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

Kayla Randall

The George Inn in the village of Norton St. Philip in Somerset has been crowned the oldest pub in England.

Smart News

Where Is England’s Oldest Pub? An Archaeologist Drilled Into 600-Year-Old Timbers to Answer the Contentious Question

October 30, 2026 11:57 a.m.

Smart News

Crafted From Bone, This 2,800-Year-Old Flute Unearthed in Troy May Have Been Played Around the Time That Homer Composed ‘The Iliad’ and ‘The Odyssey’

October 30, 2026 4:20 p.m.

A Dog Left a Paw Print on This Mud Brick 4,000 Years Ago. Archaeologists Discovered It in the Rubble of a Bronze Age House

October 30, 2026 4:07 p.m.

Madagascar’s Giant Bats Seem to Be Shrinking. After Measuring 121 Specimens, Scientists Suggest Hunting by Humans Is to Blame

October 30, 2026 3:13 p.m.

This Rosy Stone Spotted in the Sahara Turned Out to Be a 4.1-Billion-Year-Old Meteorite From Mars, One of the Oldest Ever Found

October 30, 2026 2:42 p.m.

Manga Are Black, White and Read All Over. Treasures of the Globally Popular Japanese Comic Book Medium Are on View in New York

October 30, 2026 2:34 p.m.

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Latest Features

At the Smithsonian

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

October 30, 2026 2:05 p.m.

At the Smithsonian

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

October 30, 2026 11:20 a.m.

The green gas emanating from this small jack-o’-lantern alludes to the spread of Covid-19. Fittingly, the photographer’s subject dons a beaked mask based on the ones worn by physicians treating bubonic plague victims in 17th-century Europe.

Arts & Culture

Treat Yourself to 20 Eerie Images Celebrating Halloween, From Pet Costumes to Mysterious Illusions to Spooky Shadows

Updated: October 30, 2026 10:05 a.m. | Originally Published: October 30, 2023

Pan de muerto is an orange-scented sweet bread traditionally prepared and eaten during Día de los Muertos, a Mexican holiday celebrated each year from October 31 to November 2.

Travel

Mexico’s Bread of the Dead Kneads Together Indigenous and Catholic Traditions

October 30, 2026 8:00 a.m.

Scientists have made some headway in understanding what lends blood its varied shades.

Science

The Bloody Palette of the Animal Kingdom Goes Far Beyond Red. These Creatures Have Blood That Runs a Chilling Blue, Bright Green or Milky White

October 30, 2026 7:30 a.m.

This relief on a fourth-century sarcophagus from Gaul depicts scenes from the Bible, including the famous miracle of Christ multiplying the loaves (center).

Arts & Culture

A Cult Grew Around the First Emperor of Rome in 27 B.C. A New Book Argues His Followers Might Have Created the Template for Christianity

November 2026

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

Give a Gift Renew

November 2026

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

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

Most Popular

Science

An Italian Farmer Found Some Unknown Seeds in His Attic and, With Nothing to Lose, Planted Them. The Result Was Almost Biblical

History

Archaeologists at This Ancient Maya Metropolis in the Forest of Belize Are Debunking Long-Held Myths About the Mesoamerican Civilization

Smart News

Divers Recover a Mysterious Cauldron That Had Been Hiding at the Bottom of an English River for Hundreds of Years

History

The Hessians Were Supposed to Quickly End the American Revolution. Instead, They Endured Years of Battles and Suffered Thousands of Casualties

Arts & Culture

A Cult Grew Around the First Emperor of Rome in 27 B.C. A New Book Argues His Followers Might Have Created the Template for Christianity

Special Report

America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

A Smithsonian magazine special issue in celebration of the nation's 250th

View Full Report

Featured Stories

Arts & Culture

Georgia O’Keeffe Ignored Advice to Mimic Great European Masters. Her Goal Instead Was to Be a Great American Painter

O’Keeffe’s New Mexico studio Ghost Ranch. Opposite, a 1918 photo portrait by future husband Alfred Stieglitz.

