Latest Stories — History & Culture

Editorial package on the History & Culture page of nationalgeographic.com

Stories: A New Discovery Offers a Glimpse into the World of the Hittites—in Their Own Words — A new cache of cuneiform tablets reveals the everyday lives of people in the Hittite Empire—from religious rituals to a princess who died in a plague.; Searching for the Black Sailors Who Perished in the Deadliest U.S. Naval Loss of WWI — More than a hundred years after the USCGC Tampa sank in the deadliest U.S. naval loss of the Great War, its discovery sheds light on eleven Black sailors who made Coast Guard history.; The Kid Who Rode Into the Canyonlands and Never Came Back — Everett Ruess, a vagabond young artist and friend of Dorothea Lange, loved America's wildest vistas. Then he vanished into them forever.; The 'Taraia Object' Isn’t Amelia Earhart’s Plane. So What Is It? — Searchers thought that an object glinting on satellite images was the missing aviator's plane. But the reality is more quotidian.; The Last Stationery Shop in France Keeping a 400-Year-Old Tradition Alive — Once used for presidents, diplomats, and luxury stationers, the centuries-old art of pendulum stamping dwindled to a single master printer before finding new life in Paris.; The Gear That Kept Ocean Maverick Sylvia Earle Afloat — The trailblazing oceanographer’s vintage diving equipment bears the marks of a lifetime of underwater discovery.; Nathaniel Philbrick's New Book Could Give You Whiplash — The best-selling historian sits down with National Geographic to talk about his fast-paced new book that places San Francisco at the center of American events.; How A Generation of Stunt Pilots Thrilled America — In the 1920s, Charles Lindbergh, Bessie Coleman, and other barnstormers took off in the Curtiss JN-4 and captivated the public with daredevil displays.; The Ancient Romans Had a Strange Ritual After Thunderstorms — Archaeologists excavating at Hadrian’s Villa outside of Rome have unearthed a marble slab dedicated to Summanus, the god of nocturnal lightning.; The Reconnaissance Plane That Helped Win Wor