Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

History of Now

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

Jane Klinger, chief conservator for the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, holds one of the cloths that Mansour Omari smuggled out of Syria.

These Cloths Tell the Story of the Worst Humanitarian Crisis of This Generation

At the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the strips of fabric, written in blood and rust, serve as a testament to Syria’s disappeared

During the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, President John F Kennedy discusses results of surveillance missions in Cuba

History of Now

How the Presidency Took Control of America’s Nuclear Arsenal

From Truman onwards, the ability to order a nuclear strike has shaped the office

Artist’s representation of “neglected story on Smithsonian.com.”

The Ten Stories You Didn’t Read in 2017 But Should Have

From music behind prison bars to a San Francisco building with a dark past, here are the top 10 pieces we published last year that deserve another look

In Fallujah, ISIS blew up this bridge during its 2016 retreat.

History of Now

What Does the Future of the Euphrates Spell for the Middle East?

In the wake of the war against Isis in Iraq, an ominous journey along the once-mighty river finds a new crisis lurking in the shallows

The Orient Express circa 1883

What Was the Inspiration for “The Murder on the Orient Express”?

Agatha Christie wrote her famous detective novel based on an even more famous kidnapping

A 1939 photo of German Jewish refugees aboard the German liner Saint Louis.

Women in Science

The Forgotten Women Scientists Who Fled the Holocaust for the United States

A new project from Northeastern University traces the journeys of 80 women who attempted to escape Europe and find new lives in America during World War II

A detail from the controversial panel of Benton’s mural

History of Now

In Defense of Keeping the Indiana University Mural That Depicts (But Doesn’t Glorify) the KKK

American artist Thomas Hart Benton thought it crucial to highlight the dark spots in the state’s history

Adelbert Ames

Commentary

Is it Time We Built a Museum of the History of American History?

A better understanding of how we interpret our past, and what and who we choose to remember, would go a long way to healing our nation’s wounds

Adolf Hitler and his deputy Rudolf Hess

History of Now

Eight Historical Archives That Will Spill New Secrets

Declassified records and journals to be released in coming decades will shed new light on pivotal 20th-century figures and events

The bottle of multivitamins at left were typical of the ways Americans became addicted to amphetamines.

History of Now

A Speedy History of America’s Addiction to Amphetamine

In a startling parallel to today’s opioid crisis, the drugs were liberally—and legally—prescribed despite little information on safety

Anti-Nazi protest outside Deutsches Haus, Aug. 1938

History of Now

The Nazis’ Plan to Infiltrate Los Angeles And the Man Who Kept Them at Bay

A new book explores the deadly and nefarious plots designed by Hitler and his supporters

The front of Mar-a-Lago in April 1967

History of Now

The Ironic History of Mar-a-Lago

A deep dive into an obscure archive reveals that the Palm Beach property had once been envisioned as a “Winter White House”

Heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali in 1967.

History of Now

The Ties That Bind Muhammad Ali to the NFL Protests

A new biography reveals new details about the history of the boxer—“a heavyweight of contradictions”

The Old House Chamber has been used as National Statuary Hall since July 1864.

History of Now

A Senator Speaks Out Against Confederate Monuments… in 1910

Alone in his stand, Weldon Heyburn despised that Robert E. Lee would be memorialized with a statue in the U.S. Capitol

The Fountaingrove Round Barn burned on Monday Oct. 9 in one of the 17 wildfires that erupted across California.

History of Now

As Wildfires Rage Across California Wine Country, a Historical Structure Turns to Ash

The iconic Round Barn was destroyed at Fountaingrove, once home to a Utopian community and one of America’s first Japanese immigrants

"Joseph Stalin" Ernest Hamlin Baker 1939 Crayon on paper

The True Story of the Death of Stalin

“Veep” creator Armando Iannucci’s upcoming dark comedy pulls from the stranger-than-fiction real-life events surrounding Stalin’s death

"Scene at the Signing of the Constitution of the United States" by Howard Chandler Christy. James Madison is at center, seated, to the right of Ben Franklin.

History of Now

Inside the Founding Fathers’ Debate Over What Constituted an Impeachable Offense

If not for three sparring Virginia delegates, Congress’s power to remove a president would be even more limited than it already is

Aftermath of the fire at Imperial Foods processing plant in Hamlet, North Carolina

History of Now

The Deadly 1991 Hamlet Fire Exposed the High Cost of “Cheap”

A new book argues that more than emergency unpreparedness and locked doors led to the deaths of 25 workers in the chicken factory blaze

Statue at the Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum, a museum of the Korean War located in Pyongyang. Exhibits include a 360-degree diorama of the Battle of Daejon. In addition to the many statues, murals and artifacts contained in the museum is the USS Pueblo, a U.S. Navy ship that was captured by North Korean forces when it allegedly entered North Korean territorial waters in 1968.

History of Now

The View From Pyongyang: An Exclusive Look at the World’s Most Secretive Nation

One photographer journeyed into North Korea to catch a unique glimpse of a country under a dictatorship

Page 7 of 11