Imperialism, experienced as both royal subject and new colonizer, has been a key element in the development, continuity, and disruption of American humor.

The appearance of the vigilante crime fighter known as the Shadow in the writings of Plath, Kerouac, and Baraka reveals a twentieth-century duality.

In 1958, Soviet astrophysicist Nikolai A. Kozyrev claimed there was an active volcano on the Moon. Dutch American astronomer Gerard P. Kuiper begged to differ.

Under Akbar, the Mughal Empire instituted a policy known as sulh-i kull, which called for amicable reconciliation and tolerance toward all religions.

This history of patent leather is as murky as its finish is glossy.

A contemporary archeology project studying the remains of the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 reveals the human face—literally—of the conflict.

Meteorites that come from Mars help scientists understand the red planet’s interior.

In the late twentieth century, the image of the American quilt shifted from one of practicality and handicraft to a celebration of modernist abstraction.

The rich origins of an everyday word about everyday sound—and why we celebrate composer R. Murray Schafer on World Listening Day.

Well-researched stories from Smithsonian Magazine, Wired, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.