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These are ten of the biggest strides made by scientists in the last ten years.

The Top Ten Scientific Discoveries of the Decade

Breakthroughs include measuring the true nature of the universe, finding new species of human ancestors, and unlocking new ways to fight disease

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

Joseph A. "Jock" Yablonski announces his candidacy for the presidency of the United Mine Workers.

Fifty Years Ago, the Murder of Jock Yablonski Shocked the Labor Movement

The conspiracy to kill the United Mine Workers official went all the way to the top of his own union

Cultural juggernaut and music star Lizzo will soon be making her debut as an entry in the Times crossword—with a double-Z name like that, who could resist?

How Crosswords Came of Age in the 2010s

Ten of the decade’s favorite entries speak to the color and comprehensiveness of modern puzzles

Scientists seeking extraterrestrial life in the universe (above: a radio observatory in New Mexico) seek the answer to what is called the Fermi paradox: “Where is everybody?”

If Aliens Existed Elsewhere in the Universe, How Would They Behave?

In a new offering from Smithsonian Books, James Trefil and Michael Summers explore the life forms that might exist on a dizzying array of exoplanets

B-52 Storage Area, Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Virtual Travel

A Photographic Tour of Abandoned Cold War Sites

In a new book, historian Robert Grenville explores the haunting beauty of nature reclaiming some of history’s most notorious sites

The top history movies of the decade include Spotlight, 12 Years a Slave and Hidden Figures.

Based on a True Story

What Were the Best History Movies of the Decade?

These ten films (plus one documentary) each took the past and translated it in a way worth remembering

Founded in 1854, the town of Ivittuut (formerly Ivigtut) once held the world’s largest reserve of naturally occurring cryolite.

How This Abandoned Mining Town in Greenland Helped Win World War II

Ivittuut held the world’s largest reserve of naturally occurring cryolite, a mineral that was used in the manufacturing of fighter planes

The Pompeiian sorceress' kit contained about 100 different objects.

Cool Finds

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

The forest has grown so vast that the Watson Lake Visitors Center doesn’t keep any sort of inventory of which signs make up the collection.

There’s a Forest Made Out of Signs in Canada

Since 1942, people have planted 91,000 signs from around the world

Nearly a century ago, archaeologists started to shift the focus of human origins research from Europe to Africa’s ‘cradles of humankind’ like Oldupai (Olduvai) Gorge in Tanzania.

Archaeologists Are Unearthing the Stories of the Past Faster Than Ever Before

Recent research helps reveal the origins of humans, determine what ancient people ate and monitor historical sites from the sky

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

John Kinard, the first African American to head a Smithsonian museum, took the helm of the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum in 1967. The museum was housed in a former theater on Nichols Street in a Southeast neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

Fifty Years Ago, the Idea of a Museum for the People Came of Age

A Smithsonian symposium asked experts to weigh in on the strength of the community museum and chart its way forward

A group of revelers are seen wassailing at Redbyrd Orchard Cider in New York.

New York’s Cideries Bring the Tradition of Wassailing to the Finger Lakes

Common in England, the practice of toasting to the health of the orchard has hopped the pond

The headline of the San Francisco Call details the ouster of police chief George Wittman

The Courtroom That Literally Relitigated History

For San Francisco’s Court of Historical Opinion, no case was too frivolous or too controversial

In the past decade or so, the number of podcasts to choose from has soared.

Education During Coronavirus

Eighteen Podcasts to Listen to in 2020

Need podcast recommendations for travel or the treadmill? Here’s what Smithsonian experts listen to

Farley Granger and Jeanne Crain star in 'The Gift of the Magi', one of five stories by O Henry grouped together under the title of 'O Henry's Full House.'

The History of O. Henry’s ‘The Gift of the Magi’

The beloved Christmas short story may have been dashed off on deadline but its core message has endured

An artist's illustration of Dendromaia unamakiensis, a 310-million-year old land-dwelling vertebrate that looked a like a modern monitor lizard, pictured here with its offspring

Lizard-Like Fossil May Represent 306-Million-Year-Old Evidence of Animal Parenting

Shortly after transitioning from sea to land, our egg-laying ancestors may have started parenting their young

It’s all about having faith in the purity of the process.

How Crisco Made Americans Believers in Industrial Food

Crisco’s main ingredient, cottonseed oil, had a bad rap. So marketers decided to focus on the ‘purity’ of factory food processing

With two fingers Babe Ruth pointed (above: a re-imagined illustration of Babe Ruth calling his shot in the fifth inning of the third game, 1932 World Series). Some thought he was scolding the Cubs’ bench, many more believed he was pointing toward centerfield, where he hit a soaring home run.

When the Yankees Got the Larger-Than-Life Babe Ruth

It was a fateful December a century ago, when the Red Sox-Yankees trade launched a dynasty; a Smithsonian curator reflects on the legendary home-run hitter

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