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Latest Features

Frustrated residents of Sheridan, Wyoming, coalesced around the idea of secession, allying with nearby communities to petition for their own state.

HISTORY

How the Great Depression Fueled a Grassroots Movement to Create a New State Called Absaroka

Stanley won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

How a Blue SUV Named Stanley Revolutionized Driverless Car Technology

A fire dancer lights a fire beneath Zozobra during the 99th Annual Burning of Zozobra at Fort Marcy Park on September 1, 2023 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. 

TRAVEL

For 100 Years, Santa Feans Have Burned New Mexico's Boogeyman in a 'Sacred Rite of Purification, Laughter and Rebirth'

A surviving section of the Themistoclean Wall, built in the fifth century B.C.E., is hidden underground on Athens' Dragatsaniou Street.

HISTORY

See the Historic Ruins Hidden Inside Everyday Buildings in Athens

A sunburst anemone (Anthopleura sola) fluoresces under ultraviolet light. Anemones eat prey that gets trapped in their sticky oral disk.

SCIENCE

These Mesmerizing Anemones Have a Glowing Layer of Protection

L to R: John F. Kennedy, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. in London in 1937

HISTORY

The Top-Secret World War II Mission That Killed Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., the Heir Apparent to the Political Dynasty

Each day, elephants roam the dry riverbed in Amboseli National Park in search of water and food. 

SCIENCE

15 Playful and Powerful Photos to Celebrate World Elephant Day

Is the Smithsonian Castle haunted? The Institution's founder, James Smithson, is said to be among the otherworldly visitors.

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

Busting 13 of the Smithsonian’s Most Persistent Myths

Current Issue

Smithsonian magazine July/August 2024 issue cover

Most Popular

1.

Smart News

Iconic 'Double Arch' Rock Formation Collapses in Utah

Changing water levels and erosion from waves may have contributed to the collapse in the popular Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

2.

History

The Top-Secret World War II Mission That Killed Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., the Heir Apparent to the Political Dynasty

In August 1944, the older brother of Robert and John F. Kennedy died while piloting a drone aircraft over England, leaving his younger siblings to fulfill their father's dreams

3.

Science

15 Playful and Powerful Photos to Celebrate World Elephant Day

Never forget your favorite pachyderm with these memorable images from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest

4.

History

See the Historic Ruins Hidden Inside Everyday Buildings in Athens

Houses and businesses across the Greek capital incorporate—or obscure—structures spanning the city’s ancient, Byzantine, medieval and Ottoman eras

5.

Smart News

A Herd of Life-Size Elephant Sculptures Is Marching Across America

Created by artists in India, the artworks are part of a larger effort to promote coexistence between humans and animals

Smithsonian Voices
National Air and Space Museum

Did the Nazis Kill German Test Pilot Melitta von Stauffenberg?

Smithsonian Books

The Smithsonian Founder Developed Poison Tests

National Air and Space Museum

Does a Fighter Pilot Have to Be Human?

National Museum of Natural History

Check Out These Wondrous Objects on Display Before They Return to the Museum’s Collection

Smithsonian Center for Folklife & Cultural Heritage

A Century of Ella Jenkins: Tributes to the First Lady of Children’s Music

National Air and Space Museum

A Drone Named Elsie May Becomes a Museum Artifact

See All

Special Report
Olympic rings are seen on the Eiffel Tower near the restored statue of "Cavalier Arabe" on the Pont d'Iéna bridge in Paris on July 4, 2024, ahead of the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic Games. 

The Paris Olympics

Prepare yourself for the Paris Olympics with this comprehensive guide to the history, science, arts and thrills of the worldwide celebration

View Full Report

Featured Stories

A History of Gymnastics, From Ancient Greece to Tokyo 2020

The Paris Games' Mascot, the Olympic Phryge, Boasts a Little-Known Revolutionary Past

How Wheaties Became the 'Breakfast of Champions'

  image   image

Smithsonian Videos

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

The Ultimate Skywatching Guide for Every Season

Play
Preview thumbnail for video 'The Best Small Towns to Celebrate Fall

The Best Small Towns to Celebrate Fall

Preview thumbnail for video 'African-Americans Came Out of the Civil War and Ran into Jim Crow

African-Americans Came Out of the Civil War and Ran into Jim Crow

Photo of the day

The photograph shows a ballerina rehearsing before a performance. Cleaning the stage and the ballet turned out to be curling. Curling

History

Frustrated residents of Sheridan, Wyoming, coalesced around the idea of secession, allying with nearby communities to petition for their own state.

