Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

History

Frescoes inside the Brömserhof, the building where Siegfried's Mechanical Musical Instrument Museum is housed.

Europe

This Medieval Knight’s Manor Houses Over 350 Mechanical Musical Instruments

From tiny music boxes to the bus-sized Orchestrion, Siegfried’s Mechanical Music Cabinet in Germany’s Rhineland is the perfect musical detour

Puerto Ricans were granted U.S. citizenship on the eve of America's entry into the First World War. This picture comes from 1906 and shows the officer staff of the Regiment of Infantry.

Puerto Ricans Got U.S. Citizenship 100 Years Ago—But Their Identity Remains Fraught

Even a century later, those who live in the U.S. territory have little autonomy

How a Soap Opera Virus Felled Hundreds of Students in Portugal

The “Strawberries With Sugar” outbreak is just one example of mass hysteria, which goes back centuries

An 1851 map of the United States shows Texas and the New Mexico, Utah and Indian Territories.

History of Now

For More Than 150 Years, Texas Has Had the Power to Secede…From Itself

A quirk of a 19th-century Congressional resolution could allow Texas to split up into five states

The cartoon by Thomas Nast shows the battles between President Johnson and Congress over Reconstruction.

Document Deep Dive

The Political Cartoon That Explains the Battle Over Reconstruction

Take a deep dive into this drawing by famed illustrator Thomas Nast

Susan, far left, with her husband (seated with puppy) at their Bancroft, Nebraska, home.

The Incredible Legacy of Susan La Flesche, the First Native American to Earn a Medical Degree

With few rights as a woman and as an Indian, the pioneering doctor provided valuable health care and resources to her Omaha community

A Roman amphitheater in Bosra, Syria. Bosra, a UNESCO World Heritage site, has been damaged by civil war.

Scientists Shoot Stones to Study War’s Impact on Heritage Sites

The bullets caused hidden networks of fractures beneath the stones’ surfaces

A collage of the work distributed by the British propaganda effort.

History of Now

The Fake British Radio Show That Helped Defeat the Nazis

By spreading fake news and sensational rumors, intelligence officials leveraged “psychological judo” against the Nazis in World War II

Follow the Path of the Freedom Riders in This Interactive Map

These civil rights activists showed true courage in telling the nation about the segregated South

Ace Harlyn (active ca. 1930–40), Charlie Wagner tattooing Millie Hull, 1939, oil on canvas

Tattooing Was Illegal in New York City Until 1997

The New-York Historical Society’s newest exhibit delves into the history of the city’s once-turbulent ink scene

The 38,000-year-old woolly mammoth carving next to Georges Seurat's "A Sunday on La Grande Jatte." Despite the vast amount of time between their respective creations, both use a collection of dots to form a larger image.

New Research

Prehistoric Pointillism? Long Before Seurat, Ancient Artists Chiseled Mammoths Out of Dots

Newly discovered 38,000-year-old cave art predates the French post-Impressionist art form

The Watanabe family brought this suitcase with them to Idaho's Minidoka camp. Evacuees were allowed to bring only what they could carry.

What’s Changed in the 30 Years Since the Smithsonian Opened an Exhibition on Japanese Internment

A new display at the American History Museum marks the 75th Anniversary of Executive Order 9066

Two unidentified Australian officers examining a tree trunk which was used as an observation post at German House. The opening to the post is located at the base of the trunk. The color patches indicate the officers are members of the 3rd Division Army Services Corps. Note behind the post a dugout (center, right) and trenches.

These Fake Trees Were Used as Spy Posts on the Front Lines of World War I

On the Western Front, meticulously crafted iron trees were used by both sides to conceal enemy forces

Order an old fashioned at the Frolic Room on Hollywood Boulevard, an old haunt of show business greats like Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland.

Lights, Camera…Cocktails! Five Historic Bars From Hollywood’s Golden Age

Toast the Oscars at one of these Old Holywood watering holes

Children have been crippled by land mines in Cambodia.

The Historic Innovation of Land Mines—And Why We’ve Struggled to Get Rid of Them

A number of researchers are developing tools to defuse or detonate land mines without harming civilians

The remnants of a Viking barn still stand at what had been the settlement of Gardar.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

Why Did Greenland’s Vikings Vanish?

Newly discovered evidence is upending our understanding of how early settlers made a life on the island — and why they suddenly disappeared

Page 163 of 300