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Left: Bottles of international rums from E&A Scheer line a wall. The rums are used for research and comparison. Right: The distillery’s patented reactor, or “time machine for booze.”

The Madcap Chemists of Booze

At Lost Spirits Distillery in Los Angeles, high-tech instruments accelerate the aging process of precious whiskeys and rums

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Readers Discuss Our January/February 2019 Issue

Your feedback on our military issue

Women have graced coinage since the third century B.C.

Who Was the First Woman Depicted on Currency and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

Giddens with her beloved cherry, maple and rosewood minstrel banjo, a replica of a design by the 19th-century Baltimore luthier Levi Brown.

Hitting the High Notes: A Smithsonian Year of Music

Rhiannon Giddens’ 21st-Century Sound Has a Long History

Inspired by long-lost folk melodies, gospel, opera and bluegrass, the electrifying singer and banjo player gives fresh voice to old American traditions

Dugger makes a stylish statement by superimposing vibrant images of women jumping and twirling over photographs of patterned mats common in Nigeria.

In Nigeria, the Veil Is a Fashion Statement

Artist Medina Dugger finds joy in a colorful yet complicated symbol of faith

Lake Malawi formed in a valley where the African tectonic plate is the process of splitting in two.

The Fishy Mystery of Lake Malawi

In the second-largest lake in Africa, fish evolution is taking place at an explosive rate. Why? Scientists are diving into the question

The long-lived soap opera "All My Children" began its over-40-year run in 1970.

For 70 Years, the Soap Opera Has Shaped American Pop Culture

The much-maligned genre has been resurrected as prestige TV

Women make up less than 19 percent of Wikipedia's biographies.

One Tool in the Fight Against Wikipedia’s Notorious Gender Bias

Can an obscure 19th-century literary form help solve a 21st-century problem?

Only 178 of the historic figures listed in K-through-12 education standards are women, according to a 2017 study.

What Schools Teach About Women’s History Leaves a Lot to Be Desired

A recent study broke down each state’s educational standards to see whose ‘herstory’ was missing

American adventurer and archaeologist Wendell Phillips may have provided inspiration for the character of Indiana Jones.

The Complex Legacy of America’s Lawrence of Arabia

Archaeologist Wendell Phillips traveled throughout Yemen in the 1950s, where he found ancient treasures and controversy

Mary Mildred Williams again takes center stage in Jessie Morgan-Owens’ new book Girl in Black and White.

The Enslaved Girl Who Became America’s First Poster Child

In 1855, Mary Mildred Williams energized the abolitionist movement

Three years after the first oral contraceptive was approved by the FDA, Ortho Pharmaceutical Corporation created the first "memory aid" packaging, which featured a circular calendar in the middle.

Women Who Shaped History

These Objects Begin to Tell the Story of Women’s History in America

Thirteen artifacts from the National Museum of American History chronicle profound changes in the life of the nation

Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court, at her hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee

Women Who Shaped History

Behind the Scenes of Sandra Day O’Connor’s First Days on the Supreme Court

As the first female justice retires from public life, read about her debut on the highest court in the nation

George Washington takes command of the Continental army.

The Plot to Kill George Washington

In The First Conspiracy, thriller writer Brad Meltzer uncovers a real-life story too good to turn into fiction

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Readers Discuss Our December 2018 Issue

Your thoughts on “Costs of the Confederacy” and much more

A polarized-light microscopy image (in background) of a section from the Allende meteorite is one-thousandth of a millimeter thin.

The Oldest Material in the Smithsonian Institution Came From Outer Space

Decades after the Allende Meteorite plunged to Earth, scientists still mine its fragments for clues to the cosmos

Damage to the Philippine Legislative Building as a result of World War II. At the time, the Philippines was a U.S. colony.

Telling the History of the U.S. Through Its Territories

In “How to Hide an Empire,” Daniel Immerwahr explores America far beyond the borders of the Lower 48

Marina Amaral can often find clues to inform her colorization in the shades of gray in the original image

No Color Photos of Jazz Singer Mildred Bailey Existed… Until Now

An artist shows us that the past was not black-and-white

The ‘Pole of Inaccessibility’ Has Eluded Adventurers for More Than a Century

This winter, explorers will once again set out for the most remote part of the Arctic Ocean

Tom Hanks (center) won an Oscar for his portrayal of Andrew Beckett, a gay man suffering from AIDS.

Looking Back at ‘Philadelphia,’ 25 Years Later

What would the breakthrough movie about the AIDS crisis look like if it were made today?

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