Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

American History

Dodge City in 1878

Gun Control Is as Old as the Old West

Contrary to the popular imagination, bearing arms on the frontier was a heavily regulated business

This Man Filmed Life Inside an Internment Camp

Dave Tatsuno was one of the 120,000 Japanese-Americans rounded up in the U.S. in 1942 and placed in an internment camp

Reports of weird, wondrous, and worrying objects in the skies date to ancient times.

How UFO Reports Change With the Technology of the Times

Fears of Zeppelins, rockets and drones have replaced the “celestial wonders” of ancient times

Eighmey's colonial-style corn cakes (top), forcemeat balls (lower right) and pickled French beans (lower left).

The Ben Franklin-Inspired Super Bowl Recipes You Never Knew You Needed

We don’t know who Ben Franklin would root for, but we do know what he’d eat on Super Bowl Sunday

A photo of David Koresh rests beside a wooden cross as part of a monument erected in Waco, Texas, by supporters of the Branch Davidian leader and founder, Friday, April 30, 1993.

The True Story of ‘Waco’ Is Still One of Contention

A new mini-series hopes to humanize those in and outside the doomed compound

30 Workers Fell While Building the Golden Gate Bridge

During the construction of the Golden Gate bridge, the construction companies had a grim rule of thumb: one worker fatality for every million dollars spent

Civil War Submarine Battles Were Often Suicide Missions

During the Civil War, the North imposed a suffocating blockade of a number of key Confederate port

New research concludes that there are many “Lost Einsteins” in America – children who had the ability to become inventors but didn’t because of where they were born.

Expose Talented Kids From Low-Income Familes To Inventors and They’re More Likely To Invent

A new analysis sheds light on how we might better serve America’s “Lost Einsteins”

Left: Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Terminal, 6th Street & Constitution Avenue, Washington, D.C. Opened in 1873, demolished in 1908. Right: View of the Constitution Avenue entrance, north side, of the National Gallery of Art.

Trending Today

Why Doesn’t Garfield Assassination Site on the National Mall Have a Marker?

A new campaign by historians seeks to bring recognition to the site where the 20th president was shot

The USS Pueblo, a Navy intelligence-gathering ship, was patrolling international waters in January 1968 when it was captured by North Korean vessels.

History of Now

Fifty Years Ago, North Korea Captured an American Ship and Nearly Started a Nuclear War

The provocative incident involving the USS Pueblo was peacefully resolved, in part because of the ongoing Vietnam War

The “Dodge City Peace Commission,” June, 1883. Wyatt Earp is seated, second from left.

How Dodge City Became a Symbol of Frontier Lawlessness

Fake news and smoking guns gave the Kansas town its reputation as the ultimate Wild West

Envelope for stationary packet, "Torch of Love," George W. Fisher Bookseller and Stationer, Rochester, New York.

How the Civil War Taught Americans the Art of Letter Writing

Soldiers and their families, sometimes barely literate, wrote to assuage fear and convey love

NASA Teacher-in-Space trainee Sharon Christa McAuliffe (right) and backup Barbara R. Morgan practice experiments during a zero-gravity training flight on October 16, 1985.

In Stellar Tribute, Astronauts Teach “Lost Lessons” From Educator Who Died on Challenger

Christa McAuliffe had planned to teach the lessons during her 1986 trip to space. Now, two astronauts will finally carry out the plan

This Priest Witnessed the 9/11 Pentagon Plane Crash

Father Stephen McGraw has just witnessed Flight 77 crash into the west wall of the Pentagon

Page B of the February 26, 1942, Los Angeles Times, shows the coverage of the so-called Battle of Los Angeles and its aftermath.

History of Now

The Great Los Angeles Air Raid Terrified Citizens—Even Though No Bombs Were Dropped

The WWII “battle” was an example of what happens when the threat of attack feels all too real

Why Did the U.S. Sink Captured Japanese Subs After WWII?

WWII had come to a close, and the U.S. was the first to seize a new class of giant Japanese submarines. The next step was to analyze them quickly

The comedy show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, starring Dan Rowan and Dick Martin (above), debuted on NBC on January 22, 1968.

In 1968, When Nixon Said ‘Sock It To Me’ on ‘Laugh-In,’ TV Was Never Quite the Same Again

The show’s rollicking one-liners and bawdy routines paved the way for “Saturday Night Live” and other cutting-edge television satire

Boston Bruins forward Willie O'Ree warms up prior to a game against the New York Rangers in 1960.

Sixty Years Ago, Willie O’Ree Broke the NHL’s Color Barrier

A debilitating eye injury and racial epithets weren’t enough to derail the player’s resolve

Baber gathering fossils at Mazon Creek, Illinois, 1895, during the first field class at the University of Chicago to which women were admitted.

Women Who Shaped History

The Woman Who Transformed How We Teach Geography

By blending education and activism, Zonia Baber made geography a means of uniting—not conquering—the globe

Rumrunner at St. Pierre

This Tiny French Archipelago Became America’s Alcohol Warehouse During Prohibition

Before the 21st amendment was ratified, remote islands off Canada’s Newfoundland province floated on a sea of whiskey and wine

Page 98 of 207