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Latest Features

Estimates of the number of Pacific Islanders captured by blackbirders and forced to work on cotton and sugar plantations in Fiji and Australia range from 61,610 to more than 100,000.

HISTORY

How 'Blackbirders' Forced Tens of Thousands of Pacific Islanders Into Slavery After the Civil War

This year's list includes Clouds in Space, The Manicurist's Daughter and The Ministry of Time.

SMART NEWS

The Best Books of 2024, as Chosen by Smithsonian Scholars

Ships float in Aasiaat’s harbor.

SCIENCE

As Greenland’s Ice Sheet Melts, an Island Town Rises

The plant-based egg substitutes available today are less than perfect. Food scientists are working hard to improve them — and, maybe, make them better tasting and more nutritious than the real thing.

INNOVATION

Scientists Are Trying to Crack the Recipe for the Perfect Plant-Based Eggs

Visitors gather at the foot of Monkey Mountain, an attraction at Frank Buck's Jungle Camp in Massapequa, New York, around 1939.

HISTORY

When 170 Wild Monkeys Escaped From a 'Jungle Camp' and Terrorized New York

The products range from programmable rovers to books that introduce the terminology of robotics and circuitry to childen.

INNOVATION

Engineers Choose the Ten Best STEM Toys to Gift in 2024

Smithsonian's picks for the best history books of 2024 include The Barn, Eden Undone and The Wide Wide Sea.

HISTORY

The Ten Best History Books of 2024

A painted lady perches on a flower.

SCIENCE

Where Do Butterflies Migrate From? Clues Can Be Found in Pollen on Their Bodies

Current Issue

Smithsonian magazine December 2024 issue cover

Most Popular

1.

Smart News

A Little Boy Found a Strange Stone on the Beach. Archaeologists Told Him It Was a Neanderthal's Hand Ax

The artifact is now on display at a museum in southern England. Experts say the find is "so rare that most qualified archaeologists would never find one themselves"

2.

Smart News

A New Subway System in Greece Is Decorated With the Artifacts Unearthed During Its Construction

An ancient marble thoroughfare and shards of classical pottery are on display in the city of Thessaloniki's new underground "archaeo-stations"

3.

History

How 'Blackbirders' Forced Tens of Thousands of Pacific Islanders Into Slavery After the Civil War

The decline of the American South's cotton and sugar industries paved the way for plantations in British-controlled Fiji and Australia, where victims of "blackbirding" endured horrific working conditions

4.

Smart News

NASA Radar Detects Abandoned Site of Secret Cold War Project in Greenland—a 'City Under the Ice'

Camp Century was built in 1959 and advertised as a U.S. research site—but it also hosted a clandestine missile facility

5.

Smart News

See Inside Notre-Dame Cathedral in These Breathtaking Images of Its Newly Unveiled Interior

The historic church was devastated by a fire in 2019. After five years of painstaking work, it's finally scheduled to reopen to the public this weekend

Smithsonian Voices
Smithsonian Books

A Brief History of Dinosaur Discoveries

National Museum of Natural History

To Bridge Heritage and Science, the Smithsonian’s Inclusive Education Programs Empower Learners Through Culture and Community

Smithsonian Books

Sweeten Your Thanksgiving Routine With Recipes From the Sweet Home Cafe Cookbook

National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

Meet the Eastern Red-Backed Salamander, A Tiny Environmental Hero

National Museum of Natural History

After 50 Years, Scientists Still Love Lucy

Smithsonian American Women's History Museum

Basket Maker Dat So La Lee’s Artistry Was a Means of Survival

See All

Special Report
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Our Sustainable Future

A hub dedicated to the latest on how global change affects life on Earth today and on what solutions scientists, including those at the Smithsonian, are researching to build a more sustainable planet

View Full Report

Featured Stories

In Miami, the Nation’s First Chief Heat Officer Charts a Course for Surviving on a Warming Planet

Inside the Effort to Save Earth's Biocrusts

Can the Noise in Sports Arenas Be Turned Into Electricity?

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Smithsonian Videos

Preview thumbnail for video '10 Fun Facts About Jellyfish

10 Fun Facts About Jellyfish

Play
Preview thumbnail for video 'The Ultimate Skywatching Guide for Every Season

The Ultimate Skywatching Guide for Every Season

Preview thumbnail for video '10 Enchanting Butterfly Facts Revealed!

10 Enchanting Butterfly Facts Revealed!

Photo of the day

Clouds in the sky above Kruglitsa Mountain. Cloud Cap

History

Visitors gather at the foot of Monkey Mountain, an attraction at Frank Buck's Jungle Camp in Massapequa, New York, around 1939.

