https://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/history/RSS feed for HistoryenTue, 17 Sep 2024 10:00:00 +0000https://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 +0000https://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 +0000https://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 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/trailblazing-suffragist-crusading-prosecutor-teamed-up-expose-election-conspiracy-180984903/An unlikely duo exposed political corruption in Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1914—and set a new precedent for fair voting across the countryThu, 05 Sep 2024 11:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-century-ago-a-mob-brutally-attacked-an-american-diplomat-in-persia-his-death-shaped-us-iran-relations-for-decades-180985016/The July 1924 killing of Robert Imbrie fueled the rise of the Pahlavi dynasty and set the stage for both a CIA-backed 1953 coup and the 1979 Iran hostage crisisThu, 05 Sep 2024 10:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/celtic-origins-trick-treating-halloween-180984916/The spine-tingling roots of a mischievous Halloween traditionThu, 05 Sep 2024 10:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-black-americans-south-boldly-defied-jim-crow-build-business-empires-their-own-180984901/The Great Migration transformed the nation—but millions of African Americans never left their Southern communities. Their unlikely success makes their stories all the more remarkableWed, 04 Sep 2024 11:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/remarkable-documents-lay-bare-new-york-history-slavery-manumission-180984912/A newly digitized set of records reveals the plight and bravery of enslaved people in the NorthTue, 03 Sep 2024 12:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/general-macarthur-australia-wwii-comeback-180984897/After a harrowing escape from the Philippines, the prickly American famously vowed "I shall return" from a remote train station before marshaling Allied forces to victoryTue, 03 Sep 2024 11:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/to-trick-the-nazis-this-master-of-deception-invented-fake-fleets-and-armies-180985000/During World War II, British officer Dudley Clarke led A Force, a Cairo-based military unit that fed false information to the GermansTue, 03 Sep 2024 10:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-british-politicians-reacted-americas-attempts-independence-180984909/When the Colonies got too brassy, the English Parliament went ballistic—despite some wise voices of reasonThu, 29 Aug 2024 11:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/to-mark-japans-surrender-at-the-end-of-world-war-ii-this-navy-officer-raced-halfway-around-the-world-with-a-historic-flag-in-tow-180984973/In August 1945, John K. Bremyer undertook a 124-hour, 9,000-mile journey to Tokyo Bay, where he delivered the flag flown by Commodore Matthew Perry in 1853 to Admiral William Halsey's USS "Missouri"Thu, 29 Aug 2024 10:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/bold-meeting-250-years-ago-continental-congress-set-america-in-motion-180984908/While far less famous than the coalition that met in 1775, this group of founders found agreement in their disagreements and laid the groundwork for a revolutionWed, 28 Aug 2024 12:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/archaeologists-uncover-real-story-england-became-england-180984911/New research is revealing how the Sceptered Isle transformed from a Roman backwater to a mighty country of its ownTue, 27 Aug 2024 14:40:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-peekskill-riots-revealed-the-racism-and-antisemitism-hidden-beneath-the-surface-of-the-anti-communist-movement-180984936/In the summer of 1949, World War II veterans protested a pair of concerts held by Paul Robeson, a Black singer and civil rights activist who expressed support for communist causesTue, 27 Aug 2024 11:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/during-world-war-ii-the-liberation-of-paris-saved-the-french-capital-from-destruction-180984943/Adolf Hitler wanted Paris razed. Dwight D. Eisenhower wanted his troops to stay out of the city. In August 1944, an uprising by French resistance fighters forced the Allies to interveneFri, 23 Aug 2024 13:18:20 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/discover-the-hidden-history-of-tomb-robbing-in-ancient-egypt-180984895/Criminals plundered the riches of Egyptian pyramids and underground burials, often within a few years or, in some cases, within a few hours of