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Illustration by Be Boggs

How the ‘Blonde Rattlesnake’ Stirred Public Fascination With Female Accomplices

In 1933, Burmah White was punished harshly—and amidst a media frenzy—after she and her husband committed a spree of crimes in Los Angeles

Soldiers take a psychological test (the exact type of examination is unclear) in Camp Lee in Virginia in November 1917, the year the United States entered World War I and Woodworth first developed his test.

The Future of Mental Health

The First Personality Test Was Developed During World War I

Long before online quizzes and Myers-Briggs, Robert Woodworth’s “Psychoneurotic Inventory” tried to assess recruits’ susceptibility to shell shock

Charlotte Moore Sitterly made huge strides in our understanding of how atoms are structured and what stars, especially our sun, are made of.

Women Who Shaped History

How Charlotte Moore Sitterly Wrote The Encyclopedia of Starlight

The “world’s most honored woman astrophysicist” worked tirelessly for decades to measure the makeup of the sun and the stars

The mostly retired singer-Songwriter Paul Simon told financier and philanthropist David M. Rubenstein that a recent dream has prompted him to work on a new extended piece of music.

Paul Simon Has 50 Ways to Charm an Audience

As the 2019 recipient of the Smithsonian’s Great Americans Medal, the musician divulged he still has one more song to write

In Northern California, purple sea urchins are decimating kelp forests. Though the species of urchin causing problems may vary by region, the damage is the same.

Could Eating Sea Urchins Help Revive Kelp Forests?

A Norwegian ‘urchin ranching’ company wants to take the echinoderms from the wild, fatten them up and sell them to restaurants

This marker now resides beside Highway 64 near the site of where the Roanoke settlement is believed to have sat.

Joachim Gans, the First Practicing Jew to Set Foot in North America, Finally Gets His Due

The metallurgist came to the Roanoke settlement looking for raw materials to support the English war effort

Birds are considered an indicator species, representing the health of entire ecosystems.

North America Has Lost Nearly 3 Billion Birds Since 1970

The staggering population loss of 29 percent of North American birds could signal an ecological crisis

This image shows a preliminary portrait of a juvenile female Denisovan based on a skeletal profile reconstructed from ancient DNA.

Scientists Recreate the Face of a Denisovan Using DNA

By mapping gene expressions, researchers can determine some anatomical features of our distant hominin relatives

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How Lonnie Bunch Built a Museum Dream Team

An exclusive excerpt from the Smithsonian Secretary’s new book, ‘A Fool’s Errand’

In December, Your Call technology will be used during the Liberty Bowl.

In This Interactive Football League, Fans Pick the Plays

Your Call Football’s streaming app platform lets fans control the actions of real live players, earning points and winning prizes

The word "teetotaler" dates back to the temperance movement that preceded Prohibition.

Where Does the Word ‘Teetotaler’ Come From? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions, we’ve got experts

By regulation, British officers wore a red coat. Washington later outfitted his troops in blue regimental coats faced with scarlet.

Secrets of American History

When Young George Washington Started a War

A just-discovered eyewitness account provides startling new evidence about who fired the shot that sparked the French and Indian War

In "Choose Your Own Adventure" books, the readers dictate the plot's twists and turns.

Is the Future of Entertainment the 40-Years-Old ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ Series?

Forty years ago, a beloved paperback series set the stage for today’s obsession with interactive entertainment

The artist says he paints to music, improvising his brushstrokes in the manner of a jazz soloist.

How Peter Wayne Lewis Infuses His Artwork With the Spirit of Jazz

A new exhibit explores bebop and the Buddha

Photo Contest Featured Photographer

From Skinning Coconuts to Tire Recycling, This Photographer Captures Vietnam at Work

Huynh Thanh Huy presents a striking portrait of a nation undergoing a dramatic shift from agriculture to manufacturing

Scientists are starting to get a better idea of how many factors can influence a newborn's gut microbiome.

Babies Born by C-Section Have Different Gut Microbes Than Vaginally Delivered Infants

Method of delivery can influence the bacteria in infants’ guts, according to a new study, but differences were found to disappear within nine months

“All evidence suggests that this was the first cloud guitar ever built for Prince,” says John Troutman, curator of American music at the National Museum of American History.

Hitting the High Notes: A Smithsonian Year of Music

Here’s the Guitar That Prince Revolutionized Music With in ‘Purple Rain’

The artist gave the “cloud” guitar to the Smithsonian in 1993, but only now do we know it’s the same instrument used in the iconic movie

This school year, three new Smithsonian lesson plans on the Inka Empire, Native American treaties and the history of 19th-century Cherokee removal became available to K-12 educators.

Inside a New Effort to Change What Schools Teach About Native American History

A new curriculum from the American Indian Museum brings greater depth and understanding to the long-misinterpreted history of indigenous culture

The type of socialism that took root in Oklahoma was unique—it allowed private farms and invoked evangelical Christianity.

Secrets of American History

When the Socialist Revolution Came to Oklahoma—and Was Crushed

Inside the little-known story of the Green Corn Rebellion, which blazed through the Sooner State a century ago

Margaret Rossiter's research spotlights the women in science whose intellectual contributions have not been given their due.

Women in Science

Women Scientists Were Written Out of History. It’s Margaret Rossiter’s Lifelong Mission to Fix That

The historian has devoted her career to bringing to light the ingenious accomplishments of those who have been forgotten

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