Smithsonian Magazine: Explore History, Science, Arts & Culture

Relatives of James Chaney, a Black man killed for his voting rights activism, at his funeral in 1964

These Black Americans Were Killed for Exercising Their Political Right to Vote

In the Jim Crow South, activists became martyrs at the hands of white racists, all for the just cause of using the vote to fight for equality and freedom

Tracy Scott Forson

Still Life Under the Lamp, Pablo Picasso, 1962

See Picasso's Lesser-Known Print Works, Which He Continued Experimenting With Into His 80s

Smart News

Coal Recovered From the Titanic and Thousands of Other Historic Shipwreck Artifacts Are Going to Auction

November 4, 2024 4:31 p.m.

See the Breathtaking 14th-Century Sienese Artworks That Helped Set the Italian Renaissance in Motion

November 4, 2024 3:18 p.m.

At the Age of 50, an Elderly Female Elephant Dies at the Smithsonian's National Zoo

November 4, 2024 2:55 p.m.

Invasive Mussels Recently Spotted in California Mark a First for North America

November 4, 2024 2:21 p.m.

After Months of Rehab, Moira the Cold-Stunned Sea Turtle Has Been Returned to the Wild

November 4, 2024 1:55 p.m.

Tour Guide at Medieval Manor House Discovers Mysterious Etchings Meant to Repel Evil, Trap Demons and Curse Enemies

November 4, 2024 11:30 a.m.

Latest Features

Quincy Jones at an awards ceremony in 2014

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

Quincy Jones Was a ‘Musician’s Musician’ Who Was Uniquely Beloved in the Cutthroat Music Industry

November 4, 2024 3:30 p.m.

The Offering by Nicole Crowder and Hadiya Williams in "Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial" at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

See What Happened When One Museum Asked Artists to Define ‘Home’

November 4, 2024 10:30 a.m.

Relatives of James Chaney, a Black man killed for his voting rights activism, at his funeral in 1964

These Black Americans Were Killed for Exercising Their Political Right to Vote

November 4, 2024 6:00 a.m.

“Cité Mémoire” is a digital multimedia installation illustrating the moments that have shaped Montreal’s last 400 years.

Cities Are Projecting Their History Onto Streets and Buildings After Dark

November 1, 2024

A couple visits a cemetery during Day of the Dead, against the backdrop of storm clouds.

Celebrate Day of the Dead With These 15 Scenes of Festivities and Remembrance

November 1, 2024

Statue of George Washington

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

George Washington’s Farewell to the Nation Marked the Birth of American Democracy

Updated: October 31, 2024 | Originally Published: September 20, 2011

Users of the Sortes Astrampsychi chose a specific question from a list of 92. Then, they randomly picked a number between one and ten, which, when added to the number of the chosen question, directed them to one of 1,030 possible answers.

To Divine the Future, the Ancients Relied on These Chance-Based Fortune-Telling Tools

October 31, 2024

As the story goes, the makers of the first talking board asked the board what they should call it; the name “Ouija” came through.

The Ouija Board Can't Connect Us to Paranormal Forces—but It Can Tell Us a Lot About Psychology, Grief and Uncertainty

Updated: October 30, 2024 | Originally Published: October 27, 2013

Current Issue
November 2024

Smithsonian magazine November 2024 issue cover

Most Popular

1.

Scientists Think a Skeleton Found in a Well Is the Same Man Described in an 800-Year-Old Norse Text

The remains were discovered during excavations in 1938. Now, researchers have learned new information about his identity by analyzing DNA from his tooth

2.

See Picasso's Lesser-Known Print Works, Which He Continued Experimenting With Into His 80s

A new exhibition spotlights the Spanish artist's printmaking talents, which he began honing in his 20s. In the decades that followed, he produced thousands of breathtaking creations

3.

What Made the Battle of Blair Mountain the Largest Labor Uprising in American History

Its legacy lives on today in the struggles faced by modern miners seeking workers' rights

4.

'Found' Dataset Reveals Lost Maya City Full of Pyramids and Plazas, Hiding in Plain Sight Beneath a Mexican Forest

By analyzing an old lidar survey, researchers found evidence of more than 6,500 ancient structures in a previously unexplored area of Campeche

5.

An Ice Age Infant’s 17,000-Year-Old DNA Reveals He Had Dark Skin and Blue Eyes

The baby boy’s recovered genome suggests he’s related to a famous Ice Age population

Special Report

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Our Sustainable Future

A hub dedicated to the latest on how global change affects life on Earth today and on what solutions scientists, including those at the Smithsonian, are researching to build a more sustainable planet

View Full Report

Featured Stories

In Miami, the Nation’s First Chief Heat Officer Charts a Course for Surviving on a Warming Planet

Inside the Effort to Save Earth's Biocrusts

Can the Noise in Sports Arenas Be Turned Into Electricity?

