Magazine

T.H. Matteson, Examination of a Witch, 1853

A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials

One town's strange journey from paranoia to pardon

Neal V. Loving’s WR-3, shown at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia, will move to the redesigned galleries on the National Mall.

The West Wing of the National Air and Space Museum Prepares to Take Flight

The Smithsonian museum reopens to the public, transforming the way we tell the story of aviation

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Readers Respond to the September 2022 Issue

Your feedback on discrimination in World War II, the treasures of Fossil Lake and Istria

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Women Who Shaped History

The Little-Known Story of the Women Who Stood Up to General Motors and Demanded Equal Pay

In the 1930s, Florence St. John and her co-workers at an automotive plant won a hard-fought victory for fairness

The current drought reveals lost items from earlier, wetter times, like this sunken boat near Iceberg Canyon.

America's Waterways: The Past, Present and Future

The Breathtaking Glen Canyon Reveals Its Secrets

Water woes threaten America’s second largest reservoir—but leave new vistas in their wake

Lost by Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga, 2015. The acrylic and oil work is from a series on the Mangbetu people of Congo, whose distinctive traditions, such as skull-elongation, are on the brink of disappearing.

How Artist Eddy Kamuanga Ilunga Connects the Past and the Present

In bold, symbolic canvasses, the painter was inspired by a broken iPhone

A sculpture by artist Arlene Love and a tray of bottled scents in Joel Mainland’s office at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia.

Sniffing Out the Science of Smelling

From the lab to the art gallery, the latest efforts to understand the fragrant, musky, stinky and utterly baffling world of your nose

Members of the Preservation All Stars perform in the hall on August 18, 2022.  

How Preservation Hall Has Kept New Orleans' Iconic Jazz Alive

The plucky institution staged a brassy comeback for America’s signature music

The Bell X-1, a miracle of form and function.

How the Bell X-1 Ushered in the Supersonic Age

The speeding-bullet design propelled Chuck Yeager into history

One reader wonders: Why did ants make it all over the Americas while anteaters didn’t?  

Why Do Anteaters Live Only in the Tropics and More Questions From Our Readers

You've got questions. We've got experts.

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The Noble Fury of Samuel Adams

How America’s “first politician” galvanized a colony—and helped set a revolution in motion

The Radcliffe Camera, part of Oxford’s Bodleian Library. Tolkien once had a vision of this structure as a temple to Morgoth, the villain of Middle-earth.

How J.R.R. Tolkien Came to Write the Stories of 'The Rings of Power'

Haunted by the approach of another world war, the beloved fantasy author created a new story of Middle-earth that few people even knew about—until now

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The Remarkable Effort to Locate America's Lost Patents

An 1836 blaze destroyed thousands of records that catalogued the young nation's ingenuity, but recent discoveries indicate that originals may still exist

After the manta ray filters out the tiny plankton from the water it ingests, the excess water exits through the dark gill slits on the ray's ventral side. 

Planet Positive

Why Conservationists Are Hopeful About the Manta Ray's Future

The giant fish faces threats from poachers, boat strikes and climate change

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Readers Respond to the July/August 2022 Issue

Your feedback on Ukraine's treasures, Mary Sears, and trains

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Six Times School Bus Drivers Were Heroes

A look back at some remarkable rescues

How does a nation committed to education increase access? Give kids a lift.

A Brief History of the School Bus

It’s as traditional as the ABCs. But the school bus has always been a vehicle for change

A male bison atop an arid hillside on Santa Catalina Island in California.

The Uneasy Future of Catalina Island's Wild Bison

One of Hollywood’s weirdest legacies, the herd of beasts lives under the watchful eye of local conservationists

Left, the Pula Arena is the sixth-largest Roman amphitheater still standing and one of the best preserved. Right, the port in the coastal town of Fažana.

In Istria, Roman Ruins, Unique Wines and Prized Truffles Await

Journey to the coast of Croatia, where you’ll encounter an inviting coastline, ancient mummies and so much more

Smithsonian Secretary S. Dillon Ripley envisioned the Anacostia museum as an outreach effort to the local community. 

What Community Means to the Smithsonian

Smithsonian museums preserve and celebrate history. Yet they have histories of their own that help connect us with Washingtonians and the world

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