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Who Were the Matriarchs of Arizona’s ‘Mother Road’?

The surprising story behind one of the state’s most famous highways.

A political cartoon depicting a footrace for the position of president in the 1824 election

On This Day in History

When No Candidate Won the 1824 Presidential Election, the House of Representatives Was Given the Rare Task of Deciding the Victor

A “corrupt bargain” that delivered John Quincy Adams the presidency ended the Era of Good Feelings and prompted a new period of partisan hostility

J. Frank Duryea and his American-made "motocycle" won first place in the Chicago Times-Herald race on November 28, 1895.

On This Day in History

Six Cars Raced to the Finish Line of the U.S.’s First Automobile Race—at Speeds of Seven Miles Per Hour

Held on this day in 1895, the 54-mile round trip took more than ten hours and involved accidents with streetcars, horses and snowbanks

Smithsonian's picks for the best history books of 2024 include The Barn, Eden Undone and The Wide Wide Sea.

The Ten Best History Books of 2024

Our favorite titles of the year resurrect forgotten histories and examine how the United States ended up where it is today

Today’s traditional Thanksgiving dinner includes turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes. However, the very first Thanksgiving most likely included wildfowl, corn, porridge and venison.

What Food Was Served at the First Thanksgiving in 1621?

Turkey may have been part of the holiday meal, along with venison, shellfish and corn, but pies and potatoes were decidedly not on the menu

Divers recovered rye seeds from the James R. Bentley shipwreck in Lake Huron.

Scientists Are Trying to Make Whiskey Using Rye Seeds That Were Submerged in a Lake Huron Shipwreck for Nearly 150 Years

Divers, distillers and researchers recently recovered grain from the “James R. Bentley,” a wooden schooner that sank during a storm in 1878

A painting of the capture of Blackbeard on November 22, 1718

On This Day in History

How British Authorities Finally Caught Up to the Most Notorious Pirate in History

On this day in 1718, the Royal Navy attacked and killed Blackbeard, also known as Edward Teach, off the coast of North Carolina

Manatees have rebounded since the 1970s but still face myriad threats.

Archaeologists Piece Together the Origin Story of Florida’s Manatees, Revealing They Were Once Tourists

A new study suggests manatees weren’t permanent residents in the Sunshine State until around the 20th century, drawn in by a warming climate and construction of power plants

How do scientists know which insects can see color?

Can Insects See Color? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

One side of the coin is stamped with a simple "NE" to represent New England, while the other side features Roman numerals to denote its value.

American Colonists Minted This Humble Silver Coin in 1652. It Just Sold for $2.52 Million

Settlers in Massachusetts needed cash, but England wouldn’t send any. So, they created their own mint in Boston and began making coins

Alice Beatrice Rhinelander, née Jones (seated at center), looks at her father, George Jones, as they await the verdict in the Rhinelander v. Rhinelander case.

How an Interracial Marriage Sparked One of the Most Scandalous Trials of the Roaring Twenties

Under pressure from his wealthy family, real estate heir Leonard “Kip” Rhinelander claimed that his new wife, Alice Beatrice Jones, had tricked him into believing she was white

One of just two confirmed photographs of Abraham Lincoln (seated in center, facing the camera) at Gettysburg on the day of his address

On This Day in History

Abraham Lincoln’s Legendary Gettysburg Address Promised ‘Government of the People, by the People, for the People’

The president’s humble speech, delivered on this day in 1863, was filled with profound reverence for the Union’s ideals—and the men who died fighting for them

Steadfast Stride Toward Justice by artist Basil Watson is the first life-sized depiction of John Lewis in his home state.

New Statue Honoring Civil Rights Activist John Lewis Unveiled in His Home State of Alabama

The life-sized bronze sculpture of the congressman joins statues of Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks in the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Plaza in Montgomery

The laptop that belonged to Chris Janczewski, former IRS-CI agent

A Federal Agent’s Laptop Held the Keys to Seize $3.6 Billion in Stolen Bitcoin. Here’s How It Ended Up at the Smithsonian

Soon to be on display at the National Museum of American History, the laptop is the centerpiece of a criminal case that shows an evolving understanding of cryptocurrency

Twenty-five years after Angel Island Immigration Station was named to the endangered list, the detention barracks have been restored and an immigration museum has opened in the former hospital building.

These Historic Sites in the U.S. Were Once Endangered. Now They’re Thriving

Since 1988, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has been naming America’s most endangered historic places, attracting much-needed awareness and funding

Floating Clouds, Hisako Hibi, oil on canvas, 1944 

Discover the Remarkable Paintings of Three Japanese Americans Whose Life Stories Are Told Through Their Work

A new exhibition spotlights a trio who pushed the boundaries of American art and illustrated the experiences of World War II incarceration

Officers display the weapons used in the November 15, 1959, killings of the Clutter family.

On This Day in History

Inside the Brutal Murders That Inspired a Foundational Work in the True Crime Genre

Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood” documented the killings of a family of four in rural Kansas on this day in 1959

The machine features a ceramic countertop and two parallel rollers—one that's covered with small nubs.

Cool Finds

Historians Say They’ve Solved the Mystery of a Curious 100-Year-Old Contraption Discovered in Storage

Staffers at the Dorchester County Historical Society in Maryland were baffled by the unusual machine, so they asked the public for help in determining its purpose

Harriet Tubman served in several roles in the Union Army, becoming the first American woman to oversee military action in a time of war.

Women Who Shaped History

Harriet Tubman Just Became a One-Star General, More Than 150 Years After Serving With the Union Army

The celebrated Underground Railroad conductor received posthumous recognition for her service as a spy, scout, nurse and cook during the Civil War

A nuclear-powered car lined with lead and other materials to protect its passengers from radiation would weigh at least 50 tons—more than 25 times as heavy as the average vehicle.

Visions of Nuclear-Powered Cars Captivated Cold War America, but the Technology Never Really Worked

From the Ford Nucleon to the Studebaker-Packard Astral, these vehicles failed to progress past the prototype stage in the 1950s and 1960s

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