Author: Reporter

With its brutality, technological accomplishments and rigid ideology, the Soviet Union loomed over the world like an immortal colossus. It led humankind into outer space, exploded the most powerful nuclear weapon ever, and inflicted bloody purges and cruel labor camps on its own citizens while portraying itself as the vanguard of enlightened revolution. But its lifespan was less than the average human’s. Born 100 years ago, it died days short of its 69th birthday. The Soviet Union both inspired loyalty and provoked dismay among its 285 million citizens. The dichotomy was summarized by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who served...

One tarnished silver coin at a time, the ground is yielding new evidence that in the late 1600s, one of the world’s most ruthless pirates wandered the American colonies with impunity. Newly surfaced documents also strengthen the case that English buccaneer Henry Every, the target of the first worldwide manhunt, hid out in New England before sailing for Ireland and vanishing into the wind. “At this point, the amount of evidence is overwhelming and indisputable,” said historian and metal detectorist Jim Bailey, who has devoted years to solving the mystery. “Every was undoubtedly on the run in the colonies.”...

The debate over who owns ancient artifacts has been an increasing challenge to museums across Europe and America, and the spotlight has fallen on the most visited piece in the British Museum: The Rosetta Stone. The inscriptions on the dark grey granite slab became the seminal breakthrough in deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics after it was taken from Egypt by forces of the British empire in 1801. Now, as Britain’s largest museum marks the 200-year anniversary of the decipherment of hieroglyphics, thousands of Egyptians are demanding the stone’s return. “The British Museum’s holding of the stone is a symbol of...