Editor’s Note, January 21, 2020: Experts have authenticated a portrait found hidden inside the walls of the Ricci Oddi Modern Art Gallery as Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of a Lady, which was stolen from the Italian museum in 1997. A gardener clearing ivy from an Italian museum’s walls recently uncovered a metal panel. When he pulled […]

With America in the middle of a flourishing craft beer and craft spirits movement, it’s easy to forget that Prohibition was once the law of the land. One hundred years ago, on January 17, 1920, NProhibition went into effect, one year after Nebraska became the 36th of the country’s 48 states to ratify the 18th […]

SMITHSONIANMAG.COM | Nov. 13, 2019, 4 p.m. Election Day in 2019 didn’t involve any high-profile House or Senate or Presidential seats up for the taking, but had historic consequences nonetheless. In the Commonwealth of Virginia, voters handed Democrats control of both its statehouse chambers, and within a week of the 2020 legislative session, the new […]

SmartNews Keeping you current The thief (or thieves) likely used heavy machinery to commit the crime “It’s unfortunate when we lose a treasure such as the Wizard Rock,” says district ranger Sarah Clawson. “These boulders belong to the public, and should be enjoyed by locals and visitors for years to come” (Courtesy of Prescott National […]

SmartNews Keeping you current Experts say the panel painting was created by Florentine artist Cimabue around 1280 The painting, expected to sell for upwards of $6 million, will be auctioned October 27 (Courtesy of Actéon) smithsonian.com September 25, 2019 | Updated: 3 hours ago Editor’s Note, October 28, 2019 : Cimabue’s “Christ Mocked” sold at […]

Editor’s Note, October 24, 2019: Earlier today, Spanish authorities exhumed the remains of dictator Francisco Franco from the Valley of the Fallen, the Catholic basilica and tomb he built for himself during his 40-year rule. The site is also home to tens of thousands Civil War dead from both sides of the conflict, making it […]

Update, October 9, 2019: After seven days of fierce competition, the voters have determined which of the chubby cubbies of Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve reigned supreme. And your 2019 winner is… 435  Holly. We say congratulations to all the bear-y good participants. Read all about #FatBearWeek2019 below:   Today marks the official start of Fat Bear Week, basically October Madness […]

Editor’s Note, October 4, 2019: The Tony Award-winning actress Diahann Carroll has died. Her daughter Susan Kay announced that the much-loved actress died today in Los Angeles of cancer. She won an Academy Award nomination for best actress for her role as Claudine Price in the 1974 film Claudine , but she is best known […]

Editor’s Note, September 24, 2019:The full English-language version of Renia Spiegel’s diary was published today. We wrote about her family’s rediscovery of the journal in our November 2018 issue. You can read our exclusive excerpt of Renia’s diary here. On January 31, 1939, a 15-year-old Jewish girl sat down with a school notebook in a […]

Editor’s Note, September 11, 2019: The Smithsonian’s National Zoo announced today that the 21-year-old female giant panda Mei Xiang is not pregnant. “She has been experiencing a pseudopregnancy over the past several months,” the Zoo reported. “Giant pandas’ behavior and hormones mimic a pregnancy even if they are experiencing a pseudopregnancy. Reproductive scientists had been tracking Mei Xiang’s […]

Editor’s Note, September 6, 2019: Francisco Toledo, the titanic expressionist artist, mourned by Mexico and the world, has died at age 79 in his native Oaxaca. Earlier this year, writer Paul Theroux gained unprecedented access to Toledo for Smithsonian’s exclusive, in-depth profile of the artist-activist. When Francisco Toledo heard that a McDonald’s was to open […]

SmartNews Keeping you current The camera has been recording San Francisco’s fog for 25 years FogCam’s view at the time of writing. (FogCam) smithsonian.com August 21, 2019 | Updated: September 3, 2019 6:50PM Editor’s Note, September 3, 2019: Thanks to an outpouring of support after news that FogCam would be shuttered, officials at San Francisco State […]

SMITHSONIAN.COM | July 3, 2019, 6 a.m. Editor’s Note, August 27, 2019: In the latest Sidedoor podcast, host Lizzie Peabody visits with the New York-based artist David Levinthal in his studio and toured his exhibition, which remains on view at the Smithsonian American Art Museum through October 14. At first glance, David Levinthal’s Iwo Jima […]

SmartNews Keeping you current The discovery of contaminated soil pushed the timeline back for repairs Artist’s conception of the new screening center. (National Park Service) smithsonian.com July 29, 2019 | Updated: August 16, 2019 4:18PM On September 19, the Washington Monument on the National Mall will reopen to the public, who will be able to […]

Editor’s Note, August, 7, 2019: The Smithsonian’s podcast Sidedoor released a new episode on orchids. We’re resurfacing this 2018 about the conservation work being done to better understand these extremely vulnerable plants. Orchids are the ultimate divas of the plant world, and not just the flamboyant ornamental ones favored by florists and horticulturalists. There are […]