News
Enjoy articles from Time and Smithsonian from the last 30 days.
Why the Black National Anthem Is Lifting Every Voice to Sing
Scholars agree the song, endowed with its deep history of black pride, speaks to the universal human condition
Centuries-Old ‘Wine Windows’ Open for Business in Florence
A low-risk alternative to curbside pickup, the portals may have helped fight an outbreak of bubonic plague in the 1630s
How a Choral Director and Her Students Found Joy in the Folkways Archives
Watch this uplifting video giving voice to stalwarts of the American songbook
These Life-Size, Animatronic Dinosaurs Are Heading to New Homes
Yesterday, an auction house in Canada offloaded more than 50 robotic reptiles in a unique online sale
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Amid Reckoning on Public Art, Statue of Black ‘Everywoman’ Unveiled in London
Thomas J. Price’s nine-foot-tall “Reaching Out” celebrates black culture and rejects monumentalism
Seven Ideas for Do-It-Yourself Backyard Pools
Build a personal oasis with everything from hay bales to scrap wood to a shipping container
Will Rogers Was One of a Kind
The popular raconteur touched Americans with his humor, newspaper columns, movie star power, philanthropy and as political agitator
In Pursuit of the Perfect Photo, Tourist Accidentally Breaks Sculpture’s Toes
Authorities have identified the inadvertent vandal as an Austrian man who was in northern Italy on a birthday celebration trip
Kerry James Marshall’s New Paintings Consider Blackness and Audubon’s Legacy
New series explores black erasure in art and John James Audubon’s own racial identity
Explore the Newly Digitized Diaries and Letters of Marian Anderson
Penn Libraries’ online portal includes more than 2,500 artifacts related to the famed opera singer
Rare Chinese Vase Found in Pet-Filled Home Sells for $9 Million
The 18th-century artifact was made in a style specific to the Qianlong dynasty
How the 1918 Pandemic Got Meme-ified in Jokes, Songs and Poems
In newspapers across the country, the public dealt with the heartache of the moment by turning to humor
Explore Centuries of Brooklyn’s History With These Newly Digitized Maps
The Brooklyn Historical Society recently launched a portal featuring almost 1,500 documents dating back to the 17th century
Exploring Underwater Caves and 22 Other Smithsonian Programs Streaming in August
Exploring Underwater Caves, Battle of Midway, Economics + Harry Potter. Don’t miss out
Nursing Home Residents Recreate Iconic Album Covers During Lockdown
Seniors in the U.K. staged photoshoots inspired by Elvis Presley, Madonna, David Bowie and other musicians
Art Historian Identifies the Spot Where Vincent van Gogh Painted His Final Work
The Dutch artist died 130 years ago today
What Does the Smithsonian Look Like in the Post-COVID Era?
Key personnel from across the Institution weigh in on the long road back to normal(ish) operations
How to Build a Sandcastle
World-record-holding sand sculptor Ted Siebert gives some tips for amateur builders looking to hone their skills this summer
Astronomy Offers Fresh Look at Vermeer’s ‘View of Delft’
Analysis of sunlight and shadows suggests the Dutch masterpiece portrays the city around 8 a.m. in early September 1659 or 1658
Olivia de Havilland, Star of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Dies at 104
The actress is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Melanie Hamilton in “Gone With the Wind”
See Jean-Michel Basquiat Masterpieces Up Close in This Online Exhibition
The virtual experience spotlights a 2019 show that included around 70 works by the artist
The Legend, the History and the Science Behind Seattle’s New Hockey Team Name
NHL fans, meet the Seattle Kraken—named for a mythical beast that may have been inspired by the very real giant squid
This Frank Lloyd Wright Home Was a Trailblazing Example of Accessible Design
The Laurent House in Rockford, Illinois, was built 40 years before the Americans with Disabilities Act became law
A New London Tube Map Will Highlight Women and Nonbinary People
Co-organizers Emma Watson and Reni Eddo-Lodge drew inspiration from a 2016 project centered on the New York City subway
Artist Bisa Butler Stitches Together the African American Experience
Her dynamic quilts that reimagine old portraits will be on display in New York in her first solo exhibition
How a Maverick Hip-Hop Legend Found Inspiration in a Titan of American Industry
When LL COOL J sat for his portrait, he found common ground with the life-long philanthropical endeavors of John D. Rockefeller
Abandoned Artwork Discovered Beneath Pablo Picasso Painting
The artist, who regularly reused canvases, covered a neoclassical still life with a Cubist one
Centuries-Old Paintings Help Researchers Track Food Evolution
Art inadvertently documents the domestication of carrots, wheat, watermelon and other culinary delights
Contemporary Muslim Fashions Are Having Their Day in the Sun
Ranging from high-performance sportswear to haute couture, emerging and established designers are meeting the needs of stylish Muslim women
New Research Suggests Bloodletting, Pneumonia Killed Raphael
The artist failed to disclose his late-night outings to physicians, leading them to misdiagnose his illness
Historic Brooklyn Cemetery Seeks Its First Artist-in-Residence
Green-Wood is the final resting place of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Louis Comfort Tiffany, among others
You Can Now Explore All 48,000 Panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt Online
The commemorative quilt weighs 54 tons and spans 1.2 million square feet
Suspected Arson at France’s Nantes Cathedral Destroys Organ, Stained Glass
Authorities were quick to point out that the blaze inflicted less damage than the devastating April 2019 inferno at Notre-Dame
Why Bigfoot and the ‘Abominable Snowman’ Loom Large in the Human Imagination
In cultures around the world, folklore of a ‘Wild Man’ share a common narrative
You Could Help Curate This Ambitious Timeline of Food History
The family of Lynne Olver, the librarian who launched the online portal in 1999, needs help keeping her legacy alive
Why It’s Unsettling That Anything Could Be Cake, According to Science
Psychologists explain why the disconnect between expectations and reality is both amusing and uncomfortable
This Ancient Greek Shipwreck Is Now an Underwater Museum
The Peristera, a cargo vessel loaded with thousands of amphorae, sank in the Aegean Sea around 500 B.C.
Are Sculpture Parks Having a Moment in the Sun?
Many art museums are still closed due to COVID-19, but open gardens and parks on their grounds are attracting eager visitors
Do These 10,000-Year-Old Flint Artifacts Depict Human Figures?
Archaeologists say the objects’ grooves evoke the hips and the narrowing of the neck around the shoulders
The Decades-Long Journey to Restore the National Cathedral
Craftspeople in the building arts are practicing “social distancing stone masonry” in safeguarding this cultural heritage