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Ask Smithsonian 2017

What (or Who) Caused the Great Chicago Fire?

The true story behind the myth of Mrs. O’Leary and her cow

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Predictions From The Father of Science Fiction

Hugo Gernsback’s predictions give us a look at the most radical of technological utopianism from the 1920s

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Revisiting Epcot Center on its 30th Birthday

Has the Disney theme park outlived its purpose as a monument to science and technology?

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Recapping “The Jetsons”: Episode 02 – A Date With Jet Screamer

The Jetson family’s descent into sex, drugs and rock & roll

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The Unsolved Mystery of the Tunnels at Baiae

Did ancient priests fool visitors to a sulfurous subterranean stream that they had crossed the River Styx and entered Hades?

The United Nations in New York City.

The Surprisingly Colorful Spaces Where the World’s Biggest Decisions Get Made (PHOTOS)

Photographer Luca Zanier looks at the view from where the decision-makers sit

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From the Editor

From the Editor

"It's possible my natural level is in the Senate," John F. Kennedy said—but then he won the 1960 election. As president, he and his wife hosted Ben and Tony Bradlee (left and third from left) at the White House.

Kennedy After Dark: A Dinner Party About Politics and Power

In this exclusive transcript from the JFK library, hear what he had to say just days after announcing his candidacy for the presidency

Low-altitude images, previously unpublished, reveal gaps in U.S. intelligence. Analysts failed to detect tactical nuclear warheads at a bunker near Managua.

The Photographs That Prevented World War III

While researching a book on the Cuban missile crisis, the writer unearthed new spy images that could have changed history

“I’d come back from an op and couldn’t wait for what happens next,” says Douglas Groat (shown in a reenactment with tools of the trade).

The CIA Burglar Who Went Rogue

Douglas Groat thought he understood the risks of his job—until he took on his own employer

Dr. Lewis Fielding’s File Cabinet.

The World’s Most Famous Filing Cabinet

After Daniel Ellsberg leaked the Pentagon Papers, the notorious Plumbers broke into his psychiatrist’s office, looking for a way to discredit him

At the gravesite of Mercy Lena Brown, right, sightseers leave offerings such as plastic vampire teeth and jewelry.

The Great New England Vampire Panic

Two hundred years after the Salem witch trials, farmers became convinced that their relatives were returning from the grave to feed on the living

The Dark Side of Thomas Jefferson

A new portrait of the founding father challenges the long-held perception of Thomas Jefferson as a benevolent slaveholder

The fireman Tom Sawyer was lionized by local reporters for battling the “flames which destroyed the . . . landmarks of a boom town.”

The Adventures of the Real Tom Sawyer

Mark Twain prowled the rough-and-tumble streets of 1860s San Francisco with a hard-drinking, larger-than-life fireman

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The Silence that Preceded China’s Great Leap into Famine

Mao Zedong encouraged critics of his government—and then betrayed them just when their advice might have prevented a calamity

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Recapping “The Jetsons”: Episode 01 – Rosey the Robot

Meet George Jetson! The first installment of our 24-part series on the show that would forever change how we view the future

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Trains of Tomorrow, After the War

The wartime inconveniences of traveling by train prompted the promise for “the finest transportation the world has ever seen”

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The Copper King’s Precipitous Fall

Augustus Heinze dominated the copper fields of Montana, but his family’s scheming on Wall Street set off the Panic of 1907

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Play the Great American History Puzzle

Jeopardy! Champion Ken Jennings takes you on a challenging adventure through the secrets of American history. Will you be our grand prize winner?

Lunch Atop a Skyscraper Photograph: The Story Behind the Famous Shot

For 80 years, the 11 ironworkers in the iconic photo have remained unknown, and now, thanks to new research, two of them have been identified

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