Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

History

"Map with Ship" has the informality of a "napkin sketch on vellum," says map expert John Hessler, suggesting its maker was not a trained cartographer.

Did Marco Polo “Discover” America?

Maps attributed to the 13th-century traveler sketch what looks like the coast of Alaska

Abel Buell's map was the first in the country submitted for copyright, in March of 1784.

Even in 1784 America, It Was Impossible to Make a Map Without Infuriating Someone

Abel Buell’s map was the first in the country submitted for a copyright

Ridley's film focuses on Hendrix in the years before he became famous, 1966-1967.

The Oscar-Winning Writer John Ridley, Talks About His New Jimi Hendrix Movie

The writer and director of Jimi: All Is by My Side speaks about making living history from legend

Smithsonian Folkways is re-releasing its classic catalog of songs about the Spanish Civil War.

Revisiting the Timeless Tracks of the Spanish Civil War

Smithsonian Folkways is re-releasing its catalog of Spanish Civil War songs

The corner in downtown Hartford where the first pay phone was installed

The Pay Phone’s Journey From Patent to Urban Relic

The history of the device that is well on its way to becoming, well, history

Nigerian photographer Solomon Osagie Alonge is the subject of a new exhibition at the African Art Museum. He took this self-portrait in 1942.

The Man Who Reclaimed Photography from Colonialism’s Grasp

A new exhibition at the African Art Museum honors Chief S.O. Alonge, the first Nigerian court photographer during colonial times

A standard 10-hole Hohner harmonica.

Industrial Espionage and Cutthroat Competition Fueled the Rise of the Humble Harmonica

How a shrewd salesman revolutionized the instrument industry

Eleanor Roosevelt leans forward from the back seat of the Roosevelt car to catch a comment from her husband, Franklin, as they campaign for his fourth term as president.

Ken Burns’ New Series, Based on Newly Discovered Letters, Reveals a New Side of FDR

In “The Roosevelts”, Burns examines the towering but flawed figures who really understood how character defined leadership

As soon as Wonder Woman appeared in Sensation Comics, beginning with her cover debut in 1942, she caused a stir. "Wonder Woman is not sufficiently dressed," one bishop groused.

The Surprising Origin Story of Wonder Woman

The history of the comic-book superhero’s creation seven decades ago has been hidden away—until now

A Persian calligraphy that developed in 14th-century Iran, nasta'liq, is the focus of a new exhibition at the Sackler Gallery. The script in this work dates to the early 1600s.

Long Before Emojis, the Picassos of Persian Calligraphy Brought Emotion to Writing

The world’s first exhibition devoted to nasta’liq, a Persian calligraphy, is now on view at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

The Fight for Catalonian Independence Took the Form of a Giant “V” in the Streets of Barcelona

Hundreds of thousands of protestors formed a giant red and yellow V, symbolizing the “Way Forward” and marking the region’s national holiday

President Roosevelt at N.I.H.

See Rare Footage of F.D.R. Speaking at the National Institute of Health

Right before being elected to a third term, F.D.R. spoke at N.I.H. about preparedness for war and the need to research deadly diseases

No Man's Land could be the most terrifying of places. "Men drowning in shell-holes already filled with decaying flesh," wrote one scholar.

World War I: 100 Years Later

The Legend of What Actually Lived in the “No Man’s Land” Between World War I’s Trenches

Born of the horrors of trench warfare, a ghoulish tale of scavengers and scofflaws took hold 100 years ago

Los Angeles, California, 1969

Garry Winogrand’s Photographs Capture ‘America’s Busy, Teeming, Intricate Whirl’ After World War II

An exhibition takes a look at the mix of optimism and unease that permeated the post-war nation’s populace

Standing Stones, also known as "the First Stonehenge," in the Ring O Brodgar in Orkney

What the Scottish Independence Referendum Could Mean for Orkney

Sovereignty over Orkney, home to the First Stonehenge, has been debated for more than 5,000 years

Close-up of a surgeon's amputation kit

Before Dr. Mutter, Surgery Was a Dangerous and Horrifically Painful Ordeal

The talented doctor changed the way the medical profession operated

Roman Vishniac, [Dancers Emily Frankel and Mark Ryder, Vishniac Portrait Studio, New York], early 1950s.

See Jewish Life Before the Holocaust Through a Newly Released Digital Archive

Roman Vishniac’s extensive work, now open to the public, is ready for some crowd-sourced historical detective work

Warren Harding's affair with Carrie Fulton Phillips carried on for 15 years, up through the time when he served as a U.S. senator.

Document Deep Dive

Warren Harding’s Love Letters Finally Give Us Something to Remember Him For

Locked away for 50 years, the secret correspondence reveals a steamy relationship between the future president and his mistress

A closeup of jars, probably once filled with wine, at Tel Kabri in modern-day Israel.

New Research

Huge Wine Cellar Unearthed at a Biblical-Era Palace in Israel

Residue from jars at a Canaanite palace suggest the ruler preferred his red with hints of mint, honey and juniper

For the first time in more than a decade, bison will roam at the National Zoo.

The Historic Return of the American Bison

A National Zoo exhibition featuring the animal, long tied to Smithsonian history, opens Saturday

Page 210 of 300