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History / Biography

No recordings of Abraham Lincoln's voice exist since he died 12 years before Thomas Edison invented the phonograph, the first device to record and play back sound. Shown here is Lincoln delivering his famous Gettysburg Address in 1863.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

Ask an Expert: What Did Abraham Lincoln’s Voice Sound Like?

Civil War scholar Harold Holzer helps to decode what spectators heard when the 16th president spoke

O. O. McIntyre's daily column about the city, "New York Day by Day," ran in more than 500 newspapers throughout the United States.

Odd McIntyre: The Man Who Taught America About New York

For millions of people, their only knowledge about New York City was O.O. McIntyre’s daily column about life in the Big Apple

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Fred Birchmore’s Amazing Bicycle Trip Around the World

The American cyclist crossed paths with Sonja Henje and Adolf Hitler as he transversed the globe on Bucephalus, his trusty bike

British historian Bettany Hughes brings Socrates to life 25 centuries after his death in The Hemlock Cup: Socrates, Athens and the Search for the Good Life.

Bettany Hughes on Socrates

The biographer and author of a new book discusses what new there is to learn about the ancient Greek philosopher

On February 4, 1789, the 69 members of the Electoral College made George Washington the only chief executive to be unanimously elected.

George Washington: The Reluctant President

It seemed as if everyone rejoiced at the election of our first chief executive except the man himself

J.P. Morgan sat for two minutes; one of the resulting portraits defined his reputation.

J. P. Morgan as Cutthroat Capitalist

In 1903, photographer Edward Steichen portrayed the American tycoon in an especially ruthless light

Author Reeve Lindbergh, daughter of aviator Charles Lindbergh, standing outside barn on her farm.

Childhood Memories of Charles Lindbergh

In an excerpt from her memoir, Reeve Lindbergh, the daughter of the famous aviator, recalls her father’s love of checklists

The Egyptian queen, shown here in a 19th-century engraving, sneaked back from exile and surprised Julius Caesar.

Rehabilitating Cleopatra

Egypt’s ruler was more than the sum of the seductions that loom so large in history—and in Hollywood

John F. Kennedy, with cane in the Pacific, 1943, would later downplay his PT-109 role: "It was involuntary," he quipped. "They sank my boat."

Remembering PT-109

A carved walking stick evokes ship commander John F. Kennedy’s dramatic rescue at sea

Ben Franklin was made a military commander during the French and Indian War because of his experience in the Pennsylvania Assembly.

When Ben Franklin Met the Battlefield

Most famous today as a founding father, inventor and diplomat, Franklin also commanded troops during the French and Indian War

In 1838, the capture of Osceola, in a 19th-century portrait, attracted national attention.

A Seminole Warrior Cloaked in Defiance

A pair of woven, beaded garters reflects the spirit of Seminole warrior Osceola

In 1849, Harriet Tubman fled Maryland to Philadelphia. Soon after, Tubman began her exploits—acts of bravery that would make her a legend.

Breaking Ground

Harriet Tubman’s Hymnal Evokes a Life Devoted to Liberation

A hymnal owned by the brave leader of the Underground Railroad brings new insights into the life of the American heroine

Born Phoebe Ann Moses in Darke County, Ohio, on August 13, 1860, Annie Oakley was not exactly a product of the Wild West.

How Annie Oakley, “Princess of the West,” Preserved Her Ladylike Reputation

Born in 1860, the famed female sharpshooter skillfully cultivated an image of a daredevil performer with proper Victorian morals

Jack Johnson, left, fought Jim Jeffries for more than the undisputed heavyweight title; Scott Joplin aspired to more than "King of Ragtime" renown.

A Year of Hope for Joplin and Johnson

In 1910, the boxer Jack Johnson and the musician Scott Joplin embodied a new sense of possibility for African-Americans

Michael Walsh is a New York Times bestselling author and most recently wrote an article on boxer Jack Johnson and musician Scott Joplin for Smithsonian.

Michael Walsh on “Great Expectations”

Gene Kranz (in vest, as Apollo 13 safely splashed down) had faith that "as a group, we were smart enough ... to get out of any problem.

How Gene Kranz’s Apollo 13 Vest Boosted Morale For His Team

The NASA flight director famously wore a homemade white vest as he averted tragedy during one of Apollo’s most harrowing missions

On the streets of Alexandria, Egypt, a mob led by Peter the Lector brutally murdered Hypatia, one of the last great thinkers of ancient Alexandria.

Hypatia, Ancient Alexandria’s Great Female Scholar

An avowed paganist in a time of religious strife, Hypatia was also one of the first women to study math, astronomy and philosophy

"Here is business enough for you," Gage told the first doctor to treat him after a premature detonation on a railroad-building site turned a tamping iron into a missile.

Phineas Gage: Neuroscience’s Most Famous Patient

An accident with a tamping iron made Phineas Gage history’s most famous brain-injury survivor

Charles Atlas playing tug of war with the Rockettes atop Radio City Music Hall

Charles Atlas: Muscle Man

How the original 97-pound-weakling transformed himself and brought physical fitness to the masses

Benjamin W. Patton stands with his father, Gen. George Patton in 1978 at the North Africa American Cemetery in Tunisia. His grandfather, Gen. George S. Patton commanded the U.S. II Corps in 1943.

For General Patton’s Family, Recovered Ground

Famed World War II Gen. George S. Patton’s grandson finds his calling in the ashes of his fathers journals

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