Despite its decidedly traditional art collection, the British cultural institution is adopting a contemporary approach to public outreach and accessibility
In 1813, an American sealing vessel, the "Nanina," promised to save the crew and passengers of the "Isabella," even though it was an enemy ship. Here’s how the British brig got stranded in the ...
A new mini-series dramatizes the best-selling 2018 novel that sparked debate over the line between history and memory
The innovative “Vesuvius Challenge” unlocked a mystery that had confounded archeologists for centuries
Enemy soldiers overlooked Josefina "Joey" Guerrero due to her condition. Later, her heroic actions on behalf of the Allies were largely forgotten
Ada "Bricktop" Smith, who operated venues in Rome, Paris and Mexico City, brushed shoulders with the likes of Langston Hughes, Salvador Dalí and Gertrude Stein
Take in the remarkable tale of the fake attorney best known as L.A. Harris, whose scams put him in trouble with the law in jurisdictions nationwide
Fifty years ago, Rose Dugdale stole 19 paintings worth an estimated £8 million, including works by Vermeer, Velázquez and Rubens, from a British aristocrat's estate
A second-generation immigrant, Hazel Ying Lee was the first Chinese American woman to receive her pilot's license
A group of Union men from Ohio held a makeshift Seder in the western Virginia woods in 1862
Unlike many of his peers, John Howland Rowe viewed the country as a source of partnership, not a laboratory to play in
The medical condition is named after a fictional storyteller who in turn was based on a real-life German nobleman known for telling tall tales
During World War II, British researchers conducted tests on themselves to gauge how submariners' brains would function at extreme depths
In "Sally & Tom," Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks continues her investigation of American myths
A new limited series starring Michael Douglas as Benjamin Franklin revisits the founding father's years as the American ambassador to France
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-real-story-behind-apple-tvs-franklin-180984119/
The people of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, helped keep the Greenbrier resort's bunker—designed to hold the entirety of Congress—hidden from 1958 to 1992
The story of the half-human, half-monkey god mirrors the journey of the protagonist in Patel's directorial debut
The new mini-series dramatizes the Villiers family’s scandalous rise to power at the court of England's James I
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-real-story-behind-mary-george-180984086/
In 1780, astronomer Samuel Williams journeyed to British-controlled territory to view a total solar eclipse
The civilization developed the world’s first known tax system around 3000 B.C.E.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/stressed-about-taxes-blame-the-ancient-egyptians-180984059/
Books were rare and expensive in colonial America, but the founding father had an idea
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-ben-franklin-invented-library-as-we-know-it-180983983/
In the late 17th century, Henry Avery—the subject of the first global manhunt—bribed his way into the Bahamas
The untold story of the Wide Awakes, the young Americans who took up the torch for their antislavery cause and stirred the nation
Between the 1920s and 1940s, wealthy young women signed up to run errands and carry messages for the Frontier Nursing Service, whose nurse-midwives provided care to patients in hard-to-reach area...
A lifelong passion for the national pastime led John Thorn to redefine the sport's relationship with statistics and reveal the truth behind its earliest days
The collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge is shocking—but not unprecedented
Based in Greenwich Village, Heterodoxy had just one requirement for membership: An applicant must "not be orthodox in her opinion"
A new film dramatizes Shirley Chisholm's history-making bid to become the first Black woman president in 1972
Mabel Boll, a wealthy New York socialite, dreamed of making aviation history. But Earhart beat her to the finish line, completing the trans-Atlantic journey as a passenger in June 1928
Meet James Swanson, the lifelong Abraham Lincoln obsessive who wrote the nonfiction thriller that inspired the acclaimed miniseries
Upper-class women used letters and embroidery to reflect on their inner lives
Medieval pilgrims flocked to the site for spiritual purification
A new series dramatizes Edwin Stanton's hunt for John Wilkes Booth and his co-conspirators in the aftermath of the president’s 1865 assassination
Princess Dashkova led research institutes, wrote plays and music, and embarked on a Grand Tour of 18th-century Europe