Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News / Smart News Arts & Culture

Trending Today

What Is the Congressional Review Act?

The U.S. Congress is wiping away rules and regulations finalized in the last months of the Obama administration through a little-used 1996 law

Mr. Darcy as depicted in a tailored blue Regency-styled suit.

Meet the Historically Accurate Mr. Darcy

A team of experts on fashion and social culture offer their take on Jane Austen’s brooding hero

It was a pivotal moment in computing history when a computer beat a human at chess for the first time, but that doesn't mean chess is "solved."

Computers Are Great at Chess, But That Doesn’t Mean the Game Is ‘Solved’

On this day in 1996, the computer Deep Blue made history when it beat Garry Kasparov

The 500 artifacts featured in "Tunnel: The Archaeology of Crossrail" offer insight into millennia of the region's history—from Mesolithic tool makers to those affected by the Great Plague of 1665.

New Exhibit Reveals 8,000 Years of London’s History

The Museum of London Docklands highlights 500 finds unearthed by the Crossrail Project

Trapeze artist Antoinette poses with her husband aerialist Arthur "Art" Concello.

This Archive Is Digitizing the History of the Circus

In a bid to preserve circus culture, Illinois State University’s Milner Library is making more than 300 circus route books available online

Twain's living room

Trending Today

Mark Twain Museum Battles Mold

A malfunctioning HVAC system led to mold contaminating 5,000 artifacts in a storage room, which will be restored over the next four months

Archeologists found this piece of parchment rolled up in a jug in a cave on the cliffs west of Qumran.

Archaeologists Might Have Found Another Dead Sea Scroll Cave

It could be cave number 12

Claude Monet's "The Green Wave" (ca. 1866) is just one of 375,000 images from the Metropolitan Museum of Art that are now available to download for free.

Cool Finds

375,000 Images From the Met Are Now Yours for the Taking

It’s a milestone for one of the world’s most significant art collections

Channel Parker's vicious wit in the coat she wore for decades.

Cool Finds

Fans of Dorothy Parker Can Pay to Wear Her Mink Coat

It’s all in the name of preservation

Wanted: a few patrons to help preserve Vincent van Gogh's grave for future generations.

Trending Today

The Quest to Save Vincent van Gogh’s Grave

His final resting place is in disrepair, so fans of the tormented artist are pitching in to save it

This illustration by Helen Sewell graced one of the original editions of Little House on the Prairie, published in the 1930s. That book tells of the period in the Ingalls family's lives in which they settled in Kansas on land that still belonged to Native Americans.

The Little House on the Prairie Was Built on Native American Land

Yesterday was Laura Ingalls Wilder’s 150th birthday. It’s time to take a critical look at her work

A woodcut from 1482 is yours for the coloring in a book by the Bodleian Library.

Cool Finds

#ColorOurCollections Is Back, Turning Your Favorite Cultural Institutions Into Coloring Books

In its second year, it’s more vibrant than ever

Although it's possible that Sandro Botticelli threw other works of his on the bonfire, the Birth of Venus thankfully survived.

A Fanatical Monk Inspired 15th-Century Italians to Burn Their Clothes, Makeup and Art

He told Florentines the apocalypse was coming, and to save themselves through self-censorship

:)

Researchers Discover a 17th-Century “Emoji”

The classic smiley face has been around for a long time

Babe Ruth's first major-league team was the Boston Red Sox, where he was a star player. When he was sold to the New York Yankees in 1919, the "Curse of the Bambino" began and the Red Sox didn't win another World Series until 2004.

Why Was Babe Ruth So Good At Hitting Home Runs?

People have been using science on the Great Bambino since the 1920s

In the summer of 1946, Holocaust survivors lent their voices to the "Henonville Songs," which psychologist David Boder recorded on this wire spool.

Spool of “Holocaust Songs” Found in Mislabelled Container

The “Henonville Songs” are being heard for the first time in 70 years

View of La Danta—one of the world's largest pyramids—located in the Mirador Basin.

LiDAR Scans Reveal Maya Civilization’s Sophisticated Network of Roads

Detailed aerial images reveal a remarkably ambitious transportation network consisting of 17 roads

Preening automaton

Cool Finds

This Robotic Silver Swan Has Fascinated Fans for Nearly 250 Years

It preens, fishes and impresses

Rachel Carson in 1962.

Rachel Carson Wrote Silent Spring (Partly) Because of the Author of Stuart Little

The book was a turning point for the environmental movement

Vera Lynn performing a lunchtime concert at a munitions factory in 1941.

WWII Songstress Croons Her Way to Age 100 With a New Album

Dame Vera Lynn “the Forces’ Sweetheart” will make the history books with the release

Page 205 of 286