Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Articles

Several railroads around the country are offering spooky train rides just in time for Halloween.

Halloween

Get Spooked on One of These Haunted Vintage Train Rides

Skip the haunted house and climb aboard one of these trains instead

17 Inventions That Will Put You in the Halloween Mood

Here are some bizarre costume ideas, decorations and supplies culled from the U.S. patent archives

An 1887 illustration by British artist Hablot Knight Browne of “resurrectionists” stealing dead bodies from a graveyard.

In Need of Cadavers, 19th-Century Medical Students Raided Baltimore’s Graves

With a half-dozen medical schools and a shortage of bodies, grave robbing thrived—and with no consequences for the culprits

Does the Same Goose Always Lead the Flying V and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

Early morning fog drapes a field in the Flints Hills of Kansas.

What Makes the Flint Hills of Kansas a Sight to See

70 classical musicians. 200 acres of windblown prairie. And the bracing spirit of the heartland. A Kansas symphony in six movements

Carbon-dating techniques have now identified this ancient maize cob at about 950 to 1,000 years old.

What Ancient Maize Can Tell Us About Thousands of Years of Civilization in America

It took millennia, but America’s founding farmers developed the grain that would fuel civilizations—and still does

Madeline Pollard as she appeared during the five-week trial in the spring of 1894. Her entanglement with Col. Breckenridge made national headlines.

The Court Case That Inspired the Gilded Age’s #MeToo Moment

A turn-of-the-century trial, the focus of a new book, took aim at the Victorian double standard

A new Smithsonian Book asks the question: Is there a future for crewed missions to the Moon?

In the Wake of Apollo’s ‘Giant Leap,’ What’s Next for Lunar Exploration?

A new Smithsonian Book unpacks the possible future of missions to the Moon

Tlingit artist Arthur B. Nelson’s Devil Fish Halibut Hook, 2012, is an impressive example of a contemporary wooden halibut hook designed to be a piece of art rather than a functional example of halibut fishing equipment. The carving depicts raven, frog, octopus, and human spirits.

The Traditional Wooden Halibut Hook That’s Still Snagging Fish Off Alaska

An Indigenous method of catching halibut on the northwest coast of North America mixes expert craftsmanship with spirituality—and the fish are biting

High school students at the University of Maine Farmington's Upward Bound program play the World Climate simulation.

This Game Is Moving People to Take Action Against Climate Change

In the ‘World Climate’ simulation, people play delegates to UN climate negotiations and work to strike an agreement that meets global climate goals

Laima Vince in Lithuania in July 2018

The Unforgotten: New Voices of the Holocaust

The Translator Who Brought a Lost Jewish Poet’s Words to the English-Speaking World

Raised in the U.S. but a lifelong speaker of Lithuanian, Laima Vince became enamored of Matilda Olkin’s writing

The Unforgotten: New Voices of the Holocaust

Becoming Anne Frank

Why did we turn an isolated teenage girl into the world’s most famous Holocaust victim?

A recently installed gravestone is engraved in Hebrew and Lithuanian with the names of the Olkin and Jaffe family members.

The Unforgotten: New Voices of the Holocaust

The Words of a Young Jewish Poet Provoke Soul-Searching in Lithuania

The recovery of a diary written by a brilliant woman named Matilda Olkin raises trenchant questions about wartime collaboration

The Unforgotten: New Voices of the Holocaust

Two newly translated diaries by young women murdered in the Holocaust cry out to us about the evils of the past and the dangers of the present

A traditional Polish vest that once belonged to Renia Spiegel

The Unforgotten: New Voices of the Holocaust

Hear, O Israel, Save Us

An 18-year-old girl, terrorized by the Nazis, kept a secret journal. Read exclusive sections from it here, presented in English for the first time

In 1944, an anonymous boy detailed the last days of the Lodz Ghetto, writing in Polish, Yiddish, Hebrew and English in the margins and endpapers of a French novel.

The Unforgotten: New Voices of the Holocaust

The Searing, Continued Relevance of Diaries From a Genocide

Young people caught in the crossfire of history provide fearless accounts of the horrors of war—and shatter our complacency in real time

As we gathered at the graveyard, facing the sea and a memorial to the deceased, rain clouds parted, and the crowd was moved by the appearance of a rainbow.

World War I Handmade American Flag to Stay in Scotland

The Smithsonian Institution extends its loan of the historic artifact to Islay—a small island with a big heart

To prevent animal species from going extinct, some ecologists suggest introducing them to urban environments to live alongside humans.

To Save Endangered Species, Should We Bring Them Into Our Cities?

Some ecologists believe our best chance to preserve biodiversity is to introduce non-native species to cities—but others warn of unintended consequences

The Pittsburgh Crawfords, 1935 Negro National League Champions, are considered by many to be the greatest African American league team ever fielded. The team included five future Hall of Famers, from left: Oscar Charleston, first; Judy Johnson, fifth; Cool Papa Bell, 12th; Josh Gibson, 15th; and Satchel Paige, 17th.

History of Now

Preserving Negro League History Has Never Been Easier, or Harder, Depending on Who You Ask

While digitization of old newspapers has led to a statistical renaissance in baseball archives, the stories of those who played the game are being lost

Anna Du is one of 30 Broadcom Masters finalists.

This 12-Year-Old Girl Built a Robot That Can Find Microplastics In the Ocean

Massachusetts seventh grader Anna Du has developed an ROV that moves through water and detects microplastics on the seafloor

Page 286 of 1322