Smithsonian Magazine takes you on a journey through history, science, world culture and technology with breathtaking images from around the world.
Smithsonian Magazine
“Figuring out a clue sharpens my intuition, memory and appetite for life.”
Courageous • Maya Angelou’s breakthrough memoir, published 50 years ago, launched a revolution in literature and social awareness
Beyond the Page • NO AMERICAN POET HAS PLAYED A BIGGER ROLE IN TV AND MOVIES THAN ANGELOU
FLOWER POWER • In big, bold canvases, the Mexican muralists put their own stamp on 20th-century art
Tracing The Enslaved • A massive new online database connecting billions of records offers vital details about slavery’s toll
Still Standing • A PRESERVATIONIST RACES TO SAVE THE POIGNANT DOMESTIC LEGACY OF THE NATION’S SLAVEHOLDING PAST
“FREEDOM OR DEATH!” • Revisiting the 1811 Louisiana slave uprising
HEY, BARTENDER • A century after Prohibition, we uncork a history of the nation’s changing drinking habits
Made in Alaska • The coolest shades in the Arctic, fashioned to protect against snow glare, were an early example of indigenous ingenuity
The Veneration Gap • OLDER PEOPLE HAVE GROUSED ABOUT YOUNGER PEOPLE FOR MILLENNIA. NOW WE KNOW WHY
THE FERTILE SHORE • It’s one of the greatest mysteries of our time. But archaeologists and even geneticists are closer than ever to understanding when humans made the first bold journey to the Americas
NATURE’S PHARMACY • AN ANCIENT LEGEND LEADS TO A GRAVEYARD IN NORTHERN IRELAND WHERE SCIENTISTS ARE ZEROING IN ON A POWERFUL NEW ANTIBIOTIC
THE ROAD TO RUIN? • BRAZIL’S PLAN TO IMPROVE A LONESOME TRACK IN THE HEART OF THE AMAZON RAINFOREST POSES A THREAT THE WHOLE WORLD MAY SOME DAY HAVE TO OVERCOME
THE CHARLATAN WILL SEE YOU NOW • A NOTORIOUS QUACK PEDDLED CURES AT AN ARKANSAS HOTEL IN THE 1930S. NOW A DAYS THE CON GAME IS ALL FOR SHOW
THE navigator • A SON DISCOVERS THE ASTONISHING HEROISM OF THE U.S. MISSION TO BOMB A NAZI WEAPONS FACTORY IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA
FORGOTTEN DESERT • A photographer ventures into remote northern Africa for an unprecedented view of one of the world’s most troubled, and least understood, regions
Once Upon a Time in the West • HOW JOHN AND JESSIE FRÉMONT BLAZED ACROSS THE AMERICAN FRONTIER—AND CHANGED HISTORY
Finding Ways • THE CLUES ARE TANTALIZING. BUT PROVING EXACTLY HOW HUMANS FIRST REACHED THE AMERICAS IS CHALLENGING
ask smithsonian • YOU’VE GOT QUESTIONS. WE’VE GOT EXPERTS