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Anandibai Joshee (left), Kei Okami and Tabat M. Islambooly, students from the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania.

Women Who Shaped History

This 19th Century “Lady Doctor” Helped Usher Indian Women Into Medicine

Ananabai Joshee dedicated her career to treating women and helped blaze a path for international doctors training in the U.S.

How Many Ways Can Snake Venom Kill You and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

His teeming canvases were like a “browser window with lots of different tabs open,” says Nairne.

Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Artwork Is Appreciated Now More Than Ever

Decades later, Jean-Michel Basquiat’s complex works are increasingly prescient—and valuable

Tuskegee Airmen and P-47

Why African-American Soldiers Saw World War II as a Two-Front Battle

Drawing the connection between fascism abroad and hate at home, pre-Civil Rights activists declared the necessity of “double victory”

Scott Kelly upon his return to Earth.

Scott Kelly’s Journey Home After His Year in Space

America’s longest-orbiting astronaut describes his rocky return to Earth in this adaptation from his book ‘Endurance’

A painting of Franklin’s return to Philadelphia from Europe in 1785 shows him flanked by his son-in-law (in red), his daughter and Benjamin Bache (in blue), the grandson he’d taken to France as a sort of surrogate son.

Secrets of American History

What Led Benjamin Franklin to Live Estranged From His Wife for Nearly Two Decades?

A stunning new theory suggests that a debate over the failed treatment of their son’s smallpox was the culprit

Political activists Abbie Hoffman, left, and Jerry Rubin set five-dollar bills on fire at the Financial Center in New York on August 24, 1967.

How the New York Stock Exchange Gave Abbie Hoffman His Start in Guerrilla Theater

Fifty years ago, the anarchist protester sent traders sprawling for dollar bills—and became a media sensation

The Smithsonian's well attended Asian-American Literature Festival could soon be traveling to other cities around the nation.

At the Smithsonian’s First Asian-American Lit Fest, Writers Share Falooda, Politics and Poetry

More than 80 award-winning and aspirational writers shared work across multiple genres

The H.L. Hunley, a confederate Civil War era submarine, sits in its water tank at the Hunley Lab in North Charleston, SC.

One Scientist May Have Finally Figured Out the Mystery of Why a Civil War Submarine Sank

A Navy engineer used creative modeling and her knowledge of underwater explosions to tackle the century-old Hunley conundrum

Bei Bei noshes on some bamboo in his "Birthday Boy" box as spectators look on. His "cake," shaped like a numeral 2, is visible to his right.

Pandamonium

Bei Bei the Panda Cub Celebrates his Second Birthday in Style

The notorious sleepyhead manages to rouse himself for fans

Male wolf spiders may have eight eyes, but they still can't tell whether the female they're mating with is dead or alive.

Whoa: Polygamous Wolf Spiders Have a Natural Form of Birth Control

Females have figured out how to get rid of unwanted sperm, allowing them to reap the benefits of multiple mates

Esperanza Spalding’s Pop Culture Loves

She may not own a television, but the Grammy-award winning musician definitely has her favorite books and films

A view of the Nevis volcano on the island of Nevis where Alexander Hamilton was born.

Walk in the Footsteps of Alexander Hamilton on This Tiny Caribbean Island

The island of Nevis was no paradise for young Hamilton

Thirty million TV viewers watched Fonzie water-ski while wearing his leather jacket.

Why ‘Happy Days’ — and the Fonz — Never Truly ‘Jumped the Shark’

The Fonz was the epitome of ’50s chill on TV’s family-friendly “Happy Days.” And then he went over the top

Unionville today: The photographer used a process called intaglio printing to give her pictures an antique appearance.

Secrets of American History

After the Civil War, African-American Veterans Created a Home of Their Own: Unionville

One-hundred-fifty years later, the Maryland town remains a bastion of resilience and a front line in the battle over Confederate monuments

Honiara

Dive With WWII Wrecks in the Solomon Islands

75 years after the Battle of Guadalcanal, walk in the footsteps of history

One of the best-known paintings of the doomed Franklin expedition. Full title: "They forged the last link with their lives: HMS ‘Erebus’ and ‘Terror’, 1849–1850."

A Dentist Weighs in On What Really Doomed the Franklin Expedition

Addison’s disease may have blackened the explorers’ gums and hastened their demise, proposes a history-obsessed dentistry professor

Chick Parsons (center and top) was the toast of prewar Manila, a convivial, polo-playing expat businessman with an eagle tattooed across his chest.

Secrets of American History

Without Chick Parsons, General MacArthur May Never Have Made His Famed Return to the Philippines

The full story of the American ex-pat’s daring feats has not been told—until now

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