Smart News History & Archaeology

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The Bra Is 500 Years Older Than We Thought

A devious plan that takes advantage of the charming sweet.

Hitler Plotted to Kill Churchill With Exploding Chocolate

Nazis are known for their heinous wartime crimes and tactics. Now, exploding chocolate can be added to that list, as revealed by a 60-year-old letter

How Common Was Cannibalism?

360-Year-Old Advertisement Extolls Coffee’s Virtues

An advertisement issued by some brilliant London entrepreneurs may well be the first coffee ad ever

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People Wear Pants Because Cavalry Won Wars

For Coal Miners, Back to Black Lungs

The adult female skeleton

In Scotland, Two Mix-and-Match Mummies Contain Parts of Six Corpses

3,000 year old bodies discovered in a bog turned out not to be two bodies at all. The skeletons are stitched together from the remains of six individuals

A mosaic of Hercules with pet Cerberus.

How Ancient Greeks Named Their Puppies

To the ancient Greeks, just like today, picking a name for your new pup was an important step. But the process was a little more peculiar back then

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Viking’s Most Powerful City Unearthed in Northern Germany

Archaeologists working in northern Germany may have found one of the most important cities in Viking history—Sliasthorp, where once sat Scandanavian kings

Karl Marx

Marxism Is Cool Again

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Today is Actually the 1700th Anniversary of the Bikini, not the 66th

July 5th, 1946 is classically regarded as the birth date of what we now call the bikini. But that version of history misses the long view

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Vintage Summer Tips From the U.S. Government: “Overeating Is Overheating”

In the early 1940s, in the years after the country had entered World War II, American government had a particular interest in keeping workers on the job

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One of the First Maps to Include “America” Found in Old Geometry Book

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Timbuktu’s Ancient Relics Lay In Ruins At Hands of Militant Group

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London Had All-Electric Taxis in 1897

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What If the Founding Fathers Had Known About Voltron?

Olly Moss, a UK-based graphic designer, riffs on Benjamin Franklin's 1754 political cartoon, "Join, or Die."

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World’s Oldest Purse Adorned with Dog Teeth

The world's oldest purse features a decoration that doesn't look so different from modern beading. It's just way more gruesome

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The Atlantic Revisits Sending Babies Through the Mail

A photograph from the early 20th century has striking similarities to the magazine's latest cover story

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A Little Perspective: Congress First Mandated Health Care in 1798

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Obama Could Win 2012 Because the South Used to Be Underwater

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