When a British King Stunned the Royal Family by Abdicating the Throne to Marry a Divorced American Socialite

Scandal dogged Edward VIII, a suspected Nazi sympathizer, even after he relinquished his crown to marry Wallis Simpson, the woman he loved | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

This Peculiar Painting From the Experimental Mannerist Movement Is Back on Display After a Stunning Ten-Year Restoration

Parmigianino painted St. Jerome asleep on the ground in his 16th-century altarpiece—a choice that's still puzzling experts five centuries later | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

Scientists Find Another Reason Why 2023 Was So Hot: a Decline in Low-Lying Clouds

According to new research, Earth might have reflected less solar radiation last year than in any other year since 1940, a trend that adds to the planet's warming | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

Geneticists Solve the Mystery of Why Some Cats Are Orange—and Why They Tend to Be Males

Two new, preliminary papers identify a gene related to a cat’s coloration. The work also explains why tortoiseshell and calico cats tend to be females | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

An Ice Age Infant's Bones Reveal Early Americans Ate Woolly Mammoths as a Protein Staple

New research examines chemical signatures to determine the diet of a prehistoric boy and his mother, suggesting the Clovis people relied on mammoths for a large portion of their menu | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

Dorothy's Ruby Slippers From 'The Wizard of Oz' Sell for a Record-Breaking $28 Million

The iconic shoes, which went missing for more than a decade, are now the most valuable piece of movie memorabilia ever auctioned | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

The Ten Best Photography Books of 2024

These works are not just for casual readers—they are for those who seek to expand their horizons, enrich their lives, and connect with the world on a deeper level | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

Fish Have a Brain Microbiome. Could Humans Have One Too?

The discovery that other vertebrates have healthy microbial brains is fueling questions about our own brains | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

Hundreds of Curious Cats Contemplated Ancient Egyptian Artifacts During a Series of 'Meowseum Nights' in China

For ten nights, animal lovers brought their furry friends to "On Top of the Pyramid: The Civilization of Ancient Egypt" at the Shanghai Museum, where many examples of ancient cat imagery are on display | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

How to Watch the Geminid Meteor Shower This Weekend

The peak of this popular annual meteor shower risks being washed out by an almost full moon this year—but stargazers can still spot shooting stars if they follow the right tips | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

How a Tale of Demonic Possession Predicted the Decline of an Early Medieval Empire

A new book examines the rise and fall of the Carolingian dynasty, discussing how people across social classes understood the momentous history of their day | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

On This Day in 1906, a Nobel Prize Was Awarded to an American for the First Time for Ending a War on the Other Side of the Globe

It was immediately controversial that President Theodore Roosevelt, famous for vigorous military interventions, was the first statesman to win the Peace Prize | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

Climate Scientists Project 2024 Will Be the Hottest Year on Record—and the First to Pass 1.5 Degrees Celsius of Warming

After November 2024 was the second warmest November in the books, experts say the year is "effectively certain" to break the heat record set by 2023 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

'Polarization' Is Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year for 2024

The winning word beat out finalists such as "demure," "pander," "totality," "fortnight," "allision" and "democracy" | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

The Discovery of a Jewish Teenager’s Holocaust Diary Reveals How Songs, Jokes and Stories Served as Cultural Resistance

Young Yitskhok Rudashevski documented his life while hiding from Nazis, as well as folklore told in his community that “must be collected and preserved as a treasure for the future” | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

The Discovery of a Jewish Teenager’s Holocaust Diary Reveals How Songs, Jokes and Stories Served as Cultural Resistance

Yitskhok Rudashevski documented his life while hiding from Nazis, as well as folklore told in his community that “must be collected and preserved as a treasure for the future” | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

A Rare Caravaggio Portrait Was Hidden Away for Years. Now, Visitors Can See It in Person for the First Time

The 17th-century painting, which may depict a young Pope Urban VIII, wasn't officially attributed to the renowned Baroque artist until the 1960s | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

You Can Now See Apex, the World's Most Expensive Dinosaur Fossil, on Display at a New York City Museum

The largest and most complete Stegosaurus specimen sold for a record-setting price in July, and it is currently on loan to the American Museum of Natural History for four years | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

A Trove of Gold Coins Stolen From 300-Year-Old Florida Shipwrecks Has Been Recovered by Investigators

Contracted divers found 101 gold coins from the wreckage of a Spanish fleet in 2015, but they only reported 51 to authorities. Now, 37 of the stolen coins have been found | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

The Ten Best Science Books of 2024

From a deep dive on a fatal space shuttle disaster to a study of a dozen iconic trees, these are our favorite titles this year | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

Chaotic Traffic From Horse-Drawn Carriages Inspired the World's First Traffic Lights

Initial reactions to the signal, installed in London on this day in 1868, were mixed. Then, a freak accident scrapped the project entirely after just a month | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

A Woman Appeared on the English Stage for the First Time on This Day in 1660, Transforming the World of Theater Forever

Despite this historic first, the identity of the first professional English actress on stage remains a theatrical mystery | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

When Instant Replay Debuted During the Broadcast of a College Football Game in 1963, It Revolutionized the Way We Watch Sports

Piloting the new technology was a risky move in front of the national audience that watched the Army-Navy showdown on this day in 1963 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

Researchers Thought They Found Amelia Earhart's Missing Plane. It Turned Out to Be a Plane-Shaped Pile of Rocks

Months after capturing a promising sonar image, they learned that the blurry object was nothing more than a rock formation that resembled the aviator's Lockheed 10-E Electra aircraft | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

