Why the ‘Peanuts’ Characters Still Thrive 25 Years After the Last Original Comic Strip Was Published

In the decades since the end of the cherished newspaper strip, audiences continue to find reasons to chuckle and cheer over Charlie Brown’s gang | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 days ago

The Remarkable Life of One of Boston's Most Fervent and Daring Abolitionists

Harriet Bell Hayden is believed to have helped hundreds of people fleeing slavery from her Beacon Hill residence | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 days ago

Did Colonial Americans Wear Wristwatches? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 days ago

Walk Through a Wintry Wonderland of Seasonal Fun With These 15 Photos

Get into the winter spirit with these images from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 days ago

Meet the Tiny, Adorable Owls That Have Mastered the Art of Hiding

One of the smallest owls in North America, the northern saw-whet lives among us and is rarely seen—but one volunteer science project aims to find them and uncover their secrets year after year | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 days ago

Discover Why Thomas Jefferson Meticulously Monitored the Weather Wherever He Went

The third president knew that the whims of nature shaped Americans' daily lives as farmers and enslavers | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 11 days ago

On This Day in 1959, Alaska—One of America’s Riskiest Investments—Became the 49th State in the Union

Before Alaska became an American state, Russia invaded and subjugated its people for fur trading | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 12 days ago

Anonymous Donors Across the Country Are Dropping Valuable Coins Into the Salvation Army's Red Kettles

Many donors search their pockets for spare change, but some generous individuals are giving away historic coins worth thousands of dollars during the charity's annual fundraising campaign | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 12 days ago

New York City Is Getting Rid of Its Iconic Orange and Yellow Subway Cars

Many New Yorkers feel attached to the instantly recognizable R46s, which debuted in the summer of 1975. Officials say their replacements will arrive by 2027 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 12 days ago

Conservators Are Uncovering Elaborate Angel Murals Hidden Behind Seven Layers of White Paint at a Colonial-Era Church

The colorful wall paintings adorn Boston's Old North Church, which played a crucial role during Paul Revere's famed 1775 midnight ride | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 12 days ago

The Iconic, One-Eyed 'Queen of the Wolves' Dies After Fight With Rival Pack in Yellowstone National Park

A beloved matriarch, 907F lived to be 11 years old, which is much longer than the average lifespan for gray wolves and a rare feat, even for those in the protected area of Yellowstone | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 12 days ago

How People of the Past Predicted the Future, From Spider Divination to Bibliomancy

A new exhibition spotlights the ways in which cultures around the world have sought answers in the face of uncertainty | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 12 days ago

In Her Inventive and Prescient Stories, Octavia Butler Wrote Herself Into the Science Fiction Canon

On her beloved typewriters, the literary legend mapped out a course for the future of the genre | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 12 days ago

Inside the Struggle to Preserve Georgia's Butler Island, Home to a Notorious Plantation

Descendants of people enslaved at the site are grappling with its complicated history while also honoring the region's rich culture | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 12 days ago

The Trial of Bruno Richard Hauptmann—Accused Murderer of the Lindbergh Baby—Began in New Jersey on This Day in 1935

The German-born man was convicted of kidnapping and killing the son of pilot Charles Lindbergh | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 13 days ago

From Chimps Eating Medicinal Plants to Footprints Tracking Our Early Relatives, Here Are the Most Significant Human Evolution Discoveries of 2024

Smithsonian paleoanthropologists explore how the year brought us closer to understanding ancient human relatives and origins | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 14 days ago

Archaeologists Discover Rare Clay Commander Among Thousands of Life-Size Terra-Cotta Soldiers in China

The 2,000-year-old military general figurine is the tenth of its kind to be excavated from the emperor Qin Shi Huang's tomb, which may hold up to 8,000 clay statues | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 14 days ago

Researchers Track Down When Neanderthals and Early Modern Humans Interbred Using Ancient Genomes

Two studies came to a similar conclusion, highlighting a single, sustained event of mixing DNA. The findings could impact our understanding of when modern humans reached regions like East Asia and Australia | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 14 days ago

Eleven Fascinating New Acquisitions That Joined the Smithsonian’s Vast Collections in 2024

This year, the Institution collected everything from the stunning shell of an extinct cephalopod to a Blue Origin rocket booster | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 14 days ago

Eleven Fascinating Acquisitions That Joined the Smithsonian’s Vast Collections in 2024

This year, the Institution collected everything from the stunning shell of an extinct cephalopod to a Blue Origin rocket booster | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 14 days ago

The Speed of Human Thought Is Far Slower Than the Average Wi-Fi, Study Suggests

But the rate that we gather sensory data is 100 million times faster than our thought processes, making our brains champions at filtering information from our chaotic surroundings | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 14 days ago

Seven Scientific Discoveries From 2024 That Could Lead to New Inventions

From indestructible tardigrades to body-merging comb jellies, animals can teach humans so much about medicine, robotics, aging and survival | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 14 days ago

Feast Your Eyes on These Paintings From the Impressionist Era

A new exhibition at the Frist Art Museum in Nashville will bring the food world of the late 19th century to its gallery walls | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 14 days ago

See the Mysterious Winter Parade That Brings Tourists to the Remote Island of Sardinia

Since ancient times, a town on the Italian isle has marked the season with a grim costumed festival | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 14 days ago

The First Ever Times Square Ball Drop Was Held Atop the New York Times Headquarters in 1907, Starting a Cherished Tradition

