00 +0000This Female Civil War Soldier Participated in the Bloodiest Battle in American History and Spied on the South—or Did She?https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/this-female-civil-war-soldier-participated-in-the-bloodiest-battle-in-american-history-and-spied-on-the-southor-did-she-180985076/Historians say that Sarah Emma Edmonds exaggerated many aspects of her wartime experiences. Still, she bravely served in the Union Army, becoming one of hundreds of women who fought in the conflict in secretTue, 17 Sep 2024 10:00:00 +0000On This Day in 1899, a Car Fatally Struck a Pedestrian for the First Time in American Historyhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/on-this-day-in-1899-a-car-fatally-struck-a-pedestrian-for-the-first-time-in-american-history-180985050/Henry Hale Bliss' death presaged the battle between the 20th-century automobile lobby and walkers in U.S. citiesFri, 13 Sep 2024 10:00:00 +0000Why Japan's Shogun Executed Dozens of Christians During the Great Genna Martyrdom of 1622https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-japans-shogun-executed-dozens-christians-great-genna-martyrdom-1622-180985023/On September 10, 1622, Japanese officials burned alive or beheaded 55 missionaries and laypeople alike. The violence coincided with Japan's push to expel all foreign influencesTue, 10 Sep 2024 09:00:00 +0000