History
Here we bring you the fascinating world of history: U.S. history; archeological, anthropological, natural, and evolutionary history; plus historical figures. To know where we are going we must first understand where we have been.
____________________________________________________________________________________
When the US Army Tried Bombing Open a Frozen River
Dave Roos – history.com
The scene in the skies over the Susquehanna River Valley on March 9, 1920, was something out of a World War I dogfight. Airplanes were still a novelty in 1920, yet a two-seater biplane circled over the Pennsylvania-Maryland border, where the Susquehanna River had been choked with ice for nearly three months.
Veterans of World War I might have recognized the plane as a de Havilland DH-4 bomber, an American-made military plane with the unfortunate nickname “The Flaming Coffin.” It was rare enough to see a U.S. Army Air Service plane in action, but nothing prepared onlookers for what happened next.
The small airplane circled the river a few times, then swung high into the slate-gray sky. Then, with the roar of its 12-cylinder Liberty engine echoing off the ice below, the plane entered a steep dive. As the plane pulled out of its nosedive, the pilot released his payload—a 112-pound bomb loaded with TNT.
The heavy bomb broke cleanly through the thick river ice and detonated with a…Read more here.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ten of the Most Exciting Ways to Commemorate America’s 250th This Year
Laura Kiniry / Smithsonian magazine
America is celebrating 250 years of independence in 2026 with a bevy of activities, events, exhibitions, concerts, performances and festivities from coast-to-coast. As one would expect, the Smithsonian Institution is joining in on the year-long celebrations. The National Portrait Gallery will host its “250th Festival: Celebrating Our Story” on February 14, with gallery tours, live music and dance performances, art-making activities, and more. The National Museum of American History will open its exhibition, “In Pursuit of Life, Liberty and Happiness,” this spring with 250 objects that tell America’s story, including President Abraham Lincoln’s top hat and a faux pearl necklace worn by Abigail Adams. Meanwhile, the renovations at Smithsonian Castle will pause and it will open to welcome public visitors from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day. Along with a café and visitor’s center, the space will feature a special exhibition, “American Aspirations,” which reflects on the nation’s history and ideals with artifacts like abolitionist Harriet Tubman’s hymnal. And the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival will expand into a larger celebration…Read more here.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Ancient Towers That Inspired the Story of the Tower of Babel
By Eva Anagnostou-Laoutides, Macquarie University and Michael B. Charles, Southern Cross University – SciTechDaily
Ziggurats were mudbrick temples designed to bridge heaven and earth, anchoring religion, power, and architecture in the ancient Near East for thousands of years.
A ziggurat (also spelled ziqqurat) was a raised structure with four sloping sides, shaped like a stepped pyramid.
These monumental buildings were widespread in ancient Mesopotamia, roughly corresponding to modern-day Iraq, from about 4,000 to 500 BCE.
Unlike the pyramids of Egypt, ziggurats were not used as royal tombs. Instead, they functioned as temples devoted to the patron god of a city.
How were they made?: Because stone was scarce in Mesopotamia, builders relied primarily on sun-dried mudbricks. These bricks were often coated with limestone and bitumen (a sticky…Read more here.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
These 160,000-Year-Old Tools Are Rewriting Human History
By Griffith University – SciTechDaily
Ancient tools from central China are flipping the script, revealing early humans were far more innovative than history once gave them credit for.
Archaeologists working at a newly excavated site in central China are changing long-standing ideas about how early hominins lived and adapted in East Asia. The discoveries suggest these ancient populations were far more capable and inventive than researchers once believed.
An international research team led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences carried out excavations at Xigou, located in the Danjiangkou Reservoir Region of central China. At the site, scientists uncovered evidence of advanced stone tool technologies dating from about 160,000 to 72,000 years ago.
The work, co-led by Griffith University, shows that hominins living in this…Read more here.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
