Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Articles

The front of Mar-a-Lago in April 1967

History of Now

The Ironic History of Mar-a-Lago

A deep dive into an obscure archive reveals that the Palm Beach property had once been envisioned as a “Winter White House”

The molds responsible for aflatoxins grow on a number of staple crops, including corn, peanuts, millet, wheat, cottonseed and tree nuts.

Could Video Gamers Make Our Food Supply Safer?

An effort to combat poisonous molds that contaminate crops is looking to tap the puzzle-solving skills of amateur gamers

Rick Araluce's The Final Stop, installed at the Renwick Gallery, is a world unto itself.

At This Spectral Subway Platform, Trains Approach But Never Arrive

An otherworldly art installation debuts at the Renwick just in time for Halloween

None

The Next Pandemic

The Next Pandemic

With Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the National Museum of Natural History, we look at the past, present and future of the flu

Flu pandemics begin when novel animal viruses start spreading between people.

The Next Pandemic

How to Stop a Lethal Virus

With tens of millions of lives at stake, medical researchers are racing to create a revolutionary flu vaccine before the next devastating epidemic

BBC's "Downton Abbey" is one of the rare aspects of popular culture to show the grim costs of the 1918 flu pandemic.

The Next Pandemic

Why Did So Few Novels Tackle the 1918 Pandemic?

Surprisingly few U.S. writers touched by the 1918 pandemic wrote about it. But flu lit appears more popular today than ever

A CDC scientist harvests H7N9 virus that has been grown for sharing with partner laboratories for research purposes.

The Next Pandemic

What’s In Your Flu Shot?

An influenza expert at Johns Hopkins University explains how the cocktail for this year’s flu vaccine was developed

A woman sells live poultry at the market in Gaosheng Township, where Long purchased chickens and later died from bird flu.

The Next Pandemic

Is China Ground Zero for a Future Pandemic?

Hundreds there have already died of a new bird flu, putting world health authorities on high alert

An emergency hospital at Camp Funston, Kansas, 1918. “Of the 12 men who slept in my squad room, 7 were ill at one time,” a soldier recalled.

The Next Pandemic

How the Horrific 1918 Flu Spread Across America

The toll of history’s worst epidemic surpasses all the military deaths in World War I and World War II combined. And it may have begun in the United States

The influenza ward at Walter Reed Hospital during the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918

The Next Pandemic

Ten Famous People Who Survived the 1918 Flu

The notables who recovered from the pandemic included a pioneer of American animation, world-famous artists and two U.S. presidents

The infrastructure and technological systems were upgraded, the carpeting removed, and the original terrazzo floors restored

Freer|Sackler: Reopens

A Fresh Look for Smithsonian’s Oldest Art Museum

The Freer’s renovation comes with a new thematic presentation of Asian Art—and the Peacock Room is reopened, as well

In the 20th century, humans exterminated the gray wolf population of British Columbia’s Vancouver Island, the largest island on the west coast of North America. The animals repopulated the island by the end of the century, and now live side by side with people.

Future of Conservation

No One’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Wolf—And That’s a Problem

On Vancouver Island, habituation to humans has made wolves aggressive, fearless and more prone to clashes with people

U.S. government officials met with multiple tribes of the Great Plains to negotiate the Medicine Lodge Treaty in 1867.

How the 1867 Medicine Lodge Treaty Changed the Plains Indian Tribes Forever

The peace agreement set up reservations for the tribe—only to break that agreement in the following decades

A Paradise for Grizzly Bears Gets an Up-Close Look

This unique North American sanctuary lets a few lucky observers see the besieged species in its wildest state

Why Hedy Lamarr Was Hollywood’s Secret Weapon

The starlet patented an ingenious technology to help with the war effort, but it went unrecognized for decades

President Grant gave the pen he used to sign the 15th Amendment to a fellow Civil War veteran, Herbert Preston.

What a Simple Pen Reminds Us About Ulysses S. Grant’s Vision for a Post-Civil War America

President Grant’s signature on the 15th Amendment was a bold stroke for equality

FIU Blackboards by Joseph Beuys,1977-1979, now on view at the Hirshhorn.

What a Pair of Empty Blackboards Can Teach Us About Art and Social Change

Can art alter the course of history? Should artists even try? Joseph Beuys said yes and yes

Page 367 of 1327