Top 10 Nation-Building Real Estate Deals
Luck and hard bargaining contributed to the growth of the United States. But with expansion came consequences
September 07, 2009 |
By T.A. Frail
Forget Edgar Allan Poe? Nevermore!
Cities up and down the East Coast claim author Edgar Allan Poe as their own and and celebrate his 200th birthday
June 11, 2009 |
By Abigail Tucker
Ka’iulani: Hawaii’s Island Rose
In a brief life filled with loss, Princess Ka’iulani established her legacy
May 08, 2009 |
By Janet Hulstrand
Finding Feisty Fungi in Antarctica
In a place where no one believed they existed–-treeless Antartica–wood fungi are feasting on polar exploration relics
May 2009 |
By Emily Stone
How Lincoln and Darwin Shaped the Modern World
Born on the same day, Lincoln and Darwin would forever influence how people think about the modern world
February 2009 |
By Adam Gopnik
What Darwin Didn't Know
Today's scientists marvel that the 19th-century naturalist's grand vision of evolution is still the key to life
February 2009 |
By Thomas Hayden
Darwin on Lincoln and Vice Versa
Two of the world’s greatest modern thinkers are much celebrated, but what did they know of one another?
January 22, 2009 |
By Laura Helmuth, Mark Strauss and Terence Monmaney
Out of Darwin’s Shadow
Alfred Russel Wallace arrived at the theory of natural selection independently of Charles Darwin and nearly outscooped Darwin’s The Origin of Species
January 22, 2009 |
By Lyn Garrity
History of the Hysterical Man
Doctors once thought that only women suffered from hysteria, but a medical historian says that men were always just as susceptible
January 05, 2009 |
By Abigail Tucker
Van Gogh's Night Visions
For Vincent Van Gogh, fantasy and reality merged after dark in some of his most enduring paintings, as a new exhibition reminds us
January 2009 |
By Paul Trachtman
Star-Spangled Banner Back on Display
After a decade’s conservation, the flag that inspired the National Anthem returns to its place of honor on the National Mall
November 2008 |
By Robert M. Poole
Ted Sorensen on Abraham Lincoln: A Man of His Words
Kennedy advisor Ted Sorensen found that of all the U.S. presidents, Lincoln had the best speechwriter—himself
October 2008 |
By Theodore C. Sorensen
How Lincoln Bested Douglas in Their Famous Debates
The 1858 debates reframed America's argument about slavery and transformed Lincoln into a presidential contender
September 2008 |
By Fergus M. Bordewich
Lincoln-Douglas Debate Negotiations
Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas engaged in pre-debate negotiations in 1858.
September 01, 2008 |
By Smithsonian.com
Botticelli Comes Ashore
With the purchase of Botticelli’s Death of Lucretia, Isabella Stewart Gardner took American collecting in a new direction
August 12, 2008 |
By Cynthia Saltzman
Q & A: Cynthia Saltzman
The author of Old Masters, New World discusses how 19th century American collectors acquired European masterpieces and what it meant for museums and our nation.
August 12, 2008 |
By Alison McLean
John Muir's Yosemite
The father of the conservation movement found his calling on a visit to the California wilderness
July 2008 |
By Tony Perrottet
About Carleton Watkins
On the life and career of the 19th-century American landscape photographer who captured Yosemite in stereo
July 2008 |
By Bruce Hathaway
The Brink of War
One hundred fifty years ago, the U.S. Army marched into Utah prepared to battle Brigham Young and his Mormon militia
June 2008 |
By David Roberts
On the Origin of a Theory
Charles Darwin's bid for enduring fame was sparked 150 years ago by word of a rival's research
June 2008 |
By Richard Conniff
