Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Magazine

Workers wave proudly from the windows of a plant closed by the sit-down strike in Flint, Michigan, in 1937. 

Organized Labor Took a Huge Step Forward When GM Workers Sat Down in Unison in 1937

Instead of picketing, striking autoworkers in Flint, Michigan, tried a bold tactic that gummed up the works and forced the company to recognize their union

English farmer Nicholas Wood.

Eating Challenges Are All the Rage. But When Was the Last Time You Saw Someone Eat a Mutton Shoulder Bone?

Even before the internet, overindulgence was something of a spectator sport for those who reveled in gastronomic glory

Spices helps flavor evolve.

When Did Cooks Start Using Spices? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions, we’ve got experts

None

Elizabeth Cady Stanton Is Known as the Woman Behind the Suffrage Movement. A New Book Reveals the Story Behind Her Tenacity

Her role as a historic hero or villain depends on the movement in question, but looking at her as a mother and daughter adds depth to her legend

The Ennedi Natural and Cultural Reserve, in eastern Chad, encompasses 19,300 square miles of a vast sandstone plateau.

The Sahara Desert Hasn’t Always Been a Dry, Desolate Landscape. Some Scientists See Signs It May Be Greening Again

Petroglyphs on sandstone at a national park in Chad bear witness to wildlife that once roamed the area before the continent’s water largely receded 6,000 years ago. Could it return?

Xin Ying, principal dancer with Martha Graham Dance Company, wears a costume from the 1948 ballet Diversion of Angels. Graham designed the dress, inspired by a splash of color in a Wassily Kandinsky painting.

Martha Graham Took Classic Ballet and Turned It Into Modern Dance. It’s Still Moving Us 100 Years Later

Her choreography told stories in new ways and her collaborations with costume and stage designers changed the aesthetic of the art. Now, her dance company marks its first century

The artist who custom-painted the helmet for Colonel Nicole Malachowski wrote a note of congrats to Malachowski: “I’ve been polishing and designing these helmets for many Thunderbird teams. My young daughter never expressed any interest ... [but] I told her this was for the first woman pilot, and she wanted to help me polish it.”

This Helmet Kept an Air Force Pilot Safe as She Was Soaring Through the Glass Ceiling

When a young Nicole Malachowski was dreaming about becoming a fighter pilot, she couldn’t have imagined the heights she’d fly as part of the elite Thunderbirds

She was known as Vicky With Three Kisses— a German radio star whose singing and sweet talk comforted weary Nazi soldiers. She was actually a secret weapon in a little-known Allied propaganda effort.

One of the Allies’ Secret Weapons Against the Nazis Was a 21-Year-Old Woman Armed With a Microphone and a Script of Lies

As “Vicky With Three Kisses,” she strategically sweet-talked and sang to German troops over the airwaves of Europe. But Agnes Bernauer didn’t mean anything she was saying

None

Get Your Red-Hot History Lesson! How the Hot Dog Rose From Coney Island Carts to Platters at Presidential Picnics

A simple sausage from Germany overtook ballparks and backyards to become the quintessential hand-held meal that is decidedly all-American

A vintage spray-paint canister containing Fire Orange—one of DayGlo’s most recognizable and ubiquitous hues—and produced by New York Bronze Powder Company Inc., likely in the early 1980s.

With an Experiment in Their Basement Photo Lab, Two Brothers Created a Paint That Outshines Them All

In the 1930s, the Switzer brothers stumbled onto a way to mimic fluorescence. That led to Day-Glo, which has been making the world a brighter place ever since

Two livestock guardian dogs, both akbash and Great Pyrenees mixes, stand among their flock at a ranch run by the prominent dog-breeding Buchholz family.

When Coyotes Threatened Livestock on Central Texas Ranches, the Solution Was to Unlock an Ancient Ability in Dogs

Killing the predators is not nearly as effective as the intimidating presence of well-trained guardians, a role some breeds have played for 5,000 years

Brian Boitano wore these skates during the performance that earned him a gold medal in figure skating at the Calgary Games in 1988. The boots were made by Harlick & Company and the metal by John Wilson Blades.  

See the Blades That Carried Boitano to Gold in the ‘Battle of the Brians’ in the 1988 Olympics

The American’s fabled rivalry with Canadian Brian Orser reached its pinnacle in Calgary on these skates, now part of the Smithsonian collection

Green, from an illustration published in 1872

Samuel Green Freed Himself and Others From Slavery. Then He Was Imprisoned Over Owning a Book

After buying his own liberty, the Marylander covertly assisted conductors on the Underground Railroad, including Harriet Tubman. But his possession of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” turned him into an abolitionist hero

None

Readers Respond to the December 2025 Issue

Your feedback on the Best Friends Animal Society and an archaeological site along the Silk Road

Black soldier fly larvae grow in a high-tech facility at Innovafeed in Nesle, France. The company, which also has a facility in Decatur, Illinois, is the world’s largest producer of black soldier fly larvae.

Maggots Are an Incredibly Efficient Source of Protein, Which May Make Them the Next Superfood for Humans

Inexpensive to raise and insatiably hungry for trash, black soldier fly larvae are already on the menu for livestock, pets and, maybe soon, people

 Miles Davis’ ceaseless reinventions of his art led Duke Ellington to call him the “Picasso of jazz.”

Miles Davis Emerged From Middle America to Become the ‘Picasso of Jazz’ and Taught Us All How to Be Cool

As we approach the 100th anniversary of the birth of a jazz legend, look back on the staggering impact of his work and its continued relevance

A hand-colored map from 1860 depicts parts of Manhattan,  Brooklyn, Hoboken and Jersey City. 

The Time When New York City Seriously Considered Seceding From the United States

A culture clash driven by finances and Old World alignments had the Big Apple contemplating leaving the Union. The Civil War ended that

An examiner affixes a “driver testing” notice ahead of a road test in South Carolina, in the mid-20th century. 

The Driver’s License Used to Say Who Can Drive. Now It Says a Lot About Who We Are

What was once a simple paper card has evolved with the tech of the times as it has gone from protecting our roads to playing a role in national security

Did Benjamin Franklin really fly a kite in a thunderstorm?

America's 250th Anniversary

What’s the Real Story With Ben Franklin and the Kite? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions, we’ve got experts

Curtis Kauffman with a 1950s Vendo 39 Coke machine—which he has not yet refurbished—at the Route 11 Antique Mall in Hagerstown, Maryland.

When This Restoration Expert Gets His Hands on a Relic, the Result Can Send You Back in Time

At a Maryland antiques mall, Curtis Kauffman takes trinkets from the past and makes them better than ever. For his customers, that’s worth a lot

Page 4 of 94