History & Archaeology | Smithsonian.com

The Pyramid Man - The Mystery of Bosnia's Ancient Pyramids

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:00:00 GMT

An amateur archaeologist says he's discovered the world's oldest pyramids in the Balkans. But many experts remain dubious

Ancient Pyramids Around the World

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:47:50 GMT

No matter if the civilization was Mesopotamian, Egyptian, or Mayan, its legacy today is in part marked by towering pyramids

The Waldseemuller Map: Charting the New World

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Two obscure 16th-century German scholars named the American continent and changed the way people thought about the world

Paul Raffaele

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 09:44:11 GMT

From misunderstood animals to diverse cultures and people, Paul Raffaele has traveled the world reporting for Smithsonian magazine

This Month in History - Dec09

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:00:00 GMT

From misunderstood animals to diverse cultures and people, Paul Raffaele has traveled the world reporting for Smithsonian magazine

From the Editor - Making Tracks - Dec09

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:00:00 GMT

For reliable sources and mole poblano

History & Archaeology

Thu, 15 May 2008 09:17:54 GMT

For reliable sources and mole poblano

Ten Notable Apocalypses That (Obviously) Didn’t Happen

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:14:04 GMT

Apocalyptic predictions, such as those warning of global destruction in 2012, are nothing new – they have been around for millennia

Nan Madol: The City Built on Coral Reefs

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:16:26 GMT

One of the oldest archaeological sites not on a heritage list, this Pacific state, like Easter Island, is an engineering marvel

Making Sense of Robert E. Lee

Tue, 01 Jul 2003 04:00:00 GMT

"It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it." — Robert E. Lee, at Fredericksburg.

Memoirs of a World War II Buffalo Soldier

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:04:59 GMT

In a recently published memoir written over 60 years ago, veteran James Daugherty details his experiences as an African-American in combat

Flying With America’s Most Famous Female Aviators

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:04:14 GMT

Dozens of talented women preceded Amelia Earhart, and thousands have followed, and each has her own groundbreaking story to tell

Lincoln's Contested Legacy

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Great Emancipator or unreconstructed racist? Each generation evokes a different Lincoln. But who was our sixteenth president?

From the Editor - Misperceptions - Nov09

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Closing in on 40 years

Top 10 Nation-Building Real Estate Deals

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:56:02 GMT

Luck and hard bargaining contributed to the growth of the United States. But with expansion came consequences

German POWs on the American Homefront

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 05:05:51 GMT

Thousands of World War II prisoners ended up in mills, farm fields and even dining rooms across the United States

Timothy Egan on “The Big Burn”

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Thousands of World War II prisoners ended up in mills, farm fields and even dining rooms across the United States

The Legacy of America’s Largest Forest Fire

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 06:00:00 GMT

A 1910 wildfire that raged across three Western states helped advance the nation’s conservation efforts

Digs - Paper Trail - Oct09

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 06:00:00 GMT

A chance discovery of police archives may reveal the fate of tens of thousands of people who disappeared in Guatemala's civil war

Meriwether Lewis' Mysterious Death

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 05:06:03 GMT

Two hundred years later, debate continues over whether the famous explorer committed suicide or was murdered

John Brown - Object at Hand - Oct 09

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 03:17:59 GMT

An 1840s image captures an extremist's fervor

Day of Reckoning

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 06:00:00 GMT

The abolitionist's bloody raid on a federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry 150 years ago set the stage for the Civil War

The Rescue of Henry Clay

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

A long-lost painting of the Senate's Great Compromiser finds a fitting new home in the halls of the U.S. Capitol

The Battle of Arlington - How Arlington National Cemetery Came to Be

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

The fight over Robert E. Lee's beloved home—seized by the U.S. government during the Civil War—went on for decades

Robert M. Poole on “The Battle of Arlington”

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:56:11 GMT

The fight over Robert E. Lee's beloved home—seized by the U.S. government during the Civil War—went on for decades

Indelible Images - Saigon Requiem - Nov09

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 06:00:00 GMT

The death of Hugh Van Es, whose photograph captured the Vietnam War's end, launched a "reunion" of those who covered the conflict

Let the Games Begin

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 07:25:10 GMT

Spectators braved all manner of discomfort—from oppressive heat to incessant badgering by vendors—to witness ancient Greece's ultimate pagan festival

