Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

American History

Beyoncé’s single “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” and Taylor Swift’s album 1989 were added to the National Recording Registry.

Music From Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, Plus Dozens of Other ‘Audio Treasures,’ Added to National Recording Registry

The 25 newest additions to the national playlist at the Library of Congress have been deemed “worthy of preservation for all time based on their cultural, historical or aesthetic importance in the nation’s recorded sound heritage”

Visitors view the Star-Spangled Banner at the National Museum of American History

The National Museum of American History Is Displaying 250 Objects to Commemorate the Country’s Big Birthday. Here’s the Story Behind Ten of the Artifacts

Featuring iconic and everyday items, including a Revolutionary War gunboat and a first-generation iPod, “In Pursuit of Life, Liberty & Happiness” is open now at the museum

A Benjamin West painting of the reception of American loyalists by Great Britain in 1783

America's 250th Anniversary

Born and Raised in Philadelphia, This Loyalist Fled to England During the American Revolution. In His Absence, the Patriots Declared Him a Traitor and Seized His Property

Matthias Aspden spent his time abroad yearning for his “native country.” His heirs later took the government to court, arguing that the estate had been confiscated unjustly

Explorer Richard Byrd (left) and pilot Floyd Bennett (right) wearing fur parkas, circa 1926

A Century Ago, an Explorer and His Pilot Claimed to Be the First People to Fly Over the North Pole. Here’s Why Experts Doubt That Achievement

While the success of Richard Byrd and Floyd Bennett’s polar flight has been disputed, the former went on to accomplish expeditions in Antarctica

Comic book artist Jack Kirby smokes a pipe at San Diego Comic Con, August 1973

Jack Kirby Was a Kid From the Lower East Side Who Became the ‘King of Comics’ and Made Superhero Mythology. Now, New York City Has Named a Street After Him

The artist who co-created Captain America and other iconic characters is being honored in the neighborhood where he grew up

The collection includes writings on Franklin’s experiments with electricity.

Before He Was a Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin Founded the Lending Library. Now His Belongings Are on Display There Before Heading to Auction

In 1731, book lover Franklin created the Library Company of Philadelphia, where this week visitors can see a collection of his papers worth an estimated $3 million to $4.5 million

During World War I, the Tampa protected convoys from submarine attacks.

Divers Discover the Shipwreck of a World War I-Era Coast Guard Cutter, Which Vanished With 131 Sailors on Board in 1918

The wreckage of the “Tampa,” which was torpedoed by a German submarine, was found 50 miles off the coast of Cornwall, England. The disaster was the largest single American naval combat loss of life during the war

A bison herd on the American Prairie reserve roams at sunset on October 18, 2018, in Montana

The Bison Is America’s National Mammal. Here’s How Indigenous Tribes and Conservationists Aided Its Return to the Prairies After Near Extinction

The past, present and future of the giant bovine are front and center in a new exhibition as the country approaches its 250th birthday

John Hancock left this trunk of documents at a Lexington tavern. Paul Revere and fellow Bostonian John Lowell recovered the trove of papers and carried it across the village green.

America's 250th Anniversary

Everyone Remembers Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride. But His Forgotten Race to Secure a Trove of Documents Reveals How Government Records Helped Win the War

During the American Revolution, both the British and the patriots fought to keep sensitive papers out of enemy hands

The HMS Victory at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard in England

How Do You Lift a 30,000-Pound Mast From a Warship Built a Record-Breaking 261 Years Ago? With a Really, Really Big Crane

HMS “Victory” served in the American Revolution, the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. It’s the world’s oldest warship still in commission—but it’s in desperate need of repairs

An aerial view of the Ford Motor Company's River Rouge plant, circa 1945

Walt Disney Visited a Ford Factory in 1948. What He Witnessed There Laid the Groundwork for What Would Become Disneyland

A new book argues that the film producer’s trip to the River Rouge plant in Michigan inspired him to embrace the power of automation when designing the first Disney theme park

None

The Revolutionary Spirit of the Queen City: How to Experience 250 Years of Charlotte History

From the defiant rebellion of the “Hornets’ Nest” to the industrial grit of the textile age, Charlotte’s history is a record of people who chose to build, break, and reinvent

The original King Taco location in the Los Angeles Cypress Park neighborhood is now a historic-cultural monument.

A Couple From Mexico Became Soft Taco Pioneers in Los Angeles 50 Years Ago. Now, Their Restaurant Is a Landmark

Raúl and Lupe Martinez opened King Taco and served up soft corn tortillas like they remembered from home. The rest is—now officially—history, thanks to a vote from the Los Angeles City Council

None

There's More to That

The Remarkable, Amazing Stories of Route 66 Reflect the Twists and Turns of 100 Years of Americana

Among the first interstates, the beloved roadway that connected Chicago to Los Angeles still looms large in popular culture and our collective imagination

The Green-House at Green-Wood opened in April.

This New York City Cemetery Restored a Victorian Greenhouse to Welcome Visitors to Its Historic Grounds

Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn grew out of the 19th-century “rural cemetery” movement that transformed graveyards from cramped and dark to sprawling and beautiful

Archaeologists found the historic structures while preparing for renovations at the Fox Tech High School campus, located in downtown San Antonio.

Cool Finds

New Archaeological Discoveries Reveal How San Antonio’s Earliest Settlers Irrigated Crops and Accessed Drinking Water

While preparing for school renovations, researchers in Texas found remnants of the historic San Pedro acequia, a centuries-old technology that provided water to the burgeoning village

The 125-foot-long Clough sank in September 1868.

A Sudden Squall Doomed This Stone-Hauling Vessel in Lake Erie. More Than 150 Years Later, Divers Just Found the Shipwreck

The “Clough,” a 125-foot-long bark, sank in September 1868 near Cleveland, with just one crew member surviving to explain what had happened

Across the Continent: “Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way” (1868) by Frances Flora Bond Palmer is one of the artworks in the National Gallery of Art's new exhibition.

The National Gallery of Art Holds an Artistic Mirror Up to the United States for Its Big 250th Birthday

In celebration of the semiquincentennial this year, “Dear America” looks at the country’s land, communities and revolutionary history through artworks dating back to the late 18th century

An 1818 John Trumbull painting of the presentation of the draft Declaration of Independence to the Continental Congress

In 1776, the Declaration of Independence Was Breaking News. Here’s How the Founding Document Reached the American Public

A new book by historian Emily Sneff records the journeys of the Declaration’s first printed copies, tracking their reception in the Thirteen Colonies and overseas

Initial excavations last month at Monticello revealed a layer of brick rubble.

Enslaved and Free Workers Built Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello Brick by Brick. Archaeologists Just Discovered One of the Kilns They Used

Researchers think the newly unearthed structure was used to fire and cure bricks during construction of the site’s original mansion in the early 1770s

Page 1 of 204