Mike Dash

2 months ago | smithsonianmag.com | Mike Dash |Meilan Solly

History | The discovery of a body on Somerton Beach in 1948 sparked theories that the dead man, now believed to be Carl Webb, was a Soviet spy, a ballet dancer or a jilted lover Around 7 p.m. on the warm evening of November 30, 1948, jeweler John Bain Lyons and his wife went for a stroll on Somerton Beach, a seaside resort a few miles south of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia.

Oct 2, 2024 | smithsonianmag.com | Mike Dash |Ellen Wexler

Siberian summers do not last long. The snows linger into May, and the cold weather returns again during September, freezing the taiga into a still life awesome in its desolation: endless miles of straggly pine and birch forests scattered with sleeping bears and hungry wolves; steep-sided mountains; white-water rivers that pour in torrents through the valleys; thousands of miles of icy bogs. This forest is one of the last and greatest of Earth’s wildernesses.

Oct 2, 2024 | flipboard.com | Mike Dash |Ellen Wexler

Johannes Vermeer's "Girl With The Pearl Earring" is one of the world's most popular paintings—and now scientists believe they know why, by measuring …

Aug 17, 2024 | mikedashhistory.com | Mike Dash

At a quarter to nine on the evening of February 17, 1864, Officer of the Deck John Crosbyglanced over the side of the Federal sloop-of-war Housatonic and across the glassy waters of a calm Atlantic. His ship was on active duty, blockading the rebel port of Charleston from an anchorage five miles off the coast, and there was always the risk of a surprise attack by some Confederate small craft.