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Stories from Meilan Solly

A view of the deserted courtyard outside the closed Louvre

How COVID-19 Is Affecting the Cultural World

Museum closures and event cancellations abound as officials rush to contain the new coronavirus’ spread

Mapping the Gay Guides’ main function is preserving and publicizing an overlooked, under-studied chapter in LGBTQ history.

This Interactive Map Visualizes the Queer Geography of 20th-Century America

Mapping the Gay Guides visualizes local queer spaces’ evolution between 1965 and 1980

The list includes Artemisia Gentileschi, Wilma Mankiller, Frances Glessner Lee and other Oscar-worthy women.

Nine Women Whose Remarkable Lives Deserve the Biopic Treatment

From Renaissance artists to aviation pioneers, suffragists and scientists, these women led lives destined for the silver screen

A Ludus Latrunculorum board found in Roman Britain

The Best Board Games of the Ancient World

Thousands of years before Monopoly, people were playing games like Senet, Patolli and Chaturanga

The tangled history of Scottish independence features such figures as William Wallace, Bonnie Prince Charlie, and Mary, Queen of Scots.

A Not-So-Brief History of Scottish Independence

This primer covers Scottish sovereignty from the Roman era to the Jacobite revolts, the 2014 referendum and Brexit

Following the news of the death of basketball legend Kobe Bryant, this 2007 portrait by Rick Chapman is now on view at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.

Smithsonian Historians Reflect on Kobe Bryant’s Legacy as His Portrait Goes on View

A 2007 photograph of the N.B.A. All-Star offers visitors a chance to pay their respects

Nesyamun was a priest and scribe whose duties included ritualistic chanting and singing.

Listen to the Recreated Voice of a 3,000-Year-Old Egyptian Mummy

Media outlets have likened the sound to a “brief groan,” a “long, exasperated ‘meh’ without the ‘m,’” and “rather like ‘eeuuughhh’”

Featuring Richard III, Elizabeth I, Queen Victoria, George III and more

Ten Things We’ve Learned About Britain’s Monarchs in the Past Ten Years

From Richard III to Mary, Queen of Scots, and George III, these were the royal revelations detailed during the 2010s

Researchers analyzed 75,688 convict tattoos cataloged in the Digital Panopticon database.

The Victorian Tattooing Craze Started With Convicts and Spread to the Royal Family

A new series of data visualizations offers insights on the practice’s historical significance

The Pompeiian sorceress' kit contained about 100 different objects.

Twelve Fascinating Finds Revealed in 2019

The list includes a sorceress’ kit, a forgotten settlement, a Renaissance masterpiece and a 1,700-year-old egg

Presenting Smithsonian magazine's top ten stories of 2019

Our Top Ten Stories of 2019

From a 16-million-year-old tree to Confederate soldiers’ diaries, voracious snakes and England’s warrior king, these were the most-read stories of 2019

X-ray analysis revealed a hidden landscape depicting the birth of Christ.

Nativity Scene Discovered Beneath 16th-Century Painting of John the Baptist’s Beheading

Experts hope further examination will yield insights on the canvas’ age, background and history

The film opens on Christmas Day.

The True History Behind the ‘1917’ Movie

A story shared by director Sam Mendes’ grandfather, a veteran of the Western Front, inspired the new World War I film

Elizabeth's penmanship deteriorated over time, with the speed and sloppiness of her writing rising in direct correlation with the crown's increasing demands.

Elizabeth I’s ‘Idiosyncratic’ Handwriting Identifies Her as the Scribe Behind a Long Overlooked Translation

The Tudor queen wrote in an “extremely distinctive, disjointed hand,” says scholar John-Mark Philo

Students and teachers can download 3-D print-ready files of the Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops skulls.

Ten Smithsonian Artifacts You Can 3-D Print

The list includes Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit, an Abraham Lincoln life mask and a coral skeleton

The 19-page volume features three original stories, advertisements and a table of contents.

Miniature Manuscript Penned by Teenaged Charlotte Brontë Will Return to Author’s Childhood Home

The tiny volume, one of six created for a series, will now join four surviving counterparts on view at the Brontë Parsonage Museum

Helpers fill sandbags on the tip above the shattered Pantglas Junior School to divert a spring and avert the risk of further landslides at Aberfan, South Wales.

The True Story of the Aberfan Disaster

The 1966 Welsh mining tragedy claimed the lives of 116 children and 28 adults and features heavily in the third season of Netflix’s “The Crown”

Charlotte Salomon's "Life? or Theatre?" combines memory and imagination, presenting flashbacks and split screens filled with a “dizzying array” of allusions to other art forms.

The Genre-Bending, Death-Defying Triumph of Charlotte Salomon’s Art

Prior to her murder in Auschwitz, the Jewish-German artist created a monumental visual narrative centered on her family history

Nick Jonas plays Bruno Gaido, a rear gunner who attacked the Imperial Japanese Navy's carrier fleet during the Battle of Midway.

The True Story of the Battle of Midway

The new film “Midway” revisits the pivotal WWII battle from the perspectives of pilots, codebreakers and naval officers on both sides of the conflict

Henry V's nine-year reign saw a flourishing of royal authority and military action but ended abruptly with his untimely death in 1422

The True Story of Henry V, England’s Warrior King

The new biopic “The King” finds Timothée Chalamet tracing Henry’s evolution from wayward prince to heroic warrior

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