Smithsonian Magazine: Explore History, Science, Arts & Culture

After a trolley conductor accused Alice Stebbins Wells of using her husband's police badge to avoid paying for public transit, the Los Angeles Police Department allowed her to wear a more feminine uniform of her own design, along with a special “Policewoman’s Badge No. 1.”

Armed With Just a Badge, Los Angeles' First Policewoman Protected the City's Most Vulnerable in the Early 20th Century

Appointed in 1910, Alice Stebbins Wells patrolled dance halls, skating rinks, penny arcades and movie theaters, keeping these public spaces free of vice and immorality

Completed in 2011, the Stuttgart City Library is one of the country’s most photographed locations.

Discover These 15 Enchanting Libraries Sure to Thrill Any Book Lover

Smart News

Archaeologists Unearth 1,600-Year-Old Jewish Ritual Bath—the Oldest Ever Found in Europe

March 14, 2025 4:39 p.m.

Check Out These Rare Images of Deimos, One of Mars' Mysterious Moons

March 14, 2025

Researchers Unearth Oldest Known Human Facial Bones Ever Found in Western Europe

March 14, 2025

How the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra Performs Music Using Carrots, Turnips, Radishes and Pumpkins

March 14, 2025

From a Guitar Shark to an Octocoral, Scientists Discover More Than 800 Marine Species

March 14, 2025

Historic Century-Old Shipwreck Discovered 600 Feet Beneath the Surface of Lake Superior

March 14, 2025

Latest Features

The statue Brooklyn by Daniel Chester French being hoisted at the Brooklyn Museum in 1964

Over the Last 200 Years, a Small Library Became One of New York City’s Biggest Museums. A New Showcase Tells the Story of Its Unique Legacy

March 14, 2025

Completed in 2011, the Stuttgart City Library is one of the country’s most photographed locations.

Discover These 15 Enchanting Libraries Sure to Thrill Any Book Lover

March 14, 2025

During conversations, interjections act as vital traffic signals.

Huh? Interjections Are Critically Important to Communication

March 14, 2025

Vietnam’s Hien Luong pedestrian bridge across the Ben Hai River is located along the 17th parallel, the former demarcation line between North and South Vietnam.

Former and Active DMZs Allow Visitors to Learn the Haunting History of These Landscapes

March 13, 2025

After a trolley conductor accused Alice Stebbins Wells of using her husband's police badge to avoid paying for public transit, the Los Angeles Police Department allowed her to wear a more feminine uniform of her own design, along with a special “Policewoman’s Badge No. 1.”

Armed With Just a Badge, Los Angeles' First Policewoman Protected the City's Most Vulnerable in the Early 20th Century

March 13, 2025

Reno’s downtown, where paved surfaces gather heat and buildings block cooling breezes, can feel stifling on a hot summer day.

Citizen Scientists Are Hitting the Streets of the Country's Fastest-Warming Cities to Collect Detailed Temperature Data

March 12, 2025

Before taking samples, students carefully examined the environment.

Nine New Tardigrade Species Discovered Thanks to the Efforts of Danish Schoolchildren

March 12, 2025

Individual Antarctic krill are small, but the animals live in gigantic groups that can be seen from space.

Tiny Antarctic Krill Benefit the Planet in Big Ways, but Face a Barrage of Threats

March 11, 2025

Current Issue
March 2025

Smithsonian magazine March 2025 issue cover

Most Popular

1.

Archaeologists Unearth Ancient Clay Puppets With Open Mouths and Detachable Heads That 'Resemble Modern Toy Dolls'

The figurines were discovered in a largely unexcavated site in El Salvador. Some 2,400 years ago, they were controlled by strings that passed through their necks

2.

A Fisherman and His Son Noticed Strange Pieces of Wood on a Beach. They Turned Out to Be Fragments of a Polynesian Canoe

The boat, known as a waka, was unearthed in the Chatham Islands. Researchers say it could be one of the most significant discoveries of its kind

3.

See the New Tartan Pattern Created to Honor Women Accused of Witchcraft in Scotland Between 1563 and 1736

The black, red, gray and pink design honors the thousands of individuals—mostly women—who were persecuted under the Scottish Witchcraft Act

4.

Man Discovers Message in a Bottle Hidden Above a Historic Scottish Theater's Stage, Untouched for Nearly 120 Years

A theater patron found the glass bottle behind a decorative crown positioned 40 feet above the stage. The note was dated 1906, the year the King's Theater opened in Edinburgh

5.

Nine New Tardigrade Species Discovered Thanks to the Efforts of Danish Schoolchildren

The budding scientists collected the tiny water bears in a massive citizen science project that involved almost 30,000 participants

Special Report

A brown bear launches into a river in Katmai National Park to try and catch one of the many sockeye salmon spawning in large numbers.

Alaska

Alaska is nicknamed "The Great Land," and for good reason: it is wild, rugged and expansive. In a series of articles, Smithsonian magazine explores the history, culture and natural wonders of the 49th state.

