The sandstone blocks were photographed at the wreck site in the 1970s.

Australia’s Most Notorious Shipwreck Tells a Story of Murder, Slavery, Mutiny—and, Now, ‘Surprisingly Sophisticated’ Trade in the 17th Century

When the Dutch East India Company’s flagship "Batavia" sank in 1629, it went down with large, carved sandstone blocks in its hold. The stones are now shedding light on trade at the dawn of global capitalism

Sarah Kuta

The "Jane!" exhibition is on view at the Cantor Arts Center through May 18, 2028.

History

Stanford University’s Founding Matriarch Was a Travel-Loving Philanthropist Who Met a Tragic End. A New Exhibition Explores Her Life, Grief and Death by Poison

July 30, 2026 7:45 a.m.

Smart News

Audio Engineers Restored Hidden Notes and Revealed Lost Instruments in This New Treasure Trove of Songs by the Pioneering ‘Mother of the Blues’

July 30, 2026 4:14 p.m.

A Strange, Never-Before-Seen Cancer Seems to Be Spreading Among Catfish in a New England Lake

July 30, 2026 2:40 p.m.

Dangerous ‘Fire Clouds’ Are Making France’s Wildfires Even More Destructive

July 30, 2026 2:14 p.m.

Want to Spend Some Alone Time With Stonehenge? This August, Lucky Visitors Get the Chance to Enter the Stone Circle Before the Site Opens to Tourists

July 30, 2026 2:02 p.m.

A Man Unearthed a Mysterious Metal Object Sticking Straight Up From the Ground. It Turned Out to Be a 2,700-Year-Old Sword

July 30, 2026 1:01 p.m.

More Smart News

Latest Features

A blacktip shark, above, looks and behaves like a spinner shark. Scientists are tracking spinner sharks to get a clearer idea of the species' whereabouts.

At the Smithsonian

These Shark Look-Alikes Have Long Confounded Fishers and Scientists on the East Coast. Tracking Where They Migrate Could Help Clear the Confusion

July 30, 2026 3:50 p.m.

At Nona Manis, dining guests can enjoy a prix-fixe menu that may include any of these dishes: ikan pindang patin (braised fish), steak semur (steak with kecap manis sauce), laksa (seafood curry soup), oyster sambal matah and oyster gulai Aceh (oyster on the half shell with Balinese sambal and Aceh curry).

Travel

A New Generation of Chefs Reimagines Indonesian Cuisine in the Netherlands to Tell the Stories of Its Origins

July 30, 2026 11:27 a.m.

History

Stanford University’s Founding Matriarch Was a Travel-Loving Philanthropist Who Met a Tragic End. A New Exhibition Explores Her Life, Grief and Death by Poison

July 30, 2026 7:45 a.m.

Among medical fields, radiology has pioneered the adoption of A.I. tools. Yet combining the complementary strengths of human and machine intelligence is not straightforward.

Innovation

How A.I. Will Reshape Radiology—Without Replacing Radiologists

July 29, 2026

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

Science

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

July 28, 2026

Felicio (played by Frankie Treadaway) and his mother (Madeleine Walker) try to escape Mount Vesuvius' eruption in "Pompeii: Out of Time With Tom Hiddleston."

History

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

July 28, 2026

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

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Summer 2026

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

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

Most Popular

Smart News

A Man Picking Berries in the Forest in Poland Might Have Stumbled Upon the Wreckage of an Allied Airplane From World War II

Smart News

How Does a Bilingual Speaker’s Brain Process Two Languages? New Research Suggests That Both Rely on the Same Neural Wiring

Smart News

This Pacific Island Disappeared Under Rising Seas. A New Sculpture Marking the Spot Will Morph Into a Home for Seabirds, Coral and Marine Life

History

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

Smart News

A Metal Detectorist Discovered Tiny Tiles in a Farmer’s Field. A Spectacular Ancient Roman Mosaic Was Buried Beneath the Surface

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

This photograph was born from my fascination with Andean heritage and the way it coexists with everyday life. I was inspired by these two young men wearing colorful clothing reminiscent of the Incas, captured in a simple moment inside a motorcycle taxi.

I wanted to show how tradition and modernity intersect in a smile, in a curious look at what is happening outside the vehicle. My intention is for the viewer to feel the vitality, pride, and joy that Peruvian youth convey, while also reflecting on the cultural strength that survives in the details of urban life.

I chose photography as my medium because it allows me to capture this intersection of time: the ancient past and the energy of the present sharing the same space.

Smiles In Motion

By Klebher Vasquez

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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.

Listen In

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

“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

July 27, 2026

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

July 28, 2026

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

July 28, 2026

More History

Science

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

July 28, 2026

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

July 27, 2026

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

July 21, 2026

More Science

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

July 24, 2026

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

July 8, 2026

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

July 23, 2026

More Innovation

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

July 23, 2026

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

July 24, 2026

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

July 20, 2026

More Travel

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

June 30, 2026

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

May 1, 2026

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

May 1, 2026

More Arts & Culture

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

July 17, 2026

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

July 22, 2026

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

July 13, 2026

More At the Smithsonian