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History

An aerial shot of North Sentinel Island

Inside the Story of John Allen Chau’s Ill-Fated Trip to a Remote Island

Questions abound about the ethics of the missionary’s trip and what will happen next

A police officer directs traffic in London in the 1890s.

When the Street Light First Came to London, Disaster Ensued

First introduced in 1868, the device was meant to prevent accidents—but then it caused one

As biographer Antonia Fraser explains, Mary’s story is one of “murder, sex, pathos, religion and unsuitable lovers"

Based on a True Story

The True Story of Mary, Queen of Scots, and Elizabeth I

Josie Rourke’s film sees Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie transform from allies into rivals, but in actuality, the queens’ relationship was far more complex

Thomas Jennings, accused of murdering Clarence D. Hiller, Chicago, Illinois, 1910.

The First Criminal Trial That Used Fingerprints as Evidence

Thomas Jennings used a freshly painted railing to flee a murder scene but unwittingly left behind something that would change detective work forever

The train carrying President George H. W. Bush, following in the tradition of Lincoln, Garfield and Eisenhower, will travel along a published 70-mile route so that mourners can gather along the way to witness the journey.

The Somber History of the Presidential Funeral Train

This grand tradition has allowed Americans across the country to pay their respects to the chief executive

Illustration of a sloth in André Thevet's Les Singularitez de la France Antarctique (Paris: heirs of Maurice de la Porte 1558)

The Strange Nature of the First Printed Illustration of a Sloth

As described by a 16th-century French missionary, the South American ‘little bear’ with the face of ‘a baby’ was introduced to Europe

George H.W. Bush (1924-2018). Photograph by William Coupon.

Looking Back at George H.W. Bush’s Lifelong Career of Public Service

The former President, dead at 94 years old, was noteworthy for his “humanity and decency,” says a Smithsonian historian

The Best Books of 2018

In our efforts to increase and diffuse knowledge, we highly recommend these 70 titles released this year

Hand axes from the site of Saffaqah, Saudi Arabia.

Stone Tools at Arabian “Crossroads” Present Mysteries of Ancient Human Migration

Hominins made stone tools in central Arabia 190,000 years ago, and the hand axe technology raises questions about just who they were

If Light Can’t Escape Black Holes, How Do We Get Photos of Them… and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

About 65 percent of Americans will send Christmas letters or cards this holiday season.

The History of Our Love-Hate Relationship With the Christmas Letter

How the “Dear Friends” missive started and how it has survived the Facebook age

What the Popularity of ‘Fortnite’ Has in Common With the 20th Century Pinball Craze

Long before parents freaked over the ubiquitous video game, they flipped out over another newfangled fad

The breakthrough propeller, its blades shaped by hatchet and drawknife from two-ply spruce, was sheathed in linen and sealed with aluminum powder mixed into a heavy varnish.

Why Wilbur Wright Deserves the Bulk of the Credit for the First Flight

A new book advances a controversial theory about the singular contribution that went into the brothers’ pioneering achievement

A pipe from the Lower Yukon region of Alaska.

North America’s Earliest Smokers May Have Helped Launch the Agricultural Revolution

As archaeologists push back the dates for the spread of tobacco use, new questions are emerging about trade networks and agriculture

U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft fire chaff and flare countermeasures over the Nevada Test and Training Range Nov. 17, 2010.

The Woman Whose Invention Helped Win a War — and Still Baffles Weathermen

Her work long overlooked, physicist Joan Curran developed technology to conceal aircraft from radar during World War II

At Beauvoir this past October, Jim Huffman, a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, showed students the 1863 battle flag of the Army of Tennessee.

The Costs of the Confederacy

In the last decade alone, American taxpayers have spent at least $40 million on Confederate monuments and groups that perpetuate racist ideology

A section of the 18,000-square-foot Cyclorama depicts a pivotal moment: Lt Edward Jones, on horseback, racing to reinforce the Federal line.

American South

Atlanta’s Famed Cyclorama Mural Will Tell the Truth About the Civil War Once Again

One of the war’s greatest battles was fought again and again on a spectacular canvas nearly 400 feet long. At last, the real history is being restored

The Immigrant Story Behind the Classic “Greetings From” Postcards

Long before Instagram, Americans showed off their travels using Curt Teich’s cheery linen postcards.

2018 Smithsonian Ingenuity Awards

Tracy K. Smith, America’s Poet Laureate, Travels the Country to Ignite Our Imaginations

Like Johnny Appleseed, Smith has been planting the seeds of verse across the U.S.

The co-founders of the Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, Mily Treviño-Sauceda and Mónica Ramírez (foreground), stand with members of Líderes Campesinas on a farm in Oxnard, California.

2018 Smithsonian Ingenuity Awards

The Time’s Up Initiative Built Upon the Work Done by These Labor Activists

How the leaders of a farmworkers’ alliance reached across cultural divides to fight sexual harassment

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