When 170 Wild Monkeys Escaped From a 'Jungle Camp' and Terrorized New York

In 1935, dozens of rhesus macaques absconded from Frank Buck's Long Island menagerie. Nearly a century later, 43 members of the same species broke out of a South Carolina research facility

Smithsonian's picks for the best history books of 2024 include The Barn, Eden Undone and The Wide Wide Sea.

The Ten Best History Books of 2024

Paul Mescal as Lucius Verus in Gladiator II, which tells a heavily fictionalized story of the joint reign of brothers Geta and Caracalla

The Real History Behind Ridley Scott's 'Gladiator II' and Life as a Fighter in the Ancient Roman Arena

Science

A view of the soft-bottomed Los Angeles River below the 400-foot-long Taylor Yard Bridge in Elysian Valley. The newest Taylor Yard parcel, currently fenced off as it undergoes toxic remediation, can be seen on the far right.

How the Arrival of an Endangered Bird Indicates What’s Possible for the L.A. River

Could the waterway that the city was built around make a comeback?

By examining the fossils of ancient creatures, scientists are able to see the origins of features that make mammals different from other animals.

How to Make a Mammal in Nine Evolutionary Steps

A photo of Neptune, taken by the Voyager 2 probe, with the colors rebalanced to represent its truest appearance

The Six Most Amazing Discoveries We’ve Made About Neptune

Innovation

Thirty-six homes—the world’s last topped with a traditional eelgrass roof—all sit here on Laeso.

Could Eelgrass Be the Next Big Bio-Based Building Material?

On the island of Laeso in Denmark, one man is reviving the lost art of eelgrass thatching and, in doing so, bringing attention to a plant that has great potential

John Larson's original polygraph, a gift to the Smithsonian from the Berkeley Police Department, where Larson was the first rookie cop with a PhD.

Why the Creator of One of the First ‘Lie Detectors’ Lived to Regret His Invention

“Cité Mémoire” is a digital multimedia installation illustrating the moments that have shaped Montreal’s last 400 years.

Cities Are Projecting Their History Onto Streets and Buildings After Dark

Arts & Culture

The theme of this year's creepy doll contest at the History Center of Olmsted County is "Circus After Dark."

The Creepy Doll Contest Is Back—and It's Time to Cast Your Vote for the Most Terrifying Toy

Step right up and see the spooky circus dolls—from creepy clowns to frightening fortune-tellers—in a Minnesota museum's vintage toy collection

Mask, Jackson Pollock, 1941

Before He Created His Vibrant Drip Paintings, Jackson Pollock Took Inspiration From Pablo Picasso

The Ofaerufoss waterfall is part of the Nyrdri-Ofaera River, meaning the “impassable northern river.” The river flows into Eldgja, or the “Canyon of Fire.”  

Go Chasing Waterfalls With These 15 Awe-Inspiring Images

Travel

“Cité Mémoire” is a digital multimedia installation illustrating the moments that have shaped Montreal’s last 400 years.

Cities Are Projecting Their History Onto Streets and Buildings After Dark

Pedestrians in Montreal, Grand Rapids and other locations can time-travel thanks to installations that map historical scenes directly onto the cityscapes

The Ofaerufoss waterfall is part of the Nyrdri-Ofaera River, meaning the “impassable northern river.” The river flows into Eldgja, or the “Canyon of Fire.”  

Go Chasing Waterfalls With These 15 Awe-Inspiring Images

Sculpted monsters, open tombs and dramatic depictions of supernatural combatants make visiting the Sacro Bosco more akin to braving a Renaissance version of a haunted house.

Discover the Mysteries of Italy's Park of Monsters, a 16th-Century Garden Filled With Strange, Colossal Stone Creatures

At the Smithsonian

The laptop that belonged to Chris Janczewski, former IRS-CI agent

A Federal Agent’s Laptop Held the Keys to Seize $3.6 Billion in Stolen Bitcoin. Here’s How It Ended Up at the Smithsonian

Soon to be on display at the National Museum of American History, the laptop is the centerpiece of a criminal case that shows an evolving understanding of cryptocurrency

Floating Clouds, Hisako Hibi, oil on canvas, 1944 

Discover the Remarkable Paintings of Three Japanese Americans Whose Life Stories Are Told Through Their Work

The Island, Tuan Andrew Nguyen, single-channel video, color, 5.1 surround sound, 42 minutes, 2017

See a Film That Reimagines History on the Malaysian Island That Served as a Refugee Site After the Vietnam War