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An illustration of all 726 solar systems depicting planets confirmed as of October 30, 2018, the end of Kepler’s life span. The colors represent each planet’s temperature, ranging from chilly dark blue to fiery red. The mission yielded so much data that scientists are still announcing new planets years later.

America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

A Blip on a Telescope in a Colorado Parking Lot Bolstered a Space Mission That Has Found Thousands of Planets … and Counting

The Kepler telescope changed how we saw the sky. It’s just one of the devices we’ve sent out beyond the reach of humans to search our solar system

A photo illustration of Jonas Salk.

America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

When the Fear of Polio Gripped the World, Jonas Salk’s Determination Led to a Liberating Medical Breakthrough

The son of the doctor, himself now a physician and researcher, recalls his vaccination in the kitchen as painless. Now, he recounts the impact of the work his father led

A portrait of Fuller, inspired by her 1845 Woman in the Nineteenth Century, which argued for equality of the sexes. The book’s opening illustration featured mystical symbols of harmonizing opposites, including the Ouroboros, a snake eating its own tail.

America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

Born in 1810, Margaret Fuller Was Labeled a Child Prodigy. She Later Used Her Intellect to Ask Important Questions About Women’s Role in America

Her writing posed the novel premise: What does it mean to be a woman? Her early death meant she never saw the movement she inspired

O’Keeffe’s New Mexico studio Ghost Ranch. Opposite, a 1918 photo portrait by future husband Alfred Stieglitz.

America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

Georgia O’Keeffe Ignored Advice to Mimic Great European Masters. Her Goal Instead Was to Be a Great American Painter

The genius of her work was in painting things as she saw them through her own eyes. So when she surrounded herself with beauty, her work reflected it

After Isaac Newton, above, revolutionized celestial mechanics, admirers such as Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and Paine, left, saw in Newton’s natural laws a model for democratic self-government.

America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

The American Revolution’s Overlooked Influence? Physics. How ‘Common Sense’ Spelled Out Astronomical Expectations for a New Nation

The manifesto leaned heavily on Isaac Newton’s theories in making a case for independence, and fellow founders drew on the notion to build a new system of government

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Smithsonian Magazine Presents: America at 250—The Revolutionary Spark

Celebrating the visionary insights & darling innovators that forged a nation.

Two U.S. Navy officers stroll past the sunlit Georgian splendor of Middleton Tavern in Annapolis, Maryland. Horatio Middleton established the tavern here in 1750. Today, visitors can order classic Chesapeake seafood, including oysters and rockfish.

America's 250th Anniversary

Follow in the Footsteps of the Founders and Have a Drink Where They Planned the Revolution Over a Few Beers

Taverns, public houses and inns served as meeting places before the war and unofficial headquarters during it. Some still stand—including these nine, where you can raise a glass in memory of the founders

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Readers Respond to the March 2026 Issue

Your feedback on World War II propaganda radio, the evolution of the Sahara and the resurgence of guardian dogs

The singer, actor and television host Dinah Shore touts big savings on the cover of the Sperry & Hutchinson Company’s 1963 Ideabook.

Customer Loyalty Was Once Measured in Green Stamps. And the More You Shopped, the Bigger the Rewards

If you’ve ever earned a free latte for buying ten of them earlier, it’s a direct result of the phenomenon created by a company few remember today

Roo Satay, a dish at Attica, in Melbourne, featuring a skewer of grilled red kangaroo and rice studded with native fruits and wattleseeds, which were traditionally ground into flour for bread.

How Australian Chefs and Farmers Are Rediscovering the Ingredients That Have Been There All Along

From kangaroo grass to Kakadu plums, native foods are redefining diners’ taste buds and deepening their connection to the land

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‘The Queen of the Ghetto’ Gave New York’s Immigrant Community a Voice. A Century Later, It’s Re-emerging

Anzia Yezierska wrote from experience then worked hard to make sure her work found an audience. Then a new audience found her

A visitor gazes at a statue of a giant short-faced bear. At around 11 feet tall, the Ice Age animal was the largest carnivorous mammal ever to roam North America.

250 Places to Celebrate America

The La Brea Tar Pits Have Been Sucking in Visitors for Millennia. Paleontologists Are Still Finding Out What Lies Within the Ooze

In Los Angeles, scientists are delighted to decode one of the richest fossil records on Earth

Some 150 proboscis monkeys like this one make their home in Bako National Park, a protected area on the northwestern coast of Borneo.

The Endangered Proboscis Monkey Is Easily Identifiable By One Physical Trait: Its Supersized Schnoz

When you see this primate’s nose, you know you’re in Borneo, where efforts are underway to restore its habitat

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See the Spectacular Winners of Smithsonian Magazine’s 23rd Annual Photography Contest

This year’s best photos command attention by capturing intimate moments and bold colors

The Philadelphia, a flat-bottomed gunboat, served briefly at the Battle of Valcour Island in October 1776. Thanks to Smithsonian conservators, the Philadelphia is coming back to life in the National Museum of American History.

America's 250th Anniversary

The Gunboat ‘Philadelphia’ Lasted One Day in Battle. It’s Still Telling Us About the Revolution 250 Years Later

The 29-ton ship went to war against the British, then sat at the bottom of Lake Champlain for 160 years. Now it’s a relic of ragged glory

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Why Do So Few Mammals Go Through Menopause? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

Rotorelief no. 1. This 1935 lithograph, printed on a 7 7⁄8-inch cardboard disc, could spin on a record player to create a hypnotic illusion of three dimensions. 

MoMA Plans a Retrospective for Marcel Duchamp, the Dada Artist Who Was Unimpressed With His Own Masterpieces

The French-American avant garde artist said painting and sculpture exhibitions made him sick. But the collection of 200 of his works may tell the story of art in the 20th century

Original hand-carved hubs for the Purple Heart and Silver Star rest in the jeweler’s toolbox of legendary Providence-based hub carver Elio “Duke” Lossini.

This Massive Collection of More Than a Million Tools Tells the Striking History of Jewelry Making in America

Before computers and A.I., beautiful trinkets were formed with a combination of hubs, dies, finesse and force. Kevin Potter has perhaps the world’s largest assemblage of them

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America's 250th Anniversary

The Spirited Revolutionary Who Led the Fight for Independence in Corsica Also Inspired America’s Colonial Rabble-Rousers

Pasquale Paoli was a “small fish fighting an entire empire.” Four thousand miles away, the founding fathers were watching and taking notes

The tenth-century temple of Banteay Srei, northeast of Angkor, where Clara and André Malraux planned an audacious 1923 heist. The Hindu shrine complex, built from intricately carved red sandstone, is celebrated for some of the finest surviving decorative stonework of the Khmer era.

To Finance Their Lifestyle, a Young French Couple Went to Cambodia to Steal Antiquities. They Did Almost Everything Wrong

Clara and André Malraux conspired to loot the pink temple of Banteay Srei, but their failure started a battle of reclamation

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