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Experts attached a satellite transmitter to Pancake's shell, which will track its location for up to 90 days.

Smart News

An Endangered Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle Named Pancake Makes a Triumphant Return to the Ocean After Months of Rehabilitation

The cold-stunned turtle was rescued last fall on Cape Cod and has since made a full recovery. The reptile, whose sex remains unknown, is estimated to be between 2 and 5 years old and weighed 11 pounds at the time of release

Sarah Kuta

The site of the Bear River Massacre, which claimed the lives of an estimated 250 to 500 Shoshone on January 29, 1863

History

This 1863 Massacre Was the Deadliest Slaughter of Native Americans in U.S. History. Now, the Shoshone Are Restoring the Site of the Attack

Smart News

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Smithsonian magazine Summer 2026 issue cover
The “Ether Dome” at Massachusetts General Hospital is now a National Historic Landmark.
Science Theater of Relief
Medical procedures used to be a scream-filled endurance test until doctors at this Boston institution learned to tame the pain of patients
The view from Olana State Historic Site in Hudson, New York.
Travel Rediscovering America’s Original Grand Tour
Follow along as we retrace the route one journalist laid out in “The Fashionable Tour,” from New York City to Niagara Falls, when memories of the fight for independence were still fresh
Missing Caption
History How to Build a Character
Silence Dogood. Richard Saunders. Benevolus. Sidi Mehemet Ibrahim. All were pen names that allowed Franklin to say things he couldn’t have otherwise said
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History

This Ship Sank in the Baltic Sea With Presents Bound for a Romanov Czar. Its Cargo Included Champagne, Luxury Mineral Water and Rare Meteorites

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Voices

She Walked Over 200 Miles in the Snow to Feed a Starving Army. The Oneida Nation Has Remembered Polly Cooper for 250 Years

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At the Smithsonian

Ancient Fossil Footsteps Found in Kenya May Hint That an Early Human Relative Was Larger Than Previously Thought

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Smart News

Students in Florida Discovered a 400-Year-Old Intact Pot That Reveals Conflict Among Indigenous, Spanish and English Powers

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Smart News

Art Sleuths Discovered a Lost and ‘Enormously Important’ Portrait of an Elite Indian Woman by This Pioneering Scottish Painter

Photo of the Day

These are two frogs in a small tree, they had just eaten a few bugs before this picture was taken.

Two Frogs In a Tree

By Travis Dickey

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Preview thumbnail for video 'The Remarkable, Amazing Stories of Route 66 Reflect the Twists and Turns of 100 Years of Americana

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

Preview thumbnail for video 'A Photographer's Glimpse Into the Dwindling World of the Cascade Red Fox

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

Preview thumbnail for video 'The Real Story Behind Abigail Adams' 'Remember the Ladies' Letter

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

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

April 23, 2026 | 34 minutes

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

April 9, 2026 | 32 minutes

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

March 26, 2026 | 31 minutes

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

March 12, 2026 | 28 minutes

History

“This wreck is an absolute, untouched monument to 19th-century diplomacy and elite international relations in Europe,” says diver and researcher Pawel Truszynski.

This Ship Sank in the Baltic Sea With Presents Bound for a Romanov Czar. Its Cargo Included Champagne, Luxury Mineral Water and Rare Meteorites

New research suggests that a shipwreck discovered off the coast of Sweden in 2024 may have been transporting gifts from the German Duchy of Nassau to Alexander II of Russia in the immediate aftermath of the Crimean War

This 1863 Massacre Was the Deadliest Slaughter of Native Americans in U.S. History. Now, the Shoshone Are Restoring the Site of the Attack

We All Know the Story of the Pompeii Victims Who Died When Mount Vesuvius Erupted 2,000 Years Ago. Archaeologists Are Still Learning About Those Who Made It Out Alive

More History

Science

A copy of the first daguerreotype photograph of a total solar eclipse

A Little-Known Photographer Captured the First Clear Image of a Total Solar Eclipse 175 Years Ago. Today, These Celestial Events Still Reveal the Mysteries of the Sun

Ever since that first daguerreotype on a light-sensitive metal plate, eclipse observations have continued to unveil the star’s corona and bring people together to experience the solar system’s majesty

Predatory Sharks Grew to Enormous Sizes in Prehistoric Times. These Five Strategies Helped Them Get So Big

A Massive Flow of Rock and Mud Tumbled Down Mount Rainier Centuries Ago. Scientists Pinpointed Its Date to Better Understand the Volcano’s Complex Threats

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Innovation

Hold music is an audible reminder that our time has value, just not always to the company keeping us waiting.

A Brief History of Hold Music, From Early Patents to the Soundtrack of Customer-Service Purgatory

Sixty years ago, Alfred A. Levy patented his “telephone hold program system.” Little did he know a teenager’s unearthed New Age practice tape would become its enduring anthem

When Germany Built a Flying Train 125 Years Ago, a City Coalesced Beneath It. It Has Moved Royalty, Commuters and Tourists—and One Elephant—Ever Since

Would You Chat With an A.I. ‘Ghost’ of a Deceased Loved One? New Research Suggests That the Tech Can Provide Comfort and Closure

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Travel

Finland's Lake Saimaa is 111 miles long, 87 miles wide, dotted by about 14,000 islands, pierced by dozens of narrow straits, and surrounded by sheltered bays perfect for ringed seal breeding.

Before Cultural and Natural Wonders Earn UNESCO World Heritage Status, They Are Put on a ‘Tentative’ List. Here Are Five Nominees Worth Visiting Now

Featuring more than 1,800 sites from 181 countries and territories, UNESCO’s tentative list is a treasure trove of lesser-known marvels

These Photos of Nashville Will Have You Packing Your Bags for Music City, USA

For Three Hours Every Day, Open Ocean Transforms Into Australia’s ‘Ghost’ Reef

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Arts & Culture

Detail of Rembrandt's Let the Little Children Come Unto Me

Rembrandt Began a Biblical Painting. Another Artist Finished It ‘Rather Crudely.’ Now, Restorations Have Revealed the Long-Lost Original

An art dealer stumbled across “Let the Little Children Come Unto Me” at a German auction house in 2014. Experts have now carefully removed layers of overpaint from the forgotten masterpiece

The Real Winnie-the-Pooh Lives at the New York Public Library. When Queen Camilla Visited the Bear, She Reunited Him With a Dear Friend

How the Classic American Game of Twister Went From Risqué to Record-Breaking

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At the Smithsonian

Adam Francis Plummer began this diary in 1841 while enslaved in Prince George's County, Maryland. After his death, his daughter Nellie Arnold Plummer continued the diary.

This 19th-Century Diary Written by an Enslaved Maryland Man Is a Crucial Record of His Life and Family History—and the Only One of Its Kind Found in the United States

Adam Francis Plummer’s chronicle is believed to be the country’s sole known example of a multigenerational journal begun by an enslaved person. It’s now on view at the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum

Ancient Genes Reveal That Big, Bright Avocados Were Carried Through the Americas Thousands of Years Ago

Artemis 1’s Orion Spacecraft Withstood the Heat of Re-entry in a Critical Test for Humans’ Return to the Moon. Now, NASA Will Lend the Historic Capsule to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum

More At the Smithsonian