Time
The past, present and future divided into geologic and historic eras, significant historic and cultural events, and centuries and decadesDiscover Smithsonian articles as they relate to the past, present and future.
Watch Out: This Year’s Fire Season Will Be Another Bad One for the West
A warm, dry winter has set the stage for another bad year of forest fires in the western U.S.
May 14, 2013 |
By Colin Schultz
Police Could Soon Get Their Hands on the U.S. Military’s ‘Pain Ray’
This high frequency microwave weapon makes you feel like your skin is burning, but leaves no scars
May 14, 2013 |
By Colin Schultz
Buried Pig Bodies Help Scientists Refine Search Methods for Mass Graves
Currently, the science of detecting mass graves is hit or miss, though the remains of thousands of missing persons may be stashed in clandestine graves
May 14, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Mayan Pyramid Destroyed to Get Rocks for Road Project
The construction company building the road appears to have extracted crushed rocks from the pyramid to use as road fill
May 14, 2013 |
By Rose Eveleth
Scientists Map Britain’s Most Famous Underwater City
Researchers have created a 3D visualization of Dunwich using acoustic imaging
May 13, 2013 |
By Rose Eveleth
The Great(est) Gatsby Playlist
Baz Luhrmann may have his take, but Smithsonian Folkways offers its own streaming soundtrack for the novel-turned-movie
May 10, 2013 |
By Leah Binkovitz
We’re About to Pass a Disheartening New Climate Change Milestone
We're teetering on the edge of hitting carbon dioxide levels of 400 ppm, but will that be enough to change minds and policies?
May 07, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
U.S. Gives Mongolia Its Tyrannosauras Skeleton Back
The U.S. government is returning a Tyrannosaurus skeleton to Mongolia and the Metropolitan Museum of Art is giving two statues back to Cambodia
May 07, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Seahorses Inspire New Armor Designs
The plates that line seahorse tails have to be both flexible enough to grasp and rigid enough to defend themselves from predators
May 06, 2013 |
By Rose Eveleth
One Upside to Drought: the Fewest Tornadoes in the U.S. in At Least 60 Years
No water in the air means less fuel for tornadoes
May 06, 2013 |
By Colin Schultz
You Think the NFL Has Brain Injury Problems? The Military Has it Way Worse
Thousands of soldiers return home from cobalt with traumatic brain injuries - many without even realizing it
May 06, 2013 |
By Rose Eveleth
Celebrate the Kentucky Derby With Henry Clay’s Mint Julep Recipe
Sip one of Henry Clay's very own mint juleps or spoon down a bowl of burgoo, aka roadkill soup
May 03, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
The Internet on the Battlefield Could Be Way Better
On the battlefield, having internet to communicate with one another, control objects and weapons, and calculate positions can be extremely important
May 02, 2013 |
By Rose Eveleth
Hurricane Sandy Spilled 11 Billion Gallons of Sewage
Enough sewage to fill a 41 food deep pool the size of Central Park spilled out during Hurricane Sandy
May 02, 2013 |
By Rose Eveleth
8 Famous People Who Missed the Lusitania
For one reason or another, these lucky souls never boarded the doomed ship whose sinking launched America's involvement in WWI
May 02, 2013 |
By Greg Daugherty
The History of the Short-Lived Independent Republic of Florida
For a brief period in 1810, Florida was truly a country of its own
May 2013 |
By William C. Davis
The True Story of the Battle of Bunker Hill
Nathaniel Philbrick takes on one of the Revolutionary War’s most famous and least understood battles
May 2013 |
By Tony Horwitz
Starving Settlers in Jamestown Colony Resorted to Cannibalism
New archaeological evidence and forensic analysis reveals that a 14-year-old girl was cannibalized in desperation
May 01, 2013 |
By Joseph Stromberg
How the Ford Motor Company Won a Battle and Lost Ground
Corporate violence against union organizers might have gone unrecorded—if it not for an enterprising news photographer
April 30, 2013 |
By Gilbert King
Meet the Woman Who Taste-Tested Hitler’s Dinner
Now 95, Margot Woelk is ready to share her story of life in the Wolf's Lair
April 29, 2013 |
By Colin Schultz


