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Latest Features

Riders outside the Patee House Museum in St. Joseph, Missouri, the route's eastern terminus. Every year the National Pony Express Association conducts an annual re-ride of the famous delivery route.

TRAVEL

Six Stops on the Pony Express That You Can Still Visit

A diver swims over a bleached section of the Great Barrier Reef near Heron Island.

SCIENCE

The Planet Has Lost Half of Its Coral Reefs Since 1950

Natural disasters do not destroy buildings evenly. By studying which fall and which are left standing, engineers can develop new strategies for the future.

INNOVATION

When a Natural Disaster Hits, Structural Engineers Learn From the Destruction

A bone tool from Contrebandiers Cave likely used for making clothes out of the skin of predators.

SCIENCE

Evidence of Fur and Leather Clothing, Among World's Oldest, Found in Moroccan Cave

L’Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped (Project for Paris, Place de l’Étoile-Charles de Gaulle) is almost ready to enact its transformative magic on Paris from September 18 through October 3.

ARTS & CULTURE

The Arc de Triomphe Is Wrapped in Fabric, Just as the Late Artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude Planned It

The microCOVID project was started by a group of friends and housemates who wanted to be more equitable about safety precautions.

INNOVATION

This Calculator Estimates Your Risk of Getting Covid-19

Joshua Reynolds, Portrait of Omai, circa 1776

HISTORY

The Polynesian 'Prince' Who Took 18th-Century England by Storm

Missing Caption

Get a Ticket

Saturday, September 18, 2021

Museum Day: Free Admission to Participating Museums

Current Issue

Smithsonian magazine September 2021 issue cover

Most Popular

1.

Smart News

Saudi Arabia's Camel Site Predates Stonehenge

New research suggests the animal reliefs date to between 7,000 and 8,000 years ago

2.

Science

Evidence of Fur and Leather Clothing, Among World's Oldest, Found in Moroccan Cave

Humans likely sported clothes made of jackal, fox and wildcat skins some 120,000 years ago

3.

Smart News

Rediscovered Medieval Manuscript Offers New Twist on Arthurian Legend

The 13th-century pages, found by chance at a British library, show a different side of Merlin, the magician who advised Camelot's king

4.

Smart News

Ornate Medieval Shield Looted by the Nazis Will Be Returned to the Czech Republic

Created in the 16th century, the intricately decorated piece of armor was once owned by Archduke Franz Ferdinand

5.

Smart News

Hollowed-Out, 4,000-Year-Old Tree Trunk Coffin Discovered in Golf Course Pond

The rare Bronze Age sarcophagus contained human remains, an ax and plant bedding

Smithsonian Voices
Smithsonian Center for Folklife & Cultural Heritage

Reviving Tradition With the My Handmade Armenia Festival

National Air and Space Museum

Smithsonian's Chris Browne Was the Manager at Ronald Reagan National Airport on 9/11

National Museum of Natural History

Four Natural History Programs Streaming for Free This Month

National Museum of American History

For Some, September 11 Turned the American Dream Into a Nightmare

National Museum of American History

How the Smithsonian Preserved a Stock Certificate Destroyed on September 11

Archives of American Art

The Dorothy Liebes Papers Shine in a Dark Pandemic Year

See All

Special Report
<p>The Smithsonian's Race and Our Shared Future: Reckoning With Our Racial Past initiative centers on six pillars.</p>

Race in America

To mark the Smithsonian's multi-year initiative, Our Shared Future: Reckoning With Our Racial Past, which will confront the history and legacy of race and racism through live and virtual events, pop-up exhibitions, digital resources, and other offerings, Smithsonian magazine has compiled this collection of relevant coverage.

View Full Report

Secretary Lonnie Bunch on Why the Smithsonian Is Talking About Race

158 Resources for Understanding Systemic Racism in America

The Relationship Between Race and Wellness Has Never Been More Pressing

Missing Caption

Xiao Qi Ji's First
Birthday Collection

Hurry! Ends September 17.