History

Born in 1810, Margaret Fuller Was Labeled a Child Prodigy. She Later Used Her Intellect to Ask Important Questions About Women’s Role in America

A portrait of Fuller, inspired by her 1845 Woman in the Nineteenth Century, which argued for equality of the sexes. The book’s opening illustration featured mystical symbols of harmonizing opposites, including the Ouroboros, a snake eating its own tail.

History

The American Revolution’s Overlooked Influence? Physics. How ‘Common Sense’ Spelled Out Astronomical Expectations for a New Nation

After Isaac Newton, above, revolutionized celestial mechanics, admirers such as Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and Paine, left, saw in Newton’s natural laws a model for democratic self-government.

Photo of the Day

Pumpkins are a symbol of harvest and happiness. They are part of our American traditions of Halloween and our first Thanksgiving in 1621.

Hundreds of Pumpkins In a Farmer’s Field

By Elizabeth Szabo

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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.

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Latest Episodes

The Remarkable, Amazing Stories of Route 66 Reflect the Twists and Turns of 100 Years of Americana

April 23, 2026 | 34 minutes

A Photographer’s Glimpse Into the Dwindling World of the Cascade Red Fox

April 9, 2026 | 32 minutes

The Real Story Behind Abigail Adams’ ‘Remember the Ladies’ Letter

March 26, 2026 | 31 minutes

Venomous Snakes Represent a Serious Public Health Problem. Scientists Are Biting Back With a Groundbreaking Antidote

March 12, 2026 | 28 minutes

History

Researchers found the bone flute in an archaeological layer of Troy that dates to the eighth century B.C.E.

Crafted From Bone, This 2,800-Year-Old Flute Unearthed in Troy May Have Been Played Around the Time That Homer Composed ‘The Iliad’ and ‘The Odyssey’

After more than 150 years of excavations, the object is the first musical instrument ever discovered in the ruins of the ancient city, which is located in modern-day Turkey

October 30, 2026 4:20 p.m.

A Dog Left a Paw Print on This Mud Brick 4,000 Years Ago. Archaeologists Discovered It in the Rubble of a Bronze Age House

October 30, 2026 4:07 p.m.

Did Women and Children Collaborate With Male Artisans to Create China’s Terra-Cotta Army? Fingerprints Left on the 2,000-Year-Old Clay Warriors May Hold the Answer

October 28, 2026

More History

Science

The Bloody Palette of the Animal Kingdom Goes Far Beyond Red. These Creatures Have Blood That Runs a Chilling Blue, Bright Green or Milky White

The hemoglobin in humans’ blood is not the standard for all critters—and one group of Antarctic fish are the only vertebrates to not have red blood cells at all

October 30, 2026 7:30 a.m.

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

October 29, 2026

Bats Thrive in a Messy, Noisy World. These Four Discoveries Reveal How They Can Listen and Chatter Through the Din

October 27, 2026

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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

Design student Sneha Rao is developing Tact, an edible pregnancy test that allows people with vision impairment to feel its results on their tongues

October 6, 2026

The Humble History of the Bedpan

September 24, 2026

This Brain Implant Allows People With Paralysis to Speak and Gesture at the Same Time Via a Mind-Controlled Virtual Avatar

October 6, 2026

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Travel

Mexico’s Bread of the Dead Kneads Together Indigenous and Catholic Traditions

Pan de Muerto, a Mexican sweet bread eaten for Día de los Muertos, is more than just a festive treat. Its history mirrors the holiday itself, a combination of cultures that breathes life back into the dead

October 30, 2026 8:00 a.m.

How a Bunch of Broke Teachers Created a Hot New Way to Vacation

October 19, 2026

Seven Places in Europe That Legends Say Were Built by Giants, Devils or Dragons

September 25, 2026

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Arts & Culture