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Hitler stands with co-conspirators Alfred Rosenberg and Friedrich Weber during the Beer Hall Putsch in November 1923.

Before He Rose to Power, Adolf Hitler Staged a Coup and Went to Prison

The Beer Hall Putsch was a spectacular failure. It also set the stage for Nazi Germany

Basilosaurus hunts fish.

Ancient Whales Were the Biggest and Smallest of Their Kind to Ever Roam the Oceans

New discoveries show how whale diversity exploded after the dinosaurs disappeared

Fred McDowell, 1965, Como, Mississippi

Meet the Man Who Recorded the Music of America’s Front Porches and Backyard Parties

Chris Strachwitz, founder of Arhoolie Records, crisscrossed the United States photographing and recording musicians where they played

Julie Packard by Hope Gangloff is on view at the National Portrait Gallery in the new show, "Forces of Nature: Voices That Shaped Environmentalism."

Meet the Steely Gaze of Environmentalism

A new show at the National Portrait Gallery focuses on the defenders of Mother Earth over the past 150 years

A group of chimpanzees at elevation listen for rivals.

While Some Chimps Go Low, Others Go High to Avoid a Dangerous Fight

Primate groups climb to elevation to scout out rivals and steer clear of clashes

Colman Domingo as Bayard Rustin in Rustin, a new film directed by George C. Wolfe

Based on a True Story

The Real History Behind Netflix’s ‘Rustin’ Movie

A new film finally spotlights Bayard Rustin, the gay civil rights activist who organized the 1963 March on Washington

Retired Col. Robert Certain returned to the site of the Hanoi Hilton 50 years after he was freed from the infamous prisoner of war camp.

There's More to That

Healing the Wounds of the Vietnam War

Two perspectives on the 20th-century conflict look back, five decades after the fighting stopped, to discuss what was lost and what is remembered today

The Aftel Archive of Curious Scents has been drawing commercial perfumers with a nose for aromas, gardeners, cooks and others since 2017.

This California Museum Is Home to Hundreds of Nature’s Scents

Perfumer Mandy Aftel’s spellbinding collection of rare essences and artifacts is on display at the Aftel Archive of Curious Scents in Berkeley

A tornado churns up dust at dusk near Traer, Iowa.

How and Why Do Violent Tornadoes Form?

Scientists hope new technology and computing power will help them understand destructive twisters

Charlotte Brontë’s attraction to the strange and horrific was an early vehicle for her love of storytelling.

An Early Charlotte Brontë Story Speaks to the Author’s Lifelong Fascination With the Supernatural

The 1830 account details an eerie encounter with a stranger who predicted the death of the writer’s father

The green gas emanating from this small jack-o’-lantern alludes to the spread of Covid-19. Fittingly, the photographer’s subject dons a beaked mask based on the ones worn by physicians treating bubonic plague victims in 17th-century Europe.

Smithsonian Photo Contest Galleries

Treat Yourself to 15 Eerie Images Celebrating Halloween

These highlights from the Smithsonian Photo Contest are sure to scare up some smiles

A captive breeding program has seen the return of Galápagos giant tortoises to Española in the Galápagos Islands. As the tortoise population rebounds, the island ecosystem is in the process of transforming.

Galápagos Giant Tortoises Are Ecosystem Engineers

A decades-long project shows how the reptiles are changing the island of Española

The annual Woolly Worm Festival is a fiercely popular local event that’s been going on for nearly half a century.

Groundhogs Are Old News. In This Tiny Town, Caterpillars Predict the Weather

Thousands of people flocked to Banner Elk, North Carolina, this year to watch the nation’s biggest woolly worm caterpillar race

Carved Cucurbita pepo traditionally grace stoops around Halloween.

Five Tips and Tricks for a Perfect Jack-O’-Lantern

A horticulturalist with the New York Botanical Garden provides advice for prolonging the life of your pumpkin

Green tea's enduring popularity is reflected in the "teacup without handle" emoji (left). The "hot beverage" emoji (right) takes its cue from another tea tradition: black tea.

What Emoji Tell Us About the History of Tea

From ancient China to 20th-century America, the aromatic beverage has undergone a dramatic evolution

Players’ signatures are blurred as the red threading of this baseball comes into focus.

Smithsonian Photo Contest Galleries

Celebrate the World Series With 15 Bold Baseball Photos

These highlights from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest are a home run

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The Never-Ending Race to Build the World’s Tallest Structure

From ancient Egypt to present-day Dubai, a close look at some of the buildings that held the height record

A view of a Zamboni machine at work during a game between the Vancouver Canucks and the Anaheim Mighty Ducks at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California.

How the Zamboni Revolutionized Fun on the Ice

The story behind the most efficient—and intriguing—piece of hardware in all of sports

The fictional Corpo Guard detains a shopkeeper in Sinclair Lewis’ play It Can’t Happen Here.

As Fascism Threatened Europe, an Ambitious Play Warned Americans to Pay Attention

A courageous New Deal program brought authoritarianism into the spotlight. Then the drama moved onto the political stage

An experimental replica of shell beads with Natufian red organic colorant made from the roots of Rubiaceae plants

Archaeologists Find the First Red Paint Made From Plants

Hunter-gatherers cooked up the alluring pigment in the Eastern Mediterranean 15,000 years ago

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