Where Stories Come to Life

Spotlight on Darfur

One of the Allies’ Secret Weapons Against the Nazis Was a 21-Year-Old Woman Armed With a Microphone and a Script of Lies

As “Vicky With Three Kisses,” she strategically sweet-talked and sang to German troops over the airwaves of Europe. But Agnes Bernauer didn’t me...

How White Southerners Distorted the History of Ancient Egypt to Justify Slavery in the U.S.

American writers misleadingly interpreted Egypt's past to argue that slavery was a divinely sanctioned institution

Mutant Grass taking over Portland

How Medieval Cathedrals Were Built Without Science, or Even Mathematics

Science and engineering may be conflated to some degree in the public mind, but anyone who’s spent much time in an academic department belonging to ...

How to Fit 250 Years of American History and Culture Into One Map

Smithsonian magazine explores some of the many ways to celebrate the nation and looks back at how previous big birthdays were commemorated amid domest...

Feeling More Hate Than Love This Valentine's Day? Send Snarky 'Vinegar Valentines' to Your Enemies Like the Victorians Did

These oft-anonymous messages took aim at pretentious poets, unhelpful salespeople, suffragists and secessionists alike

Commemorate Presidents’ Day With 15 Images That Celebrate the Founding Fathers

See Smithsonian magazine contest photos that honor U.S. presidents and their monuments

Meet 13 People Who Survived on Deserted Islands, From a Real-Life Robinson Crusoe to a Noblewoman Marooned With Her Lover

Ahead of the release of Sam Raimi's "Send Help," revisit the stories of Alexander Selkirk, Marguerite de la Rocque, the Tongan castaways and others wh...