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Crowds gather for the summer solstice at Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England.

Nine Ways People Celebrate the Summer Solstice Around the World

Across the Northern Hemisphere, worshippers of the longest day of the year build bonfires, plunge into the ocean and visit prehistoric monuments

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Women Who Shaped History

How an 1800s Midwife Solved a Poisonous Mystery

For decades before Doctor Anna’s discovery, “milk sickness” terrorized the Midwest, killing thousands of Americans on the frontier

Rhoda Goodridge in a 2 ¾-by-3 ¼-inch ambrotype made by her husband, the pioneering photographer Glenalvin Goodridge.

A Massive Archive Tells the Story of Early African American Photographers

Arresting portraits, now a part of the Smithsonian collections, illuminate the little-known role these artists played in chronicling 19th-century life

Mount Etna erupts in July 2021.

Secrets Still Smolder at One of the World’s Most Active Volcanoes

A century after one of Mount Etna’s many notable eruptions, scientists are more eager than ever to study the peak’s frequent bursts of fiery fury

Illustration by Nina Goldman / Images via Smithsonian Folkways Records

Celebrating 75 Years of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

The vast, eclectic public archive of American music—and other sounds—is featured on a new episode of the Sidedoor podcast

An illustration of Anthony Comstock, published in Puck magazine in 1906

History of Now

The 150-Year-Old Comstock Act Could Transform the Abortion Debate

Once considered a relic of moral panics past, the 1873 law criminalized sending “obscene, lewd or lascivious” materials through the mail

The European spaceport near Kourou, French Guiana, is an important launch site for rockets.

How a Jungle Prison Became a Famous Spaceport

An anthropologist explains how the South American launch site for the James Webb Space Telescope evolved

An observation point at Meteor Crater in Arizona

Seven Ways to Explore Space Without Leaving Earth

From astronaut training sites to working spaceports, these spots across the United States put a terrestrial spin on space travel

Adopting the last name of his former enslaver, Harry spent the rest of his life pursuing the ideal for which the name Washington has long been revered in American history: fighting for freedom.

Untold Stories of American History

Enslaved by George Washington, This Man Escaped to Freedom—and Joined the British Army

Harry Washington fought for his enslaver’s enemy during the American Revolution. Later, he migrated to Nova Scotia and Sierra Leone

Gay Days at Disney World is one of the nation's largest Pride Month events.

LGBTQ+ Pride

What Disney Theme Parks Tell Us About Ourselves

An American History Museum exhibition looks at how the resorts have changed over time to reflect a broader image of what it means to be American

Just because history is the most dangerous place to visit doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go. It’s also the most interesting. You just need a guide.

Could You Survive the Black Death, the Sack of Rome and Other Historical Catastrophes?

A new book advises readers how to successfully navigate deadly disasters of the past

A SeaWorld team prepares to release a rescued manatee.

The Race to Save Florida’s Manatees

Researchers are nurturing sick and injured animals back to health while working to protect natural springs and curb seagrass decline

Lewis Wickes Hine's 1909 photograph of a young spinner in a Georgia cotton mill

History of Now

The Photographer Who Forced the U.S. to Confront Its Child Labor Problem

Lewis Hine’s early 20th-century “photo stories” sparked meaningful legislative reform

Spam musubi, a Japanese-American dish created in Hawaii, is made of Spam, rice and seaweed.

How Spam Became a Staple of Asian Cuisine

When American G.I.s fought abroad in wars in the 20th century, they left behind an unlikely legacy: canned meat

No known photographs of Swann survive. This 1903 postcard depicts two Black actors, one of whom is dressed in drag, performing a cakewalk in Paris.

LGBTQ+ Pride

The First Self-Proclaimed Drag Queen Was a Formerly Enslaved Man

In the late 19th century, William Dorsey Swann’s private parties attracted unwelcome attention from authorities and the press

Cleanup crews pressure-wash crude oil off the shoreline after the Exxon Valdez spilled more than ten million gallons into Alaska’s Prince William Sound in 1989. U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists began taking annual photos the following year to document the intertidal zone’s recovery.

Why Have Alaskans Been Photographing This Volkswagen Beetle-Sized Boulder for 33 Years?

A scientist began taking shots after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and volunteers have since taken over

“From the Deep: In the Wake of Drexciya With Ayana V. Jackson” is currently on view at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art through April 2024 (above: When the Spirit of Kalunda Comes So Does Kianda, Ayana V. Jackson, 2018-2022).

Meet the Inhabitants of the Mythic World of Drexciya

Artist Ayana V. Jackson creates an undersea realm honoring those who jumped or were thrown overboard during the trans-Atlantic slave trade

Iani smithi

New Beaked Dinosaur Species Found in Utah

The creature, dubbed Iani smithi, was identified from a 99-million-year-old fossil

Participants in a YWCA camp for girls in Highland Beach, Maryland, in 1930

Untold Stories of American History

When Private Beaches Served as a Refuge for the Chesapeake Bay’s Black Elite

During the Jim Crow era, working-class Washingtonians’ recreation options were far more limited—and dangerous

Bush fires rage through Canberra, Australia, on January 18, 2003.

The World’s First Wildfire Tornado Blazed a Path of Destruction Through Australia

A warming atmosphere due to climate change is increasing the chances similar natural disasters will occur again

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