https://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/history/RSS feed for HistoryenMon, 27 Apr 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-collection-of-maps-owned-by-englands-first-queen-spent-centuries-overlooked-in-a-family-library-now-the-rare-volume-is-on-sale-for-16-million-180988604/Created for Mary I, the first woman to rule England in her own right, the book is "perhaps the most significant artifact of Tudor intellectual history still in private hands," the seller saysMon, 27 Apr 2026 12:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-collection-of-maps-owned-by-englands-first-queen-spent-centuries-overlooked-in-a-family-library-now-the-rare-volume-is-on-sale-for-16-million-180988604/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/walt-disney-visited-a-ford-factory-in-1948-what-he-witnessed-there-laid-the-groundwork-for-what-would-become-disneyland-180988551/A new book argues that the film producer's trip to the River Rouge plant in Michigan inspired him to embrace the power of automation when designing the first Disney theme parkMon, 27 Apr 2026 11:45:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/walt-disney-visited-a-ford-factory-in-1948-what-he-witnessed-there-laid-the-groundwork-for-what-would-become-disneyland-180988551/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/an-eccentric-tycoon-left-a-fortune-to-the-winner-of-a-baby-making-contest-the-great-stork-derby-divided-canadians-during-the-great-depression-180988575/In his will, Charles Vance Millar offered roughly 500,000 Canadian dollars to the mother who "has since my death given birth in Toronto to the greatest number of children"Wed, 22 Apr 2026 11:45:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/an-eccentric-tycoon-left-a-fortune-to-the-winner-of-a-baby-making-contest-the-great-stork-derby-divided-canadians-during-the-great-depression-180988575/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/in-1776-the-declaration-of-independence-was-breaking-news-heres-how-the-founding-document-reached-the-american-public-180988494/A new book by historian Emily Sneff records the journeys of the Declaration's first printed copies, tracking their reception in the Thirteen Colonies and overseasMon, 13 Apr 2026 11:45:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/in-1776-the-declaration-of-independence-was-breaking-news-heres-how-the-founding-document-reached-the-american-public-180988494/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/this-punjabi-princess-fought-for-womens-suffrage-and-sheltered-refugees-during-world-war-ii-a-goddaughter-of-queen-victoria-she-rejected-british-imperialism-180988491/A new exhibition at Kensington Palace tells the riveting story of Sophia Duleep Singh, daughter of the last maharaja of the Sikh EmpireThu, 09 Apr 2026 11:45:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/this-punjabi-princess-fought-for-womens-suffrage-and-sheltered-refugees-during-world-war-ii-a-goddaughter-of-queen-victoria-she-rejected-british-imperialism-180988491/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/customer-loyalty-once-measured-green-stamps-more-shopped-bigger-rewards-180988413/If you’ve ever earned a free latte for buying ten of them earlier, it’s a direct result of the phenomenon created by a company few remember todayWed, 08 Apr 2026 11:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/customer-loyalty-once-measured-green-stamps-more-shopped-bigger-rewards-180988413/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/in-a-new-documentary-one-of-britains-most-famous-historians-reframes-the-american-revolution-as-a-messy-divorce-180988457/Lucy Worsley's PBS series highlights the emotional fallout of the conflict, with a focus on the British perspectiveMon, 06 Apr 2026 11:45:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/in-a-new-documentary-one-of-britains-most-famous-historians-reframes-the-american-revolution-as-a-messy-divorce-180988457/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/native-nations-fought-in-the-american-revolution-to-protect-their-ancestral-lands-after-the-war-settlers-seized-their-territory-anyway-180988435/The conflict divided the six tribes of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, most of whom decided to join the British. The former allies clashed at the Battle of Oriskany in New York in 1777Fri, 03 Apr 2026 11:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/native-nations-fought-in-the-american-revolution-to-protect-their-ancestral-lands-after-the-war-settlers-seized-their-territory-anyway-180988435/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/spirited-revolutionary-led-fight-independence-corsica-inspired-america-colonial-rabblerouser-180988408/Pasquale Paoli was a “small fish fighting an entire empire.” Four thousand miles away, the founding fathers were watching and taking notesThu, 02 Apr 2026 11:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/spirited-revolutionary-led-fight-independence-corsica-inspired-america-colonial-rabblerouser-180988408/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/to-finance-lifestyle-young-french-couple-cambodia-steal-antiquities-they-did-almost-everything-wrong-180988403/Clara