Sailing the Early Seas with Portolan Charts
Prunes, Mateus, Chart of the Mediterranean, Black Sea, and the coasts of western Europe and northwest Africa. Mateus Prunes, anno, 1559. Library of Congress, Geography
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Break’n News History Page. As an aggregate, blog and our own news, Break’n News presents information in photos, videos, and written.
Tomorrow Night: Poet Laureate Joy Harjo’s Inaugural Reading
Tomorrow, Thursday, September 19, at 7 p.m., Joy Harjo will take the stage of the Coolidge Auditorium in the Library of Congress’s Jefferson Building for
Inside a New Effort to Change What Schools Teach About Native American History | At the Smithsonian
Students who learn anything about Native Americans are often only offered the barest minimum: re-enacting the first Thanksgiving, building a California Spanish mission out of
When the Socialist Revolution Came to Oklahoma—and Was Crushed | History
Ted Eberle, 68, a solid, rough-hewn man in a canvas vest and camouflage cap, drives the gravel back roads of southeast Oklahoma in a pickup
Women Scientists Were Written Out of History. It’s Margaret Rossiter’s Lifelong Mission to Fix That | Science
In 1969, Margaret Rossiter, then 24 years old, was one of the few women enrolled in a graduate program at Yale devoted to the history
Why Cokie Roberts Admired Dolley Madison | At the Smithsonian
When Cokie Roberts started out in journalism in the 1960s, the constant refrain she heard from men in the business was “we don’t hire women
Surreal Footage of British Life Under Nazi Occupation
It’s 1941 and the Nazis are in full control of the British island of Alderney. They begin to construct fortifications to protect their grip on
The Bahamas and the Caribbean Have Withstood Hurricanes for Centuries | History
The Bahamas were spared this past weekend when Tropical Storm Humberto’s 70 mph winds just brushed by the islands. Only two weeks earlier, they were
The Mayor and the Mob | History
William O’Dwyer was a decent man, or so many New Yorkers believed. After his first term as mayor of New York City, from 1945 to
The Rise of the Zombie Mall | History
“Who wants to sit in that desolate-looking spot?” Frank Lloyd Wright carped of the atrium inside the first enclosed shopping mall, the Southdale Center in
Here’s What’s Brewing in the New Smithsonian Beer Collections | At the Smithsonian
SMITHSONIAN.COM | Sept. 16, 2019, 2:23 p.m. Sam Calagione’s boil kettle—discolored from heavy use and topped with a repurposed kitchen pot lid, looking a bit
Tonight: “Life of a Poet” with Carmen Giménez Smith
Carmen Carmen Giménez Smith speaks during the Poetry, Publishing and Race panel discussion, October 18, 2016. Photo by Shawn Miller. We at the Poetry and
Constellations in Bronze | Worlds Revealed: Geography & Maps at The Library Of Congress
Below is an image of the constellation Perseus holding the head of Medusa, famous for her serpentine hair. This chart is from a Russian celestial
What is a Poet Laureate? Why is the Role Important?
The following guest post, part of our “Teacher’s Corner” series, is by Rebecca Newland, a Fairfax County Public Schools Librarian and former Teacher in Residence
How College Dorms Evolved to Fit America’s Gender and Racial Politics | History
The residence hall in the United States has come to mark the threshold between childhood and adulthood, housing young people during a transformational time in
Walt Whitman’s View of Railroads: To a Locomotive in Winter
Michael Sconzo The following guest post is by Michael Sconzo, an intern from the University of Virginia in the Science, Technology, and Business Division. Using
Rare Ancient DNA Provides Window Into a 5,000-Year-Old South Asian Civilization | Science
During the last few millennia B.C., beginning roughly 5,000 years ago, great civilizations prospered across Eurasia and North Africa. The ancient societies of Mesopotamia and
Why Are School Buses Yellow? | History
In a 1939 issue of American Childhood, the lyrics to the song, “The Wheels on the Bus” made its first public appearance. Songwriter Verna Hills
Laureate at the Library: Sharing the History and Realities of Field Recordings of Native American Songs and Narratives
The following guest post is by Judith Gray, coordinator of Reference Services in the Library’s American Folklife Center. This is the fifth and final post in a series
The Hard-Drinking Early Smithsonian Naturalists of the Megatherium Club | At the Smithsonian
In some respects, Washington, D.C., in the 1850s was an unlikely place to usher in a golden age of American natural history. Philadelphia and Boston