View Full Report

Featured Stories

Alps-Style Hut-to-Hut Travel Is On Its Way to Alaska

The World’s Most Grueling Race Journeys 1,000 Miles Down the Yukon

These Students Are Part of a 75-Year Study to Map Alaska’s Glaciers

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Smithsonian Videos

Preview thumbnail for video '10 Fun Facts About Jellyfish

10 Fun Facts About Jellyfish

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The Ultimate Skywatching Guide for Every Season

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10 Enchanting Butterfly Facts Revealed!

Photo of the day

Here you see a basketball court at a local playground. A rainy, foggy day it was and
no one is out playing. I am not a fan of bouncing a basketball on a wet court.

Rainy Day On the Court

History

A statue of Clementina Rind, a trailblazing publisher and printer who took over the Virginia Gazette after her husband's death, is featured in the Virginia Women's Monument.

Newly Discovered Letters Illuminate the Life of a Female Printer Who Published Revolutionary Texts and Pushed the Colonies Toward Independence

As Virginia's first female newspaper publisher, Clementina Rind emphasized women's viewpoints and collaborated with prominent politicians like Thomas Jefferson

The president of Poland, the senior United States senator from Illinois and much of the Chicago political machine gathered beneath this painting, Pulaski at Savannah, on the first Monday in March.

Discover the Short Life and Long Legacy of Casimir Pulaski, a Polish Cavalry Officer Who Became an American Revolutionary Hero

Gertrud Eysoldt as Salome in a Berlin production of Oscar Wilde's notorious play, circa 1902

Why Oscar Wilde's Play About a Biblical Temptress Was Banned From the British Stage for Decades

Science

Before taking samples, students carefully examined the environment.

Nine New Tardigrade Species Discovered Thanks to the Efforts of Danish Schoolchildren

The budding scientists collected the tiny water bears in a massive citizen science project that involved almost 30,000 participants

Individual Antarctic krill are small, but the animals live in gigantic groups that can be seen from space.

Tiny Antarctic Krill Benefit the Planet in Big Ways, but Face a Barrage of Threats

Don’t let the placid and bland surface fool you—Uranus is a singularly dynamic planet.

The Six Most Amazing Discoveries We’ve Made by Exploring Uranus

Innovation

Current experiments are focused on tomatoes, lettuce and other small-scale crops, with hopes to extend to high-calorie crops like grains and sweet potatoes in the future.

Can Electro-Agriculture Revolutionize the Way We Grow Food?

A new technology is pushing the boundaries of farming by using electricity to grow crops without photosynthesis

None

How Text Messaging Took Over the Way We Talk

More than 40 variations are played around the world today, although the core tiles and the way the tiles are shuffled and stacked to begin the game remain the same.

The Asian Game of Mahjong, Which Creates Order Out of Chaos, Is Trending in the West

Travel

Alaska’s hardiest residents have gathered around the frozen waterfalls of Valdez—some of them up to 900 feet tall—to hone their skills, test their mettle and celebrate the state’s tight-knit ice climbing community.

Learn to Ice Climb at Alaska's Most Extreme Community Festival

For more than 40 years, Alaskans have been gathering in the tiny coastal town of Valdez to celebrate the art of climbing ice

The Hollywood sign, an American landmark and cultural icon, overlooks the area and has inspired many to make their showbiz dreams a reality.

15 Dazzling Photos That Celebrate the Sights (and Sites) of Los Angeles

In all its simplicity, the maritozzo is a soft bun filled with a hefty dollop of whipped cream, or panna as it is referred to in Italian.

Since Ancient Times, Romans Have Gifted These Cream-Filled Treats to Their Sweethearts

Arts & Culture

A view of "The Sims 4" during the EA press conference for the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) on June 9, 2014, in Los Angeles, California

'The Sims' Turned Mere Mortals Into Gods. Twenty-Five Years Later, the Addictive Computer Game Is Still Going Strong

The audience for the trailblazing life simulation game has stuck around through new editions, expansion packs and designs to keep playing

Works like Tissot's The Convalescent (1872), pictured here, reflect a sense of unease over a modernizing society that was sweeping women up in its fray.

These Stunning 19th-Century Artworks Reveal the Contradictions of the Modern Woman

Zora Neale Hurston wanted to tell the world about the "real ... historical Herod, instead of the deliberately folklore Herod."

Why Was Zora Neale Hurston So Obsessed With the Biblical Villain Herod the Great?

At the Smithsonian

This is the first image of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy, captured by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) and released in 2022.

This Comprehensive Guide Will Answer the Questions You Have About Black Holes—and Spark Some New Ones

In a new book release, two scientists combine forces to explain the discoveries, developments and theories made in the realm of the densest objects in space

A group of women sewing a quilt on the porch of a property in Georgia, May 1939

From the Antebellum South to the Civil Rights Movement, Black American Women Have Long Told Their Stories Through Quilts

A view of the exhibition “Tsedaye Makonnen—Sanctuary :: Mekdes” at the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art

These Seven Stunning Towers Memorialize Lost Black Lives With Mirrors, Light and Ethiopian Cross Designs