Smithsonian Channel

Preview thumbnail for video 'This Ancient Egyptian Mega-Tomb Is the Largest of Its Kind

This Ancient Egyptian Mega-Tomb Is the Largest of Its Kind

Play
Preview thumbnail for video 'This Truffle Dog Is Facing a Really Challenging Truffle Hunt

This Truffle Dog Is Facing a Really Challenging Truffle Hunt

Preview thumbnail for video 'Meet the Majestic Giant Manta Ray

Meet the Majestic Giant Manta Ray

Photo of the day

A romp of otters pausing from play to show some love. Romp of Love

History

Joshua Reynolds, Portrait of Omai, circa 1776

The Polynesian 'Prince' Who Took 18th-Century England by Storm

A new nonfiction release revisits the life of Mai, the first Pacific Islander to visit Britain

Over the span of two years, Washington visited all 13 original states (14 if you count Maine, which was then part of Massachusetts), traveling on horseback and by carriage along rutted dirt roads and over rising rivers.

When George Washington Took a Road Trip to Unify the U.S.

Boats arrive at Manhattan's Battery to rescue New Yorkers from the devastation wrought by the 9/11 attacks.

On 9/11, a Flotilla of Ferries, Yachts and Tugboats Evacuated 500,000 People Away From Ground Zero

Science

A diver swims over a bleached section of the Great Barrier Reef near Heron Island.

The Planet Has Lost Half of Its Coral Reefs Since 1950

A new study finds dramatic declines in coral reef cover, biodiversity and fish abundance

A bone tool from Contrebandiers Cave likely used for making clothes out of the skin of predators.

Evidence of Fur and Leather Clothing, Among World's Oldest, Found in Moroccan Cave

The apex predator Ulughbegsaurus was much larger than the contemporaneous tyrannosaur Timurlengia.

New, Giant Carnivorous Dinosaur Was a Terror to Smaller Tyrannosaurs

Innovation

Natural disasters do not destroy buildings evenly. By studying which fall and which are left standing, engineers can develop new strategies for the future.

When a Natural Disaster Hits, Structural Engineers Learn From the Destruction

StEER engineers assess why some buildings survive hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes and tsunamis, and why others do not

The microCOVID project was started by a group of friends and housemates who wanted to be more equitable about safety precautions.

This Calculator Estimates Your Risk of Getting Covid-19

Can a machine be taught to understand the plant world?

Is This Weed-Spotting, Yield-Predicting Rover the Future of Farming?

Arts & Culture

Poet and Met Gala co-chair Amanda Gorman channeled the Statue of Liberty in this sheer blue Vera Wang dress. Her clutch, emblazoned with the phrase &quot;Give Us Your Tired,&quot; references Emma Lazarus&#39; &quot;The New Colossus,&quot; which is inscribed on a plaque at the American landmark.

Met Gala Asks What Is American Fashion—and Who Gets to Define It?

From inaugural poet Amanda Gorman to pop star Billie Eilish, here's how stars interpreted this year's theme

Mickalene Thomas, Jet Blue #25 (detail), 2021

Mickalene Thomas' Dazzling Collages Reclaim Black Women's Bodies

L&rsquo;Arc de Triomphe, Wrapped&nbsp;(Project for Paris, Place de l&rsquo;&Eacute;toile-Charles de Gaulle)&nbsp;is almost ready to enact its transformative magic on Paris from September 18 through October 3.

The Arc de Triomphe Is Wrapped in Fabric, Just as the Late Artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude Planned It

Travel

Riders outside the Patee House Museum in St. Joseph, Missouri, the route's eastern terminus. Every year the National Pony Express Association conducts an annual re-ride of the famous delivery route.

Six Stops on the Pony Express That You Can Still Visit

Established 160 years ago, the short-lived route was once the quickest way to deliver mail across the United States

The interactive map will be updated with the latest predictions in mid-September.

See When Fall Foliage Will Peak With This Interactive Map

At the foot of North Idaho&#39;s Bitterroot Mountains sits Wallace, an incredibly resilient, Old West mining town.

The 15 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2021

At the Smithsonian

Can a machine be taught to understand the plant world?

Is This Weed-Spotting, Yield-Predicting Rover the Future of Farming?

The robot, developed by Alphabet Inc.'s X, will make its public debut at the Smithsonian

“The history of racial violence is often erased and highly contested in the battle to define American memory," says the museum's director Anthea Hartig, "and this vandalized sign demonstrates the ramifications of ongoing efforts of remembrance and social justice."

Smithsonian Displays Bullet-Riddled Sign That Documented Emmett Till's Horrific Murder

Shaped mostly like a diamond, Washington, D.C. is organized by geographical divides centered on the U.S. Capitol and the White House, using mathematical principles employed by the original designer, Pierre Charles L’Enfant.

Track the Hidden Histories Lurking in the Street Names of Washington, D.C.