Time balls date back to the early 19th century, when they signaled the time to passing sailors. Now they’re part of the pomp and circumstance of the new year | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 15 days ago

You Can Spend the Night on a Fully Restored World War II Submarine

The Wisconsin Maritime Museum is home to the USS "Cobia," a 312-foot-long vessel that completed six war patrols during World War II | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 15 days ago

Hungry Sea Otters Are Taking a Bite Out of California's Invasive Crab Problem, New Study Finds

Researchers estimate southern sea otters eat up to 120,000 European green crabs per year at the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 15 days ago

11 Dazzling Celestial Events to See in 2025, From a Total Lunar Eclipse to Rare Planetary Alignments

Keep your eyes on the sky this upcoming year for a chance to spot breathtaking meteor showers, a special view of Saturn and a blood-red moon | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 15 days ago

Ancient DNA Offers Crucial Hints to the Origin of Syphilis, a Decades-Long Mystery That Has Divided Scientists

Researchers found evidence that early versions of syphilis-causing bacteria existed in the Americas long before the arrival of Columbus | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 15 days ago

Stunning Sculpture by Camille Claudel Rediscovered in an Abandoned Parisian Apartment

Titled "The Age of Maturity," the artwork may reflect the sculptor's turbulent relationship with Auguste Rodin, her mentor and lover | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 15 days ago

The Bald Eagle Just Became America's National Bird. What Took So Long?

An eagle enthusiast has been lobbying for the designation for years. On Christmas Eve, President Biden signed legislation making it official | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 15 days ago

The Gooey Goodness of Velveeta Was a Smash Hit From Its Very Cheesy Start

How Emil Frey whipped up a smooth dairy sensation after two years of tinkering | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 15 days ago

Martin Van Buren Created America's Partisan Political System. We're Still Recovering

The eighth president of the United States, the so-called little magician, saw political parties as the key to achieving power | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 15 days ago

How to Watch the Quadrantid Meteor Shower, an Intense Spectacle With a Short but Strong Peak

The skyward show will produce many shooting stars from the evening of January 2 into the early morning hours of January 3—here’s how to make the most of the fleeting celestial event | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 15 days ago

Happy Public Domain Day! Popeye, 'Rhapsody in Blue,' 'The Sound and the Fury' and Thousands of Other Captivating Creations Are Finally Free for Everyone to Use

On January 1, 2025, copyrights will expire for books, films, comic strips, musical compositions and other creative works from 1929, as well as sound recordings from 1924 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 15 days ago

A 1903 Fire at a Chicago Theater Killed 602 People, Prompting Enduring Safety Reforms

Officials thought the brand-new Iroquois Theater was fireproof and designed for maximum safety. The scope of the tragedy and the ensuing panic quickly proved them wrong | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 16 days ago

The Lasting Legacy of Jimmy Carter, Dead at 100

Smithsonian curators remember and honor the 39th president’s uncompromising idealism | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 16 days ago

On This Day in 1890, the U.S. Army Killed Nearly 300 Lakota People in the Wounded Knee Massacre

The mass murder made sensational news at the time, but getting to the heart of the matter took a much deeper view of American history | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 17 days ago

Discover the Story Behind a Legendary Exposé of the Brutality of the Soviet Union

Published on this day in 1973, "The Gulag Archipelago" drew on Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's experiences as a political dissident in a prison camp, but it left him deported and stateless for the next two decades | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 18 days ago

How an Experiment to Amplify Light in Hospital Operating Rooms Led to the Accidental Invention of the Snow Globe

The origins of the decoration lie in Vienna’s 17th district, where the inventor’s descendants are still making them for collectors around the world | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 18 days ago

A Brilliant Folk Musician Turned the Natural Sounds of the Blue Ridge Mountains Into Powerful Songs

Daniel Bachman is on a mission to evoke Virginia’s past through strange medleys of sounds | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 18 days ago

Seventy-Seven Fascinating Finds Revealed in 2024, From a Mysterious 'Anomaly' Near the Great Pyramid of Giza to a Missing Portrait of Henry VIII

The year's most exciting discoveries included musket balls fired in the early days of the American Revolution, a lost composition by Mozart and a medieval chess piece | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 18 days ago

On This Day in 1831, Charles Darwin Embarked on a Journey That Led to His Groundbreaking Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection

Darwin was just 22 when he set out on a voyage that would change the way humanity understands itself and the natural world | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 19 days ago

Can a New DNA Database Help Save This Incredible Sea Turtle?

The shells of the hawksbill sea turtle have been used for luxury items for centuries, but with the species now endangered, new technology is pinpointing where protections are needed most | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 19 days ago

Why Do Some People Thrive on So Little Sleep?

Short sleepers cruise by on four to six hours a night and don’t seem to suffer ill effects | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 19 days ago

Archaeologists Are Finding Dugout Canoes in the American Midwest as Old as the Great Pyramids of Egypt

In the waterways connected to the Great Lakes, researchers uncover boats that tell the story of millennia of Indigenous history | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 19 days ago

Get a Colorful Sneak Peek of Notre-Dame's New Stained Glass Designs

Nearly a year after the controversial plans to replace six original windows were first announced, the French government unveils the winning plans by artist Claire Tabouret | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 20 days ago

Beatlemania Took the United States by Storm on This Day in 1963, Launching the British Invasion

With their arrival in America, the Beatles ushered in a new era of hyper-popular rock ’n’ roll music | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 20 days ago