NASA Pushes Back America's Return to the Moon to 2027, With the Next Artemis Program Flight Slated for 2026

The space agency's decision comes after an investigation into the Orion spacecraft's heat shield, which suffered damage during the Artemis 1 test mission in 2022 | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

Scientists Release Five Hawaiian Crows on Maui, Giving the Imperiled Birds a Second Chance—on a New Island

Only about 110 individuals of the species, called ʻalalā, are left in the world, making them the most endangered crows on Earth | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

This 300-Year-Old Stradivarius Violin Could Become the Most Expensive Musical Instrument Ever Sold at Auction

Crafted by the renowned violin maker Antonio Stradivari in 1714, the rare instrument is expected to sell for between $12 and $18 million | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

Brighten Your Day With These 15 Photos of Beautiful Balloons From Around the World

Lift your spirits with these airy images from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

The Best Books of 2024

Whether you're doing some holiday shopping or looking for your own next read, consider our thoughtfully curated lists. | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

The Ten Best Books About Travel of 2024

These top titles of the year whisk readers away on adventures and remind us of the many wonders in this world | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

Visitors Can See the View From Henry I's Tower at Corfe Castle for the First Time in Nearly Four Centuries

Located in southern England, the king's quarters haven't been open to the public since the castle's destruction during the English Civil War in the 1640s | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

German Archaeologists Discovered the Iconic Bust of Nefertiti in an Ancient Egyptian Sculptor’s Studio. Find Out Why Their Discovery Is Now One of Archaeology’s Most Controversial

For over a century, ever since the bust was found on this day in 1912, the world has debated who should rightfully own this work of timeless beauty | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

What Is Mocha Mousse, the First-Ever Shade of Brown Chosen as Pantone's Color of the Year?

The 2025 hue is an "evocative soft brown" that was selected to suggest the rich flavor of a piece of chocolate or a cup of hot coffee | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

Hundreds of Sea Turtles With Hypothermia Are Washing Up in Cape Cod, Cold-Stunned as Temperatures Drop

New England Aquarium staff and volunteers are treating the reptiles, which have gotten trapped after venturing north earlier in the year. Experts say climate change is leading more turtles to get stranded in the bay | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

A Pod of Orcas Learned to Target and Feast on Whale Sharks, the Largest Fish in the Sea

Photos and videos of the apex predators reveal how they engage in coordinated hunts in Mexican waters to take down juvenile whale sharks | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

A Little Boy Found a Strange Stone on the Beach. Archaeologists Told Him It Was a Neanderthal's Hand Ax

The artifact is now on display at a museum in southern England. Experts say the find is "so rare that most qualified archaeologists would never find one themselves" | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

Look Up for a Dazzling View of Jupiter This Weekend as It Shines Its Brightest of the Year

On December 7, the “king of planets” will line up with the Earth and sun in an event known as opposition. It will be visible all night and offer prime viewing, especially through binoculars or a telescope | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

No, Orcas Probably Aren't Reviving the 'Dead Salmon Hat' Trend, Despite a Viral Photo, Experts Say. Here's Why

A recent photo of an orca swimming with a salmon on its head has fueled speculation that the fad, first observed in the 1980s, has re-emerged off the coast of Washington state. But some experts are less eager to jump to that conclusion | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

See Inside Notre-Dame Cathedral in These Breathtaking Images of Its Newly Unveiled Interior

The historic church was devastated by a fire in 2019. After five years of painstaking work, it's finally scheduled to reopen to the public this weekend | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

Did Venus Have Oceans? This Surprising New Study Suggests Not, a Theory That Could Upend the Search for Extraterrestrial Life

The astronomers behind the research looked to the output from the nearby planet's toxic volcanoes for clues | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

How 'Blackbirders' Forced Tens of Thousands of Pacific Islanders Into Slavery After the Civil War

The decline of the American South's cotton and sugar industries paved the way for plantations in British-controlled Fiji and Australia, where victims of "blackbirding" endured horrific working conditions | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

How an Extreme Combination of Fog and Air Pollution Brought London to a Standstill and Resulted in Thousands of Fatalities

On this day in 1952, buses stood still, cars were abandoned in the street, and residents couldn't see even a few feet in front of themselves as the lethal Great Smog descended on the city | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

Hidden Entrance to a Mysterious Ancient Temple Found Tucked Away in an Egyptian Cliff Face

Researchers have been carefully excavating the artifacts and decorative reliefs found at the 2,100-year-old site in the ancient city of Athribis | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

The Best Books of 2024, as Chosen by Smithsonian Scholars

Staff at the Institution pick their favorite reads of the year, including riveting memoirs, fascinating true histories and fun fiction | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

The Arctic Could Have Its First 'Ice-Free' Day by as Early as 2027

In a new study, scientists used climate models to predict the alarming milestone | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

X-Rays Reveal a Tiny 19th-Century Beetle Embedded in a Paul Gauguin Painting

A new analysis of the artist's "The Little Cat" has uncovered a wealth of new information about the strange artwork—including the one-millimeter-long creature | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

See the Sombrero Galaxy Like Never Before, as the James Webb Telescope Captures It in Unprecedented Detail

The mid-infrared light image shows astronomical features that can’t be seen with visible light cameras or in previous infrared views—and in this shot, the galaxy doesn’t look much like a Sombrero anymore | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago

A New Subway System in Greece Is Decorated With the Artifacts Unearthed During Its Construction

An ancient marble thoroughfare and shards of classical pottery are on display in the city of Thessaloniki's new underground "archaeo-stations" | Continue reading


@smithsonianmag.com | 1 month ago