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Smithsonian Videos

Preview thumbnail for video '10 Fun Facts About Jellyfish

10 Fun Facts About Jellyfish

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The Ultimate Skywatching Guide for Every Season

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10 Enchanting Butterfly Facts Revealed!

Photo of the day

Two people move towards each other on the forecourt of the immense Roman amphitheater of El Jem in Tunisia. The amphitheatre dominates the town and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

History

If a reader stared at one of Spectropia’s illustrations under a strong light source for about 20 seconds and then gazed at a blank wall in a darkened room, a version of that image in inverted colors appeared.

This 19th-Century 'Toy Book' Used Science to Prove That Ghosts Were Simply an Illusion

"Spectropia" demystified the techniques used by mediums who claimed they could speak to the dead, revealing the "absurd follies of Spiritualism"

NBC News' 1988 electoral map marked states won by Republican George H.W. Bush in blue and states won by Democrat Michael Dukakis in red.

When Republicans Became 'Red' and Democrats Became 'Blue'

Brian Cleary poses with a newly published copy of Bram Stoker's "Gibbet Hill," illustrated by Irish artist Paul McKinley.

Amateur Historian Discovers Lost Story by 'Dracula' Author Bram Stoker Hiding in Plain Sight at a Dublin Library

Science

The crowning glory of the Gardenia brighamii is its pearly flower.

Can Fungi Save This Endangered Hawaiian Tree?

By inoculating greenhouse na’u seedlings with mycorrhizal fungi, researchers hope to boost survival odds when the plants are returned to the wild

Tourists watch leatherback sea turtle hatchlings crawl toward the sea under the glow of less intrusive red lights. Artificial white lighting can attract the hatchlings away from the ocean, where predators may be lurking.

From Prolonging Wallaby Pregnancies to Disorienting Hatchling Turtles, 11 Ways Artificial Lights Affect Animals

A new study suggests that among adolescents mental health disorders could be “socially transmitted,” though its researchers could not establish any direct cause.

Is Depression Contagious?

Innovation

A rendering of the 3D-printed rounded hotel rooms

Workers Just Started Building the World's First 3D-Printed Hotel in the Texas Desert

In the dusty landscape surrounding the city of Marfa, a huge 3D printer is constructing 43 new rooms and 18 residential homes as part of an expansion of El Cosmico

The first wind phone was built in 2010 in Otsuchi, Japan.

What Are Wind Phones, and How Do They Help With Grief?

Some artificial intelligence models have predicted where hurricanes would make landfall earlier than numerical weather models.

Just How Much Can We Trust A.I. to Predict Extreme Weather?

Arts & Culture

The theme of this year's creepy doll contest at the History Center of Olmsted County is "Circus After Dark."

The Creepy Doll Contest Is Back—and It's Time to Cast Your Vote for the Most Terrifying Toy

Step right up and see the spooky circus dolls—from creepy clowns to frightening fortune-tellers—in a Minnesota museum's vintage toy collection

Mask, Jackson Pollock, 1941

Before He Created His Vibrant Drip Paintings, Jackson Pollock Took Inspiration From Pablo Picasso

The Ofaerufoss waterfall is part of the Nyrdri-Ofaera River, meaning the “impassable northern river.” The river flows into Eldgja, or the “Canyon of Fire.”

Go Chasing Waterfalls With These 15 Awe-Inspiring Images

Travel

Massive columns and karst formations decorate the vast chamber of Cenote Xulo.

Divers in Mexico's Underwater Caves Get a Glimpse of Rarely Seen Artifacts, Fossils and Human Remains

Cenotes in the Yucatán Peninsula are time capsules preserving remnants of Maya culture and fossils of extinct megafauna

The Hinemoana Halo Waka Moana Initiative recruited 12 crew members from the Cook Islands, New Zealand, Samoa and Tonga.

An All-Female Crew Sailed 1,000 Miles in a Traditional Voyaging Canoe to Help Save Humpback Whales

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz eloped in 1940. Eleven years later, “I Love Lucy” premiered on CBS, and they would become one of the most iconic couples for decades to follow.

Desi Arnaz Is Getting a Much-Deserved Historical Marker in Miami Beach

At the Smithsonian

Allosaurus

This Captivating Guide Uncovers the History and Mystery of Dinosaurs in 50 Fossils

A paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in London chronicles the age of the famous and fascinating massive reptiles

A polar bear looks out of a window frame on a deserted Russian island.

See 11 of the Best Wildlife Photographs From Years Past

A view of the exhibition "Felix Gonzalez-Torres: Always to Return" at the National Portrait Gallery

From Candy to Lightbulbs, Felix Gonzalez-Torres Showed Life and Loss Through Everyday Objects