Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

History

Mary Beth and John Tinker display their black armbands in 1968, over two years after they wore anti-war armbands to school and sparked a legal battle that would make it all the way to the Supreme Court.

The Young Anti-War Activists Who Fought for Free Speech at School

Fifty years later, Mary Beth Tinker looks back at her small act of courage and the Supreme Court case that followed

Mothers and babies gather for a "Better Baby Contest" in Minnesota in 1920.

‘Better Babies’ Contests Pushed for Much-Needed Infant Health but Also Played Into the Eugenics Movement

Contests around the country judged infants like they would livestock as a motivator for parents to take better care of their children

Enrico Fermi at the blackboard.

How Scientific Chance and a Little Luck Helped Usher in the Nuclear Age

Accidental experiments and chance encounters helped Enrico Fermi produce the first nuclear reactor

A rendering of the lobby of the Statue of Liberty Museum, featuring the statue's original torch

From Lady Liberty to Hollywood to the Middle East, These Are the Most Exciting Museums Opening in 2019

Visit new institutions devoted to mascots, spies, archaeological sites, American icons and much more this year

Gutenberg Castle in Balzers, Liechtenstein.

Twelve Anniversaries and Events Worth Traveling For in 2019

2019 will mark Singapore’s bicentennial, the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci’s death and a total solar eclipse in South America

People on the scene of the 2.3-million-gallon molasses explosion in Boston's North End

Without Warning, Molasses Surged Over Boston 100 Years Ago

As the city was planning its heroes’ welcome for sons returning from World War I, a frightful flood devastated a vast area of the North End

An 1894 advertisement shows the interior of a Pullman dining-car belonging to the Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Dayton Railway. The view through the window depicts the Mosler Safe Company factory in Hamilton, Ohio.

The Rise and Fall of the Sleeping Car King

George Pullman’s unbending business acumen made him a mogul, but also inspired the greatest labor uprising of the 19th century

Woman arranging bric-a-brac in her Arizona home circa 1940

Pop History

How America Tidied Up Before Marie Kondo

From the Progressive Era’s social hygiene movement to Netflix self-help reality television

Smallpox raids, like this one in Milwaukee, focused on immigrant families.

History of Now

How New York Separated Immigrant Families in the Smallpox Outbreak of 1901

Vaccinations were administered by police raids, parents and children were torn apart, and the New York City Health Department controlled the narrative

Herschel Grynszpan in a photo from the German archives

History of Now

How a Jewish Teenager Went From Refugee to Assassin to Puppet of Nazi Propaganda

Herschel Grynszpan wanted to avenge the crimes committed against European Jews. Instead, his actions were used as a justification for Kristallnacht

On an 1870 cover of Harper's Weekly, President Ulysses S. Grant is shown greeting the Oglala Chief Red Cloud who came to visit him in Washington, D.C.

Ulysses Grant’s Failed Attempt to Grant Native Americans Citizenship

In a forgotten chapter of history, the president and his Seneca Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Ely Parker, fought for Native American rights

Still from Oscar Micheaux's "Within Our Gates"

Why We Need to Keep Searching for Lost Silent Films

Early motion pictures give us an important window into our collective past

Seth Rogen playing Dr. Frankenstein in the upcoming sixth season of "Drunk History"

‘Drunk History’ Bends History in All the Right Directions

The sixth season, premiering January 15, brings a new crop of historical tales to television

"House A" excavation detail

In Land of Lincoln, Long-Buried Traces of a Race Riot Come to the Surface

Archaeologists recently uncovered the remains of five houses that lay witness to the tragedy that set Springfield, Illinois, on fire in 1908

George Washington takes command of the Continental army.

The Plot to Kill George Washington

In The First Conspiracy, thriller writer Brad Meltzer uncovers a real-life story too good to turn into fiction

The Key Marco Cat was unearthed at Marco Island off Florida’s southwestern shore in the late 19th century.

This Hand-Carved Panther Statuette Embodies a Lost Civilization’s Harmony With Nature

Calusa Indians harnessed the bounty of Florida’s estuaries with respect and grace

Muir and Roosevelt posed at Glacier Point in Yosemite.

Hike in the Footsteps of Teddy Roosevelt

Energetic Teddy was a hiking fanatic—follow his trail on these trips

None

America at War

This Map Shows Where in the World the U.S. Military Is Combatting Terrorism

The infographic reveals for the first time that the U.S. is now operating in 40 percent of the world’s nations

Damage to the Philippine Legislative Building as a result of World War II. At the time, the Philippines was a U.S. colony.

Telling the History of the U.S. Through Its Territories

In “How to Hide an Empire,” Daniel Immerwahr explores America far beyond the borders of the Lower 48

Marina Amaral can often find clues to inform her colorization in the shades of gray in the original image

No Color Photos of Jazz Singer Mildred Bailey Existed… Until Now

An artist shows us that the past was not black-and-white

Page 111 of 300