What common appliance was invented after an experiment with radar in 1945? The microwave oven. The first models were huge—about 6 feet in height and weighing more than 750 pounds. After World War II, when wartime technologies were adapted for domestic purposes, the ovens became smaller and more suitable for homes.
Landmark Chicago skyscrapers like the Wrigley Building defined the city and inspired a nation during an era of prosperity and progress. Between Chicago's Great Fire of 1871 and the country's Great Depression, Chicago was an epicenter for architecture's modernization and urbanization. And it was a political hotbed of corruption, muckraking, unions and reform. Those worlds collide in a new book by Iowa State's Thomas Leslie.
A new digital collection made possible by the collaboration of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the University Library at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis captures history through more than 14,000 images.
A new collection of historical essays, edited by a University of Indianapolis professor, explores the often-ignored complexities of the most pivotal election in U.S. history.
Prof. Allen Guelzo releases “Gettysburg: The Last Invasion” in advance of 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg
University of South Carolina cultural historian Lauren Sklaroff is using 300 of Sophie Tucker’s personal scrapbooks, along with interviews and research from multiple collections to reintroduce the popular early 20th-century musical performer to modern audiences.
The Internet has been understudied as a political and cultural formation, Stephanie Ricker Schulte argues in her new book, Cached: Decoding the Internet in Global Popular Culture.
Prof. Faith Wallis is a medical historian at McGill who has discovered and translated (from Latin) the earliest medieval recipe book. It is dated around 1140, 150 years earlier than previous known example of this kind of manuscript.
The first cartographic works to delineate Georgia and the first rendering of the state on a wall map scale are among a comprehensive collection of the early maps of Georgia that a supporter is donating to Columbus State University.
When renowned explorer Richard E. Byrd returned from the first-ever flight to the North Pole in 1926, he sparked a controversy that remains today: Did he actually reach the pole? By studying Byrd's navigation techniques, a researcher at The Ohio State University has determined that Byrd indeed neared the Pole, but likely only flew within 80 miles of it before turning back.
In his new book, historian Randall Woods describes William Colby, who spent decades in the CIA, the "anti-James Bond." But beneath that unassuming persona was a man who held lives in his hands.
In the early days of baseball more than 125 years ago, fun at the ballyard was a sure bet – quite literally. Players, fans and perhaps even umpires gambled on every aspect of the game and that’s usually how most players made any money, says a Texas A&M University professor.
Las Vegas is appealing to average people around the world because it represents an escape from the mundane, everyday cares everyone faces, says Missouri University of Science and Technology historian Larry Gragg in his latest book.
New book coauthored by American University professors reveals Roosevelt’s true strengths, failings.
Popular course at American University in Washington, D.C., underscores resurrection of Russian studies.
Pulitzer Prize-nominee Michael Shelden's latest book follows the life of Winston Churchill from 1901 to 1915.
The myth of altruism and generosity surrounding Mother Teresa is dispelled in a paper by Serge Larivée and Genevieve Chenard of University of Montreal’s Department of Psychoeducation and Carole Sénéchal of the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Education.
One of literature’s oldest mysteries is a step closer to being solved. A new study dates Homer's The Iliad to 762 BCE and adds a quantitative means of testing ideas about history by analyzing the evolution of language.
University of Adelaide researchers have provided new evidence on the long-debated authorship of two famous texts – the US Federalist Papers and the Letter to the Hebrews in the New Testament.
Looking to perk up your home this winter by redecorating? This Smithsonian Snapshot offers design inspiration from mid-19th century family photos, tintypes and Victorian parlor collages on view in “Pictures in the Parlor” at the Smithsonian American Art Museum through June.
Hundreds of thousands of ancient artifacts, chronicling 12 thousand years of human history, will be housed at a new centre designed to solve a problem which has troubled researchers for decades: how to track and preserve vast collections.
While digitizing letters of immortal lovers/Victorian poets Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, a graduate student discovered a connection between the real-world Robert Browning and the immensely popular TV show "Downton Abbey."
Earlier this week, a team of historians and archaeologists concluded on the basis of DNA and other evidence that skeletal remains found underneath a parking lot in England last fall were those of King Richard III, who died in 1485. Indiana University has several faculty experts who are available to comment on the discovery's impact on the long-dead king's place in history, his depiction by Shakespeare and the effect on actors.
While undistinguished as a West Point cadet, Civil War General Ulysses S. Grant demonstrated an uncommon drive that characterized his later leadership characteristics, according to the newly released book "The Leadership of Ulysses S. Grant: A General Who Will Fight."
This Smithsonian Snapshot celebrates Black History Month with the 1960 Greensboro, N.C. Lunch Counter from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
The reasoning behind getting religious-themed tattoos is strikingly similar to a 100-year-old theory about how the Protestant work ethic powered the Industrial Revolution.
As the U.S. prepares to celebrate the 57th presidential inauguration, here is a peek into the evening of President Abraham Lincoln’s 1865 inauguration celebration. This Smithsonian Snapshot marks Inauguration Day with an original 1865 invitation to President Lincoln’s National Inauguration Ball.
Gettysburg College Africana Studies and History Prof. considers African Americans' struggles and progress over the past 150 years, including the promises and hopes of Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr.
It is the busiest time of year for shopping. Here is a little food for thought while filling your carts this holiday season. This Smithsonian Snapshot marks the opening of “Food: Transforming the American Table 1950–2000” at the National Museum of American History with these 1949 telescoping shopping carts.
Details of a little-known French proposal to invade the young British colony in Sydney Cove, Australia, will be published in English for the first time, as part of University of Adelaide research into the 1800-1804 Nicolas Baudin expedition.
The Atomic Age began at 3:25 p.m. on Dec. 2, 1942—quietly, in secrecy, on a squash court under the west stands of old Stagg Field at the University of Chicago.
A historian at the University of South Carolina worked with Rose Styron, the widow of William Styron, to publish the author's literary letters.
“The Indian School on Magnolia Avenue: Voices and Images from Sherman Institute,” written and edited by historians connected to the University of California, Riverside, tells the history of an Indian boarding school in Southern California.
Smithsonian Snapshot celebrates the Thanksgiving season with this 1905 Thanksgiving menu by George Elbert Burr from the Smithsonian American Art Museum. In the early 20th century, Burr worked as an illustrator for several magazines including Harper's, Cosmopolitan and Frank Leslie's Weekly Newspaper, the same newspaper in which Winslow Homer provided illustrations. In 1905, Burr created this menu for a Thanksgiving dinner that included mashed potatoes, English plum pudding, Charlotte Russe dessert and of course, the turkey, illustrated here in a simple pen, ink and watercolor drawing.
This Smithsonian Snapshot celebrates Halloween with this 1889 scientific illustration of a vampire squid from Smithsonian Libraries. Its jet-black skin, the caped appearance of the webbing between its arms and eyes that appear red under some light conditions are what gave the vampire squid its name.
Featuring more than 200 examples of the century’s best political art, a new history of health care reform provides an entertaining review of 100 years of partisan wrangling over medical insurance.
As Barack Obama and Mitt Romney prepare to square off in a series of presidential debates, the candidates and their running mates could go medieval on their opponents by using a rhetorical technique that dates back to Nordic and Germanic legends of the Middle Ages, says a scholar of medieval literature at Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T).
President Abraham Lincoln issued the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation 150 years ago this Saturday. Indiana University faculty experts are available to discuss the historical context and impact of the proclamation.
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