National Geographic History

02/11/2024

The infamous stories of body snatchers William Burke and William Hare have drawn tourists to Edinburgh for hundreds of years. From themed tours and museum exhibits to reenactments, the city's eerie history beckons those brave enough to explore its shadowy corners.

Once home to notorious serial killers William Burke and William Hare, the Scottish city reveals how they got rich from selling their victims to medical research.

02/11/2024

This is a tale of survival that transcends time ❄️ Learn the epic story of polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew in , now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.

02/11/2024

In San Bartolo Coyotepec, Oaxaca, Mexico, a potter crafts an intricately adorned clay skull with skill and artistry.

02/11/2024

Día de los Mu***os originated several thousand years ago with the Aztec, Toltec, and other Nahua people. Taking place every November 1 and 2, it's a colorful celebration of life and death with symbolic rituals and traditions like costumes, offerings, and vibrant marigolds.

Día de los Mu***os is celebrated across Mexico with skulls, skeletons, and graveside visits—but what does this beloved holiday really represent?

01/11/2024

During the Apollo 8 mission in 1968 of man's first orbit of the moon, a now-infamous picture of Earth was taken.

01/11/2024

Día de los Mu***os is a colorful celebration—where ancestors are the guests of honor. 👨‍👩‍👦 ❤️

In this Mexican cultural tradition, people pay tribute to their loved ones and celebrate their memory.

is now streaming on Disney+.

01/11/2024

From the Endurance to Agulhas II, meet the maritime vessels making the journey through the frozen Antarctic a century apart from each other.
premieres tonight at 9/8c on National Geographic TV. Streaming tomorrow on Disney+ and Hulu.

01/11/2024

Known for their fiery orange and yellow colors, marigold flowers fill Indian homes during Diwali, a festival of lights, and decorate Mexican altars to honor the deceased on Día de los Mu***os. But how did these flowers become such powerful emblems of remembrance in both cultures?

See our photographers' best images of the flowers, which abound at events as diverse as Diwali and the Day of the Dead.

01/11/2024

Between February 1692 and May 1693, nearly 200 people—mostly women—were accused of witchcraft in Salem, Massachusetts. In the centuries since, it's become a curious part of colonial American history—but how much do you actually know about the Salem Witch Trials?

Find out more: https://on.natgeo.com/3C7GehO

31/10/2024

"Trick or treat!" conjures up images of costumed children running from house to house in suburbia, collecting treats from their neighbors—but Halloween has much more ancient roots. Originating with the Celtic celebration of Samhain, here’s how trick-or-treating evolved.

Children dressing in costumes and going door-to-door for treats is a relatively modern tradition—but its origins can be traced to the Celts and even a long-lost Christmas tradition.

31/10/2024

Vlad III Basarab—better known as Vlad the Impaler, and the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula—was a Romanian prince with a bloodthirsty reputation. Follow as National Geographic Explorer Paolo Verzone attempts to separate fact from fiction.

31/10/2024

Finding the Endurance won't be easy, but this discovery is worth the work.

Follow in the footsteps of Sir Ernest Shackleton in , premiering tomorrow at 9/8c on National Geographic TV. Streaming soon on Disney+ and Hulu.

31/10/2024

While celebrating Diwali in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, intricate drawings made with powder are a colorful reminder of traditions passed down from generation to generation.

30/10/2024

In Belize, hundreds of caves serve as portals to Xibalba, the Mayan word for the underworld. Touring these caves is a great way to explore Maya mythology and culture, as they house extraordinary relics, including skeletons from sacrifices made to ancient death gods during times of drought, famine, and infertility.

There are hundreds of caves in Belize that served as portals to what the Maya called Xibalba—home to ancient death gods, rituals, and extraordinary relics left behind.

30/10/2024

Like generations of stargazers that came before, the magnificent Mauna Kea observatory stands sentry as it watches the night sky.

30/10/2024

Across Asia, Buddhist "hell parks" take visitors past dioramas and gruesome statues of the lowest Buddhist realm of existence. Though some tourists might come to these parks for fun, these portrayals of the afterlife reveal deep-rooted spiritual perspectives on death in Asian cultures.

Found across Asia, these popular theme parks began as temple gardens that warned visitors of Buddhism’s many levels of hell—and the gruesome fates that awaited them there.

29/10/2024

Do you know the origins of Halloween? It’s thought to have its roots in the Samhain festival, the time when the invisible boundary between the living world and the underworld vanished. Long before Irish immigrants brought it to America, Samhain was born at the Oweynagat cave in Rathcroghan, a rock formation once believed to be a gateway to the demon-filled underworld.

Go in search of the ancient royal capital that spawned our favorite night of the dead.

29/10/2024

Do you find your local lake eerie? If it’s ever been featured in one of Geo Rutherford’s viral TikTok videos, chances are—it could be "haunted."

From mummified creatures to shipwrecks and geologic oddities, read about the five most spine-chilling lakes in the world—and the science behind what haunts them here: https://on.natgeo.com/3Afv0r2

29/10/2024

So your ex ghosted you... but did they actively try to erase your memory from history forever? For some rulers of ancient Egypt, such as Nefertiti and Akhenaten, that was to be their sad fate.

Learn all about Hatshepsut, another pharaoh whose likeness was chiseled away from history, at https://on.natgeo.com/40mwDO8

28/10/2024

From bloodthirsty fiends to reanimated corpses, spine-chilling stories of vampires, zombies, werewolves, and other frights have deep-rooted histories across a variety of cultures.

Tales of the undead and other frights are found throughout history. But where did these stories come from?

28/10/2024

Where it all began—the first National Geographic Magazine published all the way back in October 1888.

28/10/2024

When we travel, the destination is less important than the feeling we get when we're there—and the stories we bring back home. The experience itself is the most valuable souvenir.

From summiting a volcano in Guatemala to remarkably intact Roman ruins in Tunisia, our world is home to some truly remarkable locations.

Developed by Nat Geo’s team of experts and editors around the globe, our Best of the World 2025 guide features must-go destinations for traveling more meaningfully.

Discover our top picks for Best of the World 2025 at https://on.natgeo.com/3Ai0fBS

27/10/2024

Astronaut Robert E. McNair took shooting for the stars to a whole new level when he doubled as the 'director' to test special motion picture photography aboard the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Challenger in 1984.

is now streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.

27/10/2024

Meet Gef, the so-called talking mongoose. Amid the turmoil of the 1930s, this witty, talkative, and multilingual mongoose captured the public's imagination with its curious conversations with the Irving family. Despite several investigations, the mystery of whether Gef was real remains unsolved—was he a poltergeist, a collective hallucination, or simply a hoax?

Witty, talkative, and multilingual—the bizarre story of Gef the talking mongoose may have been the early 20th century’s antidote to bad news.

27/10/2024

Mummification in ancient Egypt was more than a royal privilege. Recent excavations in Saqqara show that as early as the Old Kingdom (2686-2160 B.C.) priests and other high society sought mummification. The discovery offers new insights into the ancient mummification trade and process.

This underground mortuary complex in Egypt offers surprising insights into the booming business of the afterlife.