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A portrait of Joan of Arc (left) and a statue of Kimpa Vita in Angola (right)

History

This African Prophet Was Burned at the Stake 320 Years Ago. Today, Kimpa Vita Is Celebrated as the ‘Kongolese Joan of Arc’

Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita believed herself to be possessed by the spirit of St. Anthony. The movement she led in the early 1700s promoted an Indigenous African form of the Christian faith

John Last

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Smithsonian magazine November 2026 issue cover
OPENER - skypalace
History The Mighty Metropolis of the Maya
Diane and Arlen Chase have spent a good portion of their lives uncovering the once-great city of Caracol. Their groundbreaking research is rewriting everything we thought we knew about the Maya
OPENER Thomas Jefferson Illustration by Chloe Niclas
At the Smithsonian Untangling an American Mystery
A lock of hair, advances in genetic science and a community of descendants all contributed to solving an American mystery
The Evening Star
Arts & Culture The Skywatchers
Researchers study paintings and literature to uncover untold history of the works, sometimes finding themselves trying to discern celestial bodies from dust
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Photo of the Day

I was walking towards Mont Saint-Michel, looking for something different to photograph. Herds of sheep are not uncommon in the area, but this morning they were moving towards the Abbey kind of forming a line, when the last one stopped and looked back at me, as if posing for the picture.

The Sheep and the Abbey

By Luis Andre Sampaio

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History

A portrait of Joan of Arc (left) and a statue of Kimpa Vita in Angola (right)

This African Prophet Was Burned at the Stake 320 Years Ago. Today, Kimpa Vita Is Celebrated as the ‘Kongolese Joan of Arc’

Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita believed herself to be possessed by the spirit of St. Anthony. The movement she led in the early 1700s promoted an Indigenous African form of the Christian faith

The Real Story Behind the 504 Sit-In for Disability Rights, the Longest Peaceful Occupation of a Federal Building in American History

Archaeologists in Scotland Discovered the Skeleton of a Roman-Era Man Who Was Decapitated Nearly 2,000 Years Ago. Now, You Can See What He Might Have Looked Like During His Lifetime

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Science

In Cretaceous Brazil, a prehistoric mammal the size of a cougar or a large dog left telltale tracks on sand dunes.

Fossil Footprints in Brazil Hint at a Cougar-Size Mammal That Walked Among Dinosaurs. It’s Another Sign That Some Early Beasts Grew to Impressive Sizes After All

Don’t think of all Mesozoic mammals as meek and tiny—alongside the terrible lizards, some were giants in their own right

The Four-Color Theorem Has Haunted Mathematicians for Decades. It Just Got a Rare New Proof, but Some Still Long for a Simpler Solution

The World’s Newest Carnivorous Plant Is a Red Sundew That ‘Death Hugs’ Its Insect Prey. Its Survival Depends on a Rare and Disappearing Florida Habitat

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Innovation

The user, if pregnant, will feel raised bumps on both sides of the flat lollipop—a reaction to hCG, a hormone that the body produces during pregnancy.

This Lollipop Could Help Blind Women Independently Detect Pregnancy

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The Humble History of the Bedpan

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Travel

“It’s a national treasure,” says Sara Brown Aicher, a retired U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service biologist who spent 31 years at the refuge. “It is one of the last places like it.”

America’s Newest UNESCO World Heritage Site Is a Swamp—and That’s Exactly Why You Should Go

Georgia’s Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is one of the world’s rarest surviving wetland ecosystems. Its new global recognition reveals why protecting this landscape matters far beyond the American South

How an Irish Backroad Tradition Is Rolling Into Small-Town America

Greece Has Its Own Pompeii, and the Ruins Tell a Captivating Story of a Sophisticated, Seafaring Bronze Age Society

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Arts & Culture

Andy Warhol poses with his beloved dachshund Archie in November 1973.

From Hunting Hounds to Modernist Muses, Dachshunds Have Done It All. See the World’s First Art Exhibition Dedicated Exclusively to the Sausage Dog

A new exhibition in Germany traces how the low-slung breed captured the imaginations of artistic heavyweights like Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol and David Hockney. The museum even lets well-behaved pups tour the galleries

For Over Four Years, the Hirshhorn Worked to Revitalize Its Sculpture Garden. Today, It’s Home to a ‘King and Queen,’ a ‘Wish Tree’ and a 55,000-Pound Vertical Swimming Pool Artwork

She Painted the First Known Self-Portrait of an Artist at Work—and Signed It—Nearly 500 Years Ago. Who Was Catharina van Hemessen?

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At the Smithsonian

King and Queen, Henry Moore, bronze, 1952-1953

For Over Four Years, the Hirshhorn Worked to Revitalize Its Sculpture Garden. Today, It’s Home to a ‘King and Queen,’ a ‘Wish Tree’ and a 55,000-Pound Vertical Swimming Pool Artwork

Newly refreshed by Japanese artist-architect Hiroshi Sugimoto, the sunken garden welcomes National Mall visitors with bronze masterpieces, contemporary stunners and a stage set for creative performances

What Can Space Offer Humanity? In Pursuit of the Answer, Astronauts Have Been Making a Home in Microgravity for Decades

At the Bodega, Customers Can Get Pork Rinds, Plantains and Just About Anything They Need. Here’s How These Stores Became a ‘Community Anchor’ of Latino Life

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