Politics

Senator Edward Kennedy, pictured here on July 22, 1969 after the Chappaquiddick accident that resulted in the death of Mary Jo Kopechne. The new film "Chappaquiddick" recounts the events of that week.

Why the True Story of 'Chappaquiddick' Is Impossible to Tell

In 1969, Senator Ted Kennedy careened a car off a bridge, killing passenger Mary Jo Kopechne, but the story of the night’s events remain muddled today

On April 4, 1968, when his campaign plane reached Indianapolis on that night, Robert F. Kennedy (above: in a 1968 portrait by Louis S. Glanzman) learned of Dr. King’s death.

When Robert Kennedy Delivered the News of Martin Luther King's Assassination

Months before his own slaying, Kennedy recalled the loss of JFK as he consoled a crowd of shocked African-Americans in Indianapolis

A sunny day in Finland, the world's happiest country in 2018 according to new UN report.

UN Report Finds Finland Is the Happiest Country in the World

In the 2018 World Happiness Report, Finland scored high on six key variables

Polls Are Still As Accurate As They Were 75 Years Ago

A new study shows polling is not undergoing a collapse despite what conventional wisdom might suggest

How Conflict in the Balkans Is Screwing Up Europe's Clocks

Kosovo and Serbia's clash over energy dropped the oscillation of the Euro grid, making clocks run as much as six minutes behind

Eisenhower National Historic Site

Take a Look Inside These Six Presidential Homes

The White House isn't the only address worth visiting this Presidents' Day

Image from the cover of Emma Byrne's new book, Swearing is Good For You.

The Science of Swearing

A new book explains the neuroscience of why we swear—and how it can sway our listeners

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.

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

An Italian marble sculpture of William Pitt the Younger as the Infant Hercules Strangling the Serpents Fox and North by Pieratoni (called ’Sposino’), c.1790

The Ugliest Sculpture Ever, Says the Portrait Gallery’s Director

A bizarre sculpture of a baby Hercules strangling two snakes set this art historian on a course of discovery

Tracey Crouch, who will oversee issues related to loneliness and isolation in the U.K.

The U.K. Now Has a "Minister for Loneliness." Here's Why It Matters

Tracey Crouch will oversee the government's efforts to tackle "the sad reality of modern life"

Nilgai antelope, like the cattle fever ticks they carry, are considered an invasive species in places like Texas.

Why We Should Rethink How We Talk About "Alien" Species

In a trend that echoes the U.S.-Mexico border debate, some say that calling non-native animals "foreigners" and "invaders" only worsens the problem

Oil rig offshore of Huntington Beach, California

Administration Proposes Opening Nearly All U.S. Coastlines to Offshore Drilling

Over 90 percent of America's waters will be available for oil and gas drilling under proposed plan

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

How the Presidency Took Control of America's Nuclear Arsenal

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

Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks in "The Post."

What <em>The Post</em> Gets Right (and Wrong) About Katharine Graham and the Pentagon Papers

A Smithsonian historian reminds us how Graham, a Washington socialite-turned-publisher, transformed the paper into what it is today

Coast guard officers in Costa Rica say they’re understaffed and overwhelmed. “We’re just order,” says Colonel Miguel Madrigal. “Not the law.”

An Unexpected Victim of Costa Rica's Drug Trade: Fish

The archipelago was once synonymous with tourism, sustainability and biodiversity. Now collapsing fisheries have led to turmoil

Hugh Jackman in "The Greatest Showman."

P.T. Barnum Isn't the Hero the 'Greatest Showman' Wants You to Think

His path to fame and notoriety began by exploiting an enslaved woman, in life and in death, as entertainment for the masses

Large animal skeletons at the Finnish Natural History Museum.

The Hidden Biases That Shape Natural History Museums

Here's why museum visitors rarely see lady animals, penis bones or cats floating in formaldehyde

This dinosaur footprint was found in sandstone at Dinosaur Track at Hackberry Canyon in Grand Staircase-Escalante National. A proclamation recently signed by President Trump would reduce the protected area by half.

What Shrinking Fossil-Rich National Monuments Means for Science

<i>Smithsonian.com</i> asks paleontologists how their work will change after the decision to slash Bears Ears and Grand Staircase

Catalan Mossos d'Esquadra officers scuffle with demonstrators as they cordon off the area around Lleida museum in the west of Catalonia, Spain, on Monday, Dec. 11, 2017.

What to Know About the Removal of 44 Artworks from Catalan's Museum of Lleida

The fate of the works has become a point of contention in Catalonia’s bitter push for independence

Members of parliament react to the passage of the Marriage Amendment Bill, from left to right, Cathy McGowan, Adam Brandt and Andrew Wilkie.

Australia Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage in Jubilant Vote

The first same-sex weddings will be able to take place as early as January 9

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