How the Great Depression Fueled a Grassroots Movement to Create a New State Called Absaroka

In the 1930s, disillusioned farmers and ranchers fought to carve a 49th state out of northern Wyoming, southeastern Montana and western South Dakota

A surviving section of the Themistoclean Wall, built in the fifth century B.C.E., is hidden underground on Athens' Dragatsaniou Street.

See the Historic Ruins Hidden Inside Everyday Buildings in Athens

L to R: John F. Kennedy, Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. in London in 1937

The Top-Secret World War II Mission That Killed Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., the Heir Apparent to the Political Dynasty

Science

A sunburst anemone (Anthopleura sola) fluoresces under ultraviolet light. Anemones eat prey that gets trapped in their sticky oral disk.

These Mesmerizing Anemones Have a Glowing Layer of Protection

Marine biologists discovered that a protein that boosts fluorescent output also enables an antioxidant property

The tinfoil-covered vial at right holds about four grams of an asteroid brought to Earth from deep space. It may also hold the key to how life began here. The vial at left holds ground-up quartz that will act as a control in chemical investigations.

Inside Scientists’ Quest to Find the Secrets of Life in Four Grams of Asteroid Dust

With spikes as long as knitting needles, long-spined sea urchins may look like underwater villains, but their appetite for algae makes them the unsung heroes of Caribbean reefs.

The Valiant Effort to Restore the Caribbean's Sea Urchins

Innovation

None

Can the Noise in Sports Arenas Be Turned Into Electricity?

Seventeen-year-old Gyeongyun Lily Min is hopeful it can someday, after testing the concept on a scale model of an NBA stadium

Every pound saved in a car’s weight matters, reducing fuel consumption in gas-powered cars or extending the range of electric vehicles.

Automakers Are Making New Steels for Stronger and Lighter Cars

Shade-protecting overhangs known as awnings line a street in New York City in the 1850s.

Six Innovative Ways Humans Have Kept Cool Throughout History

Arts & Culture

A self-portrait taken in New York by Vivian Maier in 1954

Meet Vivian Maier, the Reclusive Nanny Who Secretly Became One of the Best Street Photographers of the 20th Century

The self-taught artist is getting her first museum exhibition in New York City, where she nurtured her nascent interest in photography

The Museum of Perfume, presented by Paris’ Fragonard Perfumery, is dedicated to exploring the methodology and history behind perfume making.

Eight Weird and Wonderful Museums in Paris

The weapons are adorned with gold and silver designs and an engraved image of Napoleon.

Napoleon's Elaborately Decorated Pistols Sell for $1.8 Million at Auction

Travel

Whether decorated with a photo of a bustling subway stop or a striking Andy Warhol painting, album cover designs can constitute masterpieces in their own right.

The Stories Behind Six Iconic Album Cover Shots Taken in America—and Where to Recreate Them

These picture-perfect album covers have turned unassuming street corners, empty beach stretches and looming buildings into musical monuments

Formerly a royal residence, the Louvre Palace is now home to one of the world’s most famous museums.  

See 15 Picturesque Views of Paris

Established in 2019, Indiana Dunes National Park represents one of the most understated successes of 20th-century conservation—and the battle is far from over today.

Inside the Fight to Save the Indiana Dunes, One of America's Most Vulnerable National Parks

At the Smithsonian

Stanley won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge

How a Blue SUV Named Stanley Revolutionized Driverless Car Technology

Almost 20 years ago, a Volkswagen Touareg, now on view at the National Museum of American History, won a competition and led to the “birth moment” of self-driving cars

Is the Smithsonian Castle haunted? The Institution's founder, James Smithson, is said to be among the otherworldly visitors.

Busting 13 of the Smithsonian’s Most Persistent Myths

A 2022 view of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France

Why the Eiffel Tower Has So Many Copycats