and André Malraux conspired to loot the pink temple of Banteay Srei, but their failure started a battle of reclamationWed, 01 Apr 2026 11:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/to-finance-lifestyle-young-french-couple-cambodia-steal-antiquities-they-did-almost-everything-wrong-180988403/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/abigail-adams-asked-her-husband-to-remember-the-ladies-as-he-drafted-americas-laws-heres-what-she-really-meant-180988452/She wrote the letter that would come to define her legacy on March 31, 1776. But 250 years later, Americans are misinterpreting her open-ended requestTue, 31 Mar 2026 11:45:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/abigail-adams-asked-her-husband-to-remember-the-ladies-as-he-drafted-americas-laws-heres-what-she-really-meant-180988452/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-america-found-itself-ready-rock-roll-route66-stretching-chicago-los-angeles-road-endless-possibilities-180988406/The country’s “mother road” started out as a way to get from Point A to Point B but quickly became the host of a culture and a symbol of freedomMon, 30 Mar 2026 13:24:49 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-america-found-itself-ready-rock-roll-route66-stretching-chicago-los-angeles-road-endless-possibilities-180988406/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/nine-black-college-students-were-arrested-in-1961-for-reading-at-a-segregated-public-library-their-contributions-to-the-civil-rights-movement-have-long-been-overlooked-180988422/Known as the Tougaloo Nine, the demonstrators staged a sit-in that helped the NAACP push for the desegregation of public spaces in Mississippi's capitalThu, 26 Mar 2026 11:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/nine-black-college-students-were-arrested-in-1961-for-reading-at-a-segregated-public-library-their-contributions-to-the-civil-rights-movement-have-long-been-overlooked-180988422/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/real-story-behind-abigail-adams-remember-ladies-letter-180988421/Americans who turned the letter written by the future first lady into a suffragist rallying cry may have misunderstood her intentionsThu, 26 Mar 2026 11:00:52 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/real-story-behind-abigail-adams-remember-ladies-letter-180988421/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/popular-lore-claims-that-william-howard-taft-got-stuck-in-a-bathtub-new-research-sheds-light-on-the-legends-forgotten-origins-180988386/A long-overlooked 1929 account contains the earliest known reference to the anecdote, suggesting that the 27th president found himself trapped in a tub during a Mississippi River voyageMon, 23 Mar 2026 11:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/popular-lore-claims-that-william-howard-taft-got-stuck-in-a-bathtub-new-research-sheds-light-on-the-legends-forgotten-origins-180988386/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-quaker-woman-eavesdropped-on-british-soldiers-plotting-a-surprise-attack-and-surreptitiously-warned-george-washington-180988348/Lydia Darragh defied her commitment to pacifism by spying during the American RevolutionThu, 19 Mar 2026 11:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-quaker-woman-eavesdropped-on-british-soldiers-plotting-a-surprise-attack-and-surreptitiously-warned-george-washington-180988348/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-real-count-of-monte-cristo-was-alexandre-dumas-father-a-trailblazing-black-general-180988347/Ahead of the March 22 premiere of a new TV adaptation, learn about the life of Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, the French Army officer who inspired the beloved novelTue, 17 Mar 2026 11:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-real-count-of-monte-cristo-was-alexandre-dumas-father-a-trailblazing-black-general-180988347/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-native-soldier-allied-with-the-british-killed-a-young-white-woman-in-1777-propaganda-transformed-her-into-a-martyr-of-the-american-revolution-180988313/The patriots weaponized Jane McCrea's death to demonize their enemies and paint Indigenous people as uniquely violentWed, 11 Mar 2026 13:57:34 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-native-soldier-allied-with-the-british-killed-a-young-white-woman-in-1777-propaganda-transformed-her-into-a-martyr-of-the-american-revolution-180988313/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/tudor-courtiers-exchanged-portrait-miniatures-as-love-tokens-centuries-later-new-research-is-unlocking-the-secrets-of-these-intimate-artworks-180988300/Over the past few years, art historians have identified several previously unknown paintings by Elizabeth I's favorite artist, Nicholas HilliardMon, 09 Mar 2026 11:30:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/tudor-courtiers-exchanged-portrait-miniatures-as-love-tokens-centuries-later-new-research-is-unlocking-the-secrets-of-these-intimate-artworks-180988300/