The Château de Montal's early Renaissance style marked a transition from the medieval fortresses that dot a landscape so keenly fought over by the English and French during the Hundred Years’ War.

How a Little-Known French Region Safeguarded the Louvre’s Treasures During World War II

More than 3,000 artworks from national museums were stowed in chateaus in the Lot—about 350 miles south of Paris

Chrissie McClatchie

Smart News

This Scientist Brewed and Drank His Own ‘Vaccine Beer’ to Combat a Dangerous Virus. It Seems to Have Worked

February 10, 2026

Smart News

Have We Reached the Final Days of the Mass-Market Paperback?

February 11, 2026 1:42 p.m.

A Gray Wolf Visited Los Angeles County for the First Time in a Century, Marking a Major Milestone in the Species’ Recovery

February 11, 2026 12:00 p.m.

The U.S.’s Only Particle Collider Recreated Moments From the Early Universe. Now, It Has Closed—to Make Way for a New Instrument

February 11, 2026 11:38 a.m.

Archaeologists Say They’ve Identified Traces of a 2,000-Year-Old Love Note Still Etched Into a Wall in Ancient Pompeii

February 11, 2026 10:06 a.m.

Your Daily Coffee Might Be Protecting Your Brain From Dementia, a New Study Suggests

February 11, 2026 10:00 a.m.

More Smart News

Latest Features

Paleontologists have found early examples of theropods, the group that would eventually include tyrannosaurs. But precisely how another group of dinosaurs, known as the bird-hipped ornithischians, evolved remains a major question in paleontology.

Science

An Asteroid Ended the Age of the Dinosaurs. But How Did Their Reign Begin? Mysterious Early Reptiles May Hold the Answer

February 11, 2026 10:10 a.m.

Travel

How a Little-Known French Region Safeguarded the Louvre’s Treasures During World War II

February 10, 2026

“If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated,” wrote Carter G. Woodson in a 1926 essay.

At the Smithsonian

A White Historian Claimed That Black People ‘Had No History.’ This Trailblazing Scholar Dedicated His Life to Proving Otherwise

February 10, 2026

Scientists found that fringe-lipped bats have a roughly 50 percent success rate when trying to capture prey.

Science

These Lazy Bats Are Super-Efficient Killers That Carefully Conserve Energy to Attack at a Moment’s Notice

February 9, 2026

Clockwise from top left: John Quincy Adams, William Henry Harrison, James K. Polk, Abraham Lincoln, Jimmy Carter, Herbert Hoover, James A. Garfield and Ulysses S. Grant

History

One Was a Teenage Diplomat. Another Was a Nuclear Engineer. Here’s How Eight Presidents Made Their Mark Outside of the White House

February 9, 2026

For their scale, these microbes are faster and more resilient than any human athlete.

Science

If Microbes Entered the Olympics, These One-Celled Superstars Would Win Gold

February 6, 2026

Uncovering the past. Understanding the present. Informing the future.

Give a Gift Renew

January/February 2026

History The Haunting of Young George Washington

New evidence helps resolve enduring mysteries about a 1758 incident that nearly cost the future president his life—and shaped his views on the battles yet to come

OPENER - Southern rockhoppers fearlessly approach the camera at Murrell Farm in the Falklands. The birds’ features include their spiky crests, which resemble wild eyebrows.

Science Penguins With Attitude

A visit to the Falkland Islands, where the fearless seabirds navigate the rugged topography with tenacious spunk, shows the new challenges they face

Science Back to the Future

Scheduled to launch in early 2026, NASA’s Artemis 2 is part of the bold 21st-century vision for returning astronauts to the lunar surface

Most Popular

History

One Was a Teenage Diplomat. Another Was a Nuclear Engineer. Here’s How Eight Presidents Made Their Mark Outside of the White House

Smart News

Scientists Say That Jupiter—the Solar System’s Largest Planet—Might Be Slightly Smaller Than Previously Thought

Smart News

This Massive Hillside Figure Has Mystified Historians for Centuries. Now, Donations Have Secured the Surrounding Landscape

Smart News

This Carved, Painted Zapotec Tomb Is Mexico’s Most Important Archaeological Discovery in a Decade

Smart News

This Scientist Brewed and Drank His Own ‘Vaccine Beer’ to Combat a Dangerous Virus. It Seems to Have Worked

Special Report

Coastal Cities of Europe

Explore the history, culture and natural wonders of the continent's most celebrated ports

View Full Report

Featured Stories

Travel

Can Venice’s Iconic Crab Dish Survive Climate Change?

Crabs not yet at the molting stage are thrown back into the Venice lagoon.

History

Go Behind the Scenes at an Iconic Irish Library as Staff Move 700,000 Historical Treasures Into Storage

A bust of Plato in the Long Room at Trinity College Dublin

Travel

See Greece in All Its Gorgeous Glory

Brightly colored homes line the caldera in Santorini, a contrast to much of the blue-and-white motif.

Made Possible Through the Support of

Photo of the Day

Tandem Lemurs

By Cathleen Steele

Get the Photo of the Day directly to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter.

Sign Up

Podcast

Smithsonian Podcast: There’s More to That

Smithsonian magazine covers history, science and culture in the way only it can — through a lens on the world that is insightful and grounded in richly reported stories. In There’s More to That, meet the magazine’s journalists and hear how they discover the forces behind the biggest issues of our time.

Listen In

Latest Episodes

A Stunning Escape From Slavery Told on Tattered Pages

January 29, 2026 | 29 minutes

The Foods and Flavors That Make Our Holidays Delicious

December 18, 2025 | 33 minutes

The Astronomical Problem of Space Junk

December 4, 2025 | 26 minutes

Why Are There So Many Shipwrecks in the Great Lakes?

November 20, 2025 | 32 minutes

History

A White Historian Claimed That Black People ‘Had No History.’ This Trailblazing Scholar Dedicated His Life to Proving Otherwise

Carter G. Woodson, the “father of Black history,” founded the celebration now known as Black History Month in 1926. A prolific writer and activist, he viewed his efforts to educate the public as a “life-and-death struggle”

February 10, 2026