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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 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. Sparta’s enemies, when facing the intimidating Spartan forces, would see a wall of shields ...

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 October 2020 issue of National Geographic magazine. On a chilly January ... Maidment, a curator at the U.K.’s Natural History Museum, has come with me to tour Crystal ...

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 ...

for a limited time get a bonus issue with your National Geographic subscription! From breathtaking photography to in-depth articles, explore nature, science, history, and culture like never before.