US History News | Smithsonian Magazine

A spread in LIFE magazine highlights these women football players.

The Forgotten History of Women’s Football

Several women’s football leagues formed during the 20th century—one from the 1930s even became a national sensation—but they’re barely remembered today

February 5, 2016

Russia Gave Us a Discount on Alaska

Many ridiculed Secretary of State William Seward for purchasing Alaska from Russia in 1867. But he turned out to be quite the shrewd businessman.

February 1, 2016

Christa McAuliffe received a preview of microgravity during a special flight aboard NASA's KC-135 "zero gravity" aircraft. She was to be the first in a series of civilians in space

The Challenger Disaster Put an End to NASA’s Plan to Send Civilians Into Space

On the 30th anniversary of the space shuttle tragedy, a look back at an ambitious plan to put the rest of us into orbit

January 27, 2016

Henry Ford is at the wheel with John Burroughs and Thomas Edison seated in the back of a Model T.

When America’s Titans of Industry and Innovation Went Road-Tripping Together

Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and their friends traveled the country in Model Ts, creating the Great American road trip in the process

January 26, 2016

Jesse J. Holland's book, "The Invisibles: The Untold Story of African American Slaves in the White House" offers new insight into lives of these men and women who lived in bondage in the White House.

The Slaves of the White House Finally Get to Have Their Stories Told

Long ignored by historians, the enslaved people of the White House are coming into focus through a new book by Jesse J. Holland

January 25, 2016

In 2003, Air France donated Concorde F-BVFA to the Smithsonian. The aircraft was the first Air France Concorde to open service to Rio de Janeiro, Washington, D.C., and New York and had flown 17,824 hours.

When Concorde First Flew, It Was a Supersonic Sight to Behold

The aircraft was a technological masterpiece, but at one ton of fuel per passenger, it had a devastating ecological footprint

January 20, 2016

Three F-14 Tomcats fly in a tight formation over the Red Sea during Operation Desert Storm. The F-14s primary function was to intercept multiple airborne threats in all weather conditions and at night.

Operation Desert Storm Was Not Won By Smart Weaponry Alone

Despite the "science fiction"-like technology deployed, 90 percent of ammunitions used in Desert Storm were actually “dumb weapons"

January 20, 2016

How Contacting the Dead Became a Family Game

After the Civil War, one man decided there was money to be made in contacting the dead. So he invented a popular, occult board game that lives on today

January 8, 2016

Austin Reed learned to write as a juvenile prisoner. His handwritten manuscript runs 304 pages.

The Earliest Memoir by a Black Inmate Reveals the Long Legacy of Mass Incarceration

The story of "Rob Reed" is finally published, 150 years after his release

January 2016

Lorcan Ortway turned his lifelong obsession with organized crime into a museum in New York.

This Mobster Museum Was Once One of New York City's Most Notorious Speakeasies

See shell casings from Bonnie and Clyde's final shoot out and John Dillinger's death mask in the Museum of the American Gangster's unusual collection

January 6, 2016

Why Robert Redford Loves America's National Parks

The famed actor and director celebrates the great outdoors of the United States in a new documentary

January 2016

Flying Fortresses of the 303rd bomber group (Hell’s Angels) drop a heavy load on industrial targets in Germany.

There Are Still Thousands of Tons of Unexploded Bombs in Germany, Left Over From World War II

More than 70 years after being dropped in Europe, the ordnance is still inflicting harm and mayhem

January 2016

“I just wrote my best song,” Paul Simon told Art Garfunkel.

How "The Sound of Silence" Became a Surprise Hit

The Simon and Garfunkel song catapulted the duo to stardom

January 2016

Illustration of the slave revolt in Haiti, and what slaveholders in the United States feared.

History of Now

The History of the United States’ First Refugee Crisis

Fleeing the Haitian revolution, whites and free blacks were viewed with suspicion by American slaveholders, including Thomas Jefferson

January 5, 2016

This Man Risked His Life to Champion His Invention

In 1916, 32 men were trapped in a mine near Lake Erie. Garrett Morgan saw an opportunity to prove that his fireproof hood worked and went in to rescue them

December 31, 2015