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Artist Amy Sherald, photographed at the Hauser & Wirth gallery in New York City.

American Ingenuity Awards

How Amy Sherald’s Revelatory Portraits Challenge Expectations

The artist who garnered fame at the Smithsonian and then painted the official portrait of Michelle Obama brings her unique style to ordinary people

American Ingenuity Awards

How Lil Nas X and ‘Old Town Road’ Defy Categorization

The self-taught 20-year-old musician galloped to global fame with his chart-topping song that fuses country and hip-hop together

American Ingenuity Awards

Inventor Alex Kipman’s Grand Vision for How Holograms Will Change Our Lives

The designer behind Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 predicts a future driven by augmented reality

Since the 1940s, years spent dating and living together before marriage has increased, while meeting online has become the dominant real-life "meet-cute" story.

New Research Offers Insights Into How American Couples Meet

A history of getting hitched reveals the only thing that people are not in a hurry to do

Diane Meyer walked the entire 96-mile perimeter of the former wall to take pictures for her hand-sewn photograph series “Berlin.” Above, Brandenburg Gate, 2015.

Where the Berlin Wall Once Stood

Even after a terrible barrier comes down, an artist conjures its haunting presence

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November 2019 Discussion

Your feedback on our coverage of women in science, Prince, and the Green Corn Rebellion

Today Santiago de Cuba, which lies at the foot of the Sierra Maestra, is a bustling cultural capital.

Tony Perrottet's Cuba

Tony Perrottet’s Cuba

Read Smithsonian contributor Tony Perrottet’s coverage of the Caribbean island

Ernesto Guevara cruises by an image of his father on a building in Havana's Plaza of the Revolution, one of the larges public squares in the world.

Tony Perrottet's Cuba

Roaring Through Cuba With Che Guevara’s Son

What’s Ernesto Guevara, son of the world’s most recognizable revolutionary, doing on a Harley Davidson? Leading a whirlwind tour around his native island

Men feed blocks of ice into a snow machine in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1938.

How Artificial Snow Was Invented

You don’t have to ski on cornflakes because Hollywood’s quest for authenticity on-screen triggered an avalanche of frozen innovation

The Battle Over the Memory of the Spanish Civil War

How Spain chooses to memorialize Francisco Franco and the victims of his authoritarian regime is tearing the nation apart

The Wright brothers' 1903 flight made history, regardless of other claims about earlier flights.

Ask Smithsonian

Was Jakob Brodbeck First in Flight? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions, we’ve got experts

U.S. Army Pvt. John McGrath survived the bullet that scarred this letter he penned during the liberation of Italy.

The Unprecedented Effort to Preserve a Million Letters Written by U.S. Soldiers During Wartime

A tragedy at home led one intrepid historian to find and catalog precious correspondence for future generations to study

The Glenn Miller orchestra recorded "Moonlight Serenade" in 1939 as the B side of a 78 rpm on the RCA Bluebird label.

How ‘Moonlight Serenade’ Defined a Generation

Bandleader Glenn Miller, who was lost at sea 75 years ago, played and replayed the song before troops serving in World War II

Deadly perils awaited prospectors who flocked to the Yukon. In April 1898, on a single day, 65 men on the Chilkoot Trail died in an avalanche. Typhoid also took its toll.

Gold Fever! Deadly Cold! And the Amazing True Adventures of Jack London in the Wild

In 1897, the California native went to the frozen North looking for gold. What he found instead was the great American novel

Alcatraz Island, home to the nation’s most notorious pen, was the site of a crucial civil rights battle 50 years ago.

Alcatraz’s Captivating Hold on History

Fifty years after Native American activists occupied the island, take a look back at the old prison in San Francisco Bay

Entering German cities within days of their capture by Allied forces, the special Army-led team slipped into bomb-ravaged Cologne in early March 1945.

The Untold Story of the Secret Mission to Seize Nazi Map Data

How a covert U.S. Army intelligence unit canvassed war-torn Europe, capturing intelligence with incalculable strategic value

The Texas trinity of sausage, ribs and brisket, with a house blend of spices added to the crust.

Food, Glorious Food

How Three Guys From Houston Are Cooking Up a Revolution in Texas Barbecue

A tiny suburban eatery is breaking all the rules to create some of the freshest-tasting grub on the horizon

A still life of Renia Spiegel’s diary

The Unforgotten: New Voices of the Holocaust

How an Astonishing Holocaust Diary Resurfaced in America

Hidden for 70 years, a new invaluable contribution to Holocaust literature—the diary of Renia Spiegel—was rediscovered inside a desk in New York

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Readers Respond to Our September Issue

Your feedback on our coverage of Pompeii, John Steinbeck and Saturn’s rings

The word "teetotaler" dates back to the temperance movement that preceded Prohibition.

Where Does the Word ‘Teetotaler’ Come From? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions, we’ve got experts

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