Thomas Hart Benton captured early- to mid-20th century America with a style and swagger uniquely his own. Capturing what made the painter tick—and tick-off so many people—has been a career-long pursuit of art historian Henry Adams.
A study published in the journal Antiquity explains how the bluestones that make up the famous neolithic monument in Salisbury Plain in England, were dug out at least 500 years before in Wales. Stonehenge may have stood in Wales hundreds of years before it was dismantled and transported.
While some people today feel driven to purchase the latest smartphone or other technology, historian Michael Bess worries how near-future generations will deal with innovations ranging from pills that boost intelligence to bioengineered body parts for all ages.
Archaeologists from the University of Cambridge have unearthed the earliest known European Christian church in the tropics on one of the Cabo Verde islands, 500km off the coast of West Africa, where the Portuguese established a stronghold to start the first commerce with Africa south of the Sahara. This turned into a global trade in African slaves from the 16th century, in which Cabo Verde played a central part as a major trans-shipment centre.
The firsthand accounts of 19 Texas veterans who helped liberate World War II Nazi concentration camps now can be seen and heard on Baylor University’s Institute for Oral History (IOH) website using a new video indexing tool that allows a rare type of access to their compelling stories.
A continuing look at a Maya village in El Salvador--frozen in time by a blanket of volcanic ash from 1,400 years ago--shows the farming families who lived there went about their daily lives with virtually no strong-arming by the elite royalty lording over the valley.
An archeological site in Jersey, UK has yielded a stash of artifacts from the end of the last Ice Age. The fragments include stone pieces engraved with criss-crossed lines, possibly made over 14,000 years ago. Initial reports determine that these were made by the Magdalenians, a hunter-gatherer culture which gradually re-colonised Europe at the end of the Ice Age, 16,000 to 13,000 years ago.
When Salvador Dalí first exhibited “Lobster Telephone” at the Galerie des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1938, he replaced the handset of a desk telephone with an actual crustacean. Over the five-and-a-half-week run of the “International Exhibition of Surrealism,” the creature would decay, and its odor would turn viewers’ desire to disgust.
This Smithsonian Snapshot shows an unscented version of “Lobster Telephone” that will be seen Oct. 29–Feb. 15, 2016, in the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden’s “Marvelous Objects: Surrealist Sculpture from Paris to New York,” the first major museum exhibition devoted to a comprehensive view of the movement’s three-dimensional works.
According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a total of 11 cases have been reported in the United States since April 1st, 2015.
In a new book, historian Todd Cleveland captures the voices of the African men, women and children who labored for the largest diamond mining operation in the colonial history of Angola.
If Plato were alive today, what would he think of our modern times? Specifically, how would he react to a modern world where secularism and religious fundamentalism are growing further apart?
Findings, published in the journal Nature, show that Homo sapiens arrived in China about 80,000 years ago, long before humans were able to leave their mark on Europe.
Archaeologists at the University of South Carolina raised three cannons from the Confederate gunboat CSS Pee Dee from the Great Pee Dee River in South Carolina. The mystery of the CSS Pee Dee, its cannons and the inland Mars Bluff Navy Yard endured for the better part of 100 years.
On Monday, archeologists confirmed that they've found evidence of two hidden chambers behind the western and northern walls of Tutankhamun’s tomb. Could this discovery lead to the burial chamber of Queen Nefertiti?
What the last common ancestor between humans and African apes looked like has remained unclear. A new study led by researchers at UC San Francisco shows that important clues lie in the shoulder.
"Hitler at Home," a new book by a University at Buffalo architectural historian, traces how Hitler's inner circle manipulated the public by using home and lifestyle stories to soften his image prior to World War II. The news coverage that resulted from this effort was widespread and haunting.
The Natufian culture, which flourished 15,000 years ago, is well known for its complex burial customs. A new study by Dr. Danny Rosenberg and Prof. Dani Nadel of the University of Haifa has discovered that these ceremonies included the use of giant boulder mortars whose pounding sound informed the community that a ceremony was being held
From the earliest moments of Kentucky’s recorded history, the lives of African-Americans have been intricately woven into the fabric of the state. Now, a first-of-its-kind reference chronicles individuals, events, places, organizations, movements and institutions that have shaped the state’s history.
