This story appears in the January/February 2017 issue of National Geographic History magazine. Where do babies come from? The Aztecs’ answer to the classic child’s question was that they came ...

This story appears in the March/April 2017 issue of National Geographic History magazine. Throughout history, small states have come out of nowhere, and rapidly become great powers. This was the ...

This story appears in the March/April 2017 issue of National Geographic History magazine. During the 1700s, a European Grand Tour was a rite of passage for the sons of wealthy families.

This story appears in the January/February 2017 issue of National Geographic History magazine. Everybody may know the name “Attila the Hun,” but nobody knows where he’s buried. Finding him ...

This story appears in the January/February 2017 issue of National Geographic History magazine. Depicted on a tetradrachm, the Olympian Dionysus was the god of wine, an important part of the ...

This story appears in the November/December 2016 issue of National Geographic History magazine. Water was transported not only for drinking but also for public fountains, such as this Roman one ...

This story appears in the November/December 2016 issue of National Geographic History magazine. Discovered against the turbulent backdrop of the Cold War, the Tillya Tepe treasure is a glittering ...

This story appears in the November/December 2016 issue of National Geographic History magazine. Sparta’s enemies, when facing the intimidating Spartan forces, would see a wall of shields ...

Photograph by Werner Forman, GTRES This story appears in the January/February 2017 issue of National Geographic History magazine. Mesopotamia—“the land between two rivers”—gave birth to ...

This story appears in the January/February 2017 issue of National Geographic History magazine. Amelia Blanford Edwards was one of a stream of European travelers drawn to see the wonders of Egypt ...

This story appears in the November/December 2016 issue of National Geographic History magazine. A legend from the Andes tells the tale of Kuka, a woman of such extraor dinary beauty that none in ...

This story appears in the August 2015 issue of National Geographic magazine. Not every feat of ... the taxidermist at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Which is why, after years ...