occupants' intermentThu, 22 Aug 2024 11:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-american-revolution-taught-united-states-first-presidents-180984842/A new book by historian William E. Leuchtenburg examines how the first six commanders in chief embodied the revolutionary spirit and set precedents that shaped their successors' tenuresThu, 15 Aug 2024 11:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-the-great-depression-fueled-grassroots-movement-to-create-a-new-state-called-absaroka-180984873/In the 1930s, disillusioned farmers and ranchers fought to carve a 49th state out of northern Wyoming, southeastern Montana and western South DakotaWed, 14 Aug 2024 11:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/see-the-historic-ruins-hidden-inside-everyday-buildings-in-athens-180984831/Houses and businesses across the Greek capital incorporate—or obscure—structures spanning the city’s ancient, Byzantine, medieval and Ottoman erasTue, 13 Aug 2024 12:18:57 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-top-secret-world-war-ii-mission-that-killed-joseph-pkennedy-heir-apparent-political-dynasty-180984857/In August 1944, the older brother of Robert and John F. Kennedy died while piloting a drone aircraft over England, leaving his younger siblings to fulfill their father's dreamsMon, 12 Aug 2024 11:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/poetry-was-an-official-olympic-event-for-nearly-40-years-what-happened-180984838/Pierre de Coubertin hoped the modern Games would encourage the ancient Greek notion of harmony between "muscle and mind"Tue, 06 Aug 2024 20:07:02 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-black-fugitive-who-inspired-uncle-toms-cabin-and-helped-end-slavery-in-the-us-180984817/New research sheds light on John Andrew Jackson, who sought help from Harriet Beecher Stowe during his escape from bondageMon, 05 Aug 2024 11:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/at-the-1960-olympics-american-athletes-recruited-by-the-cia-tried-to-convince-their-soviet-peers-to-defect-180984794/Al Cantello, a star of the U.S. track and field team, arranged a covert meeting between a government agent and a Ukrainian long jumperThu, 01 Aug 2024 11:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/at-the-1924-paris-olympics-tarzan-faced-off-with-the-ambassador-of-aloha-180984793/The second Paris Games, exactly one century ago, hosted a 100-meter freestyle race that became an instant classicWed, 31 Jul 2024 11:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/who-were-cleopatras-rivals-for-mark-antonys-love-180984785/The Roman general’s third and fourth wives, Fulvia and Octavia, adopted varying strategies for luring their husband away from the queen of EgyptTue, 30 Jul 2024 12:45:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/six-innovative-ways-humans-have-kept-cool-throughout-history-180984749/From sleeping porches to coastal escapes, these tips and tricks helped people deal with extreme heat before the advent of air-conditioningFri, 26 Jul 2024 11:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/inside-the-fight-to-save-the-indiana-dunes-one-americas-most-vulnerable-national-parks-180984756/Caught between steel mills, suburbs and a hard place, the 15,000-acre site is a fantasia of biodiversity—and a case study for hard-fought conservationThu, 25 Jul 2024 11:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-brothers-who-asserted-their-right-to-free-speech-in-tudor-england-180984740/Peter and Paul Wentworth called on Elizabeth I to name an heir to the throne, wielding Parliament's free speech privileges to urge the queen to take actionWed, 24 Jul 2024 11:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-real-story-behind-netflixs-the-decameron-180984739/Loosely based on Giovanni Boccaccio's 14th-century collection of short stories, the series follows a group of Italian nobles and servants who flee to the countryside to escape the Black DeathTue, 23 Jul 2024 14:56:37 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/this-little-known-civil-rights-activist-refused-to-give-up-his-bus-seat-four-years-before-rosa-parks-did-180984742/William "W.R." Saxon filed a lawsuit against the company that forced him to move to the back of the bus, seeking damages for the discrimination and mental anguish he’d facedTue, 23 Jul 2024 11:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/ten-surprising-public-figures-who-dreamed-of-olympic-gold-180984716/The list includes European royals, Darth Vader's stunt double and an American World War II generalMon, 22 Jul 2024 11:15:00 +0000