While MLK’s first “Dream” speech was played publicly for the first time Tuesday, it’s a speech King had been practicing since he was a teenager. A Wake Forest professor and his student identified striking parallels between the “Dream” speech and an address King delivered as a high school student.
This year marks the 150-year anniversary of the abolition of slavery in America. Over the years, there have been numerous unsuccessful attempts to secure reparations for African-American slave descendants.
The Smithsonian turns 169 today, and to celebrate, we're sharing a photo from our younger days. This photo was taken in 1850 during the Smithsonian Castle’s construction; it is the earliest-known image of the building.
Dr. Deborah Cvikel and Mr. Micky Holtzman from the Leon Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies at the University of Haifa suggest that the shipwreck discovered in 1976 off the coast at Dor (Tantura) lagoon may be identified as the missing Baron’s Ship. “The ship we found is structurally consistent with the specifications of the Baron’s ships, carried a similar cargo, and sailed and sank during the right period,” the scholars conclude.
A new book that examines private and published documents in Arkansas before the start of the Civil War reveals that defending slavery was at the forefront of secession arguments in the state.
University of Southampton historian, Dr Craig Lambert, has examined the naval preparations which allowed Henry V’s army to travel from England to France in August, 1415. Using English exchequer rolls in the National Archives at Kew, London, along with other sources, Dr Lambert has concluded Henry had a fleet of ships less than half the size of that which accepted history suggests.
Courses in classics, mythology, Greek and Latin are attracting more students, thanks to renewed interest in a classical education and the influence of movies and television borrowing plots from Greek and Roman mythology.
As Independence Day approaches, social media is lighting up with memes and quotes from the nation’s Founding Fathers.
But did George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin actually say these things for which they receive so much acclaim? A Baylor scholar can tell the truth about Ben.
In a special issue of the Journal of American History, historians explore the forces that led to mass incarceration in the U.S. and its implications for urban spaces, politics, distribution of government resources, race, gender and other factors of American life.
American University History Professor Lisa Leff’s new nonfiction book “The Archive Thief: The Man Who Salvaged French Jewish History in the Wake of the Holocaust” tells the story of controversial Jewish historian Zosa Szajkowski (Shy-KOV-ski).
A new online, interactive map has been launched which tracks the development and history of the UK antiques trade during the 20th century. Researchers from the University of Southampton (UK), led by the University of Leeds (UK), aim to chart the changing geographical locations of dealers over a one-hundred year period.
Some notable but lesser-known women in American history might be overlooked as possibilities for the soon-to-be redesigned $10 bill. Who are the other women who merit consideration on the $10?
Diane Windham Shaw, scholar of the Marquis de Lafayette, is director of special collections and the college archivist at Lafayette College, and is an excellent source on Lafayette’s legacy as a key figure in the American Revolution.
French general and politician Napoléon Bonaparte won more battles than he lost. But under his command on June 18, 1815, the French army was defeated at Waterloo in a battle that changed the political landscape of Europe.
“Our results contribute to the conversation about how natural or humanized the landscape of America was when Europeans first arrived,” co-author Steve Tulowiecki says.
Creighton University law students are again preparing for a trip to Nuremberg, Germany, site of the trials that brought to justice the Nazi war criminals who perpetrated the Holocaust.
Maps show us the way and identify major landmarks – rivers, towns, roads and hills. For centuries, they also offered a perspective on how societies viewed themselves in comparison to the rest of the world.
Karen Pinto, assistant professor of history at Boise State University, is researching a book project titled “The Mediterranean in the Islamic Cartographic Imagination,” which looks at maps from the medieval and early-modern Muslim world. Her research is funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Trending news releases with the most views in a single day. Topics include: gun regulation, psychology and altruism, big data, threats to coral reefs, extra-terrestrial life, personalized diets, metabolic syndrome and heart health, new drug target to treat arthritis, and archeologists find oldest tools.