What's Up - December 2006

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 05:00:00 GMT

Paper dolls, Josephine Baker and the Seven Years' War

ATM - What's Up - April 2007

Sun, 01 Apr 2007 04:00:00 GMT

Duke Ellington, animated movies and the old ballgame

The Object at Hand 20th Anniversary

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:00:00 GMT

As the magazine's Object at Hand column turns 20, we look back on some of the treasures inside the Smithsonian Institution

Two Hundred Years of Abraham Lincoln

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 11:00:00 GMT

This year, the country commemorates the 200th birthday of our beloved 16th president, Abraham Lincoln

From Washington to Obama, Inauguration History

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 11:53:44 GMT

Every four years, D.C. celebrates the presidential inauguration with a parade, star-studded concerts, balls and parties

Decoding Ancient Egypt

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 09:44:35 GMT

Learn to decode hieroglyphs and discover other ancient Egyptian treasures

Mysteries of the Ancient World

Tue, 15 Sep 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Probe some of history's oldest secrets and unanswered questions including Easter Island, Stonehenge, the Parthenon and more

A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 07:51:27 GMT

One town's strange journey from paranoia to pardon

The Colors of Childhood

Mon, 01 Nov 1999 05:00:00 GMT

Crayola crayons take us all back with their fondly remembered look, scent and feel on paper

Happy Trails

Sun, 01 Dec 2002 05:00:00 GMT

As freshly carved toys or treasured heirlooms, well-bred rocking horses ride high in the affections of kids and collectors alike

Man of the Hour

Mon, 01 Dec 2003 05:00:00 GMT

Master horologist John Metcalfe keeps on ticking

Object at Hand: The Flight Stuff

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 04:00:00 GMT

Amelia Earhart brought her own special style—even to her outerwear

On the March - Terra Cotta Soldiers

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 06:00:00 GMT

A traveling exhibition of China's terra cotta warriors sheds new light on the ruler whose tomb they guarded

Capitol Discovery

Sun, 01 Jun 2003 04:00:00 GMT

Senate staffers come across a historic treasure in a dusty storage room

Titanic Sank This Morning

Thu, 01 Apr 2004 05:00:00 GMT

An artifact from the doomed ocean liner evokes that catastrophic night in April 1912

It's a Wurlitzer

Mon, 01 Apr 2002 05:00:00 GMT

The giant of the musical instrument collection makes tunesrootin'tootin' or romantic

Wild Thing

Fri, 01 Aug 2003 04:00:00 GMT

For 100 years, Harleys have fueled our road-warrior fantasies

Pieces of History

Fri, 01 Nov 2002 05:00:00 GMT

Raised from the deep, the Monitor's turret reveals a bounty of new details about the ship's violent end

Sky King

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 02:13:05 GMT

Pan Am founder Juan Trippe turned Americans into frequent fliers

Star-Spangled Banner Back on Display

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 06:00:00 GMT

After a decade’s conservation, the flag that inspired the National Anthem returns to its place of honor on the National Mall

John Lennon's First Album

Thu, 01 Sep 2005 04:00:00 GMT

A recently acquired stamp collection opens a new page on the teenage Beatle-to-be

The Shirt Off His Back

Tue, 01 Mar 2005 05:00:00 GMT

Jerry Seinfeld's silly, frilly prop takes its place in television history

Macho in Miniature

Thu, 01 Aug 2002 04:00:00 GMT

For nearly 40 years, G.I. Joe has been on America's front lines in toy boxes from coast to coast

Monumental Mission

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 09:10:06 GMT

Assigned to find art looted by the Nazis, Western Allied forces faced an incredible challenge

The Object at Hand

Wed, 01 May 1996 04:00:00 GMT

All but two of 104,960 sovereigns from a learned Englishman with no birthright were reminted here to fund the kind of institution he had in mind

Hell's Bells

Wed, 01 May 2002 04:00:00 GMT

The 19th-century trolley bell may have ding-ding-dinged, but the factory bell clanged the workday

What So Proudly We Hailed

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 05:00:00 GMT

The story behind the flag that inspired America's national anthem

Time Capsule

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 05:00:00 GMT

A riverboat's telltale contents included 133-year-old pickles. Want one?

The Object at Hand July 95: Tecumseh's Revenge

Sat, 01 Jul 1995 04:00:00 GMT

A great Shawnee warrior and statesman, Tecumseh united Western tribes in 1812 to fight the encroaching settlers. He lost the war and his life but is much honored in our history.

John Brown's Picture

Fri, 01 Aug 1997 04:00:00 GMT

A long-lost daguerrotype, made by a black artist in 1847, has lately come to rest at the Smithsonian

Christmas Cards

Thu, 01 Dec 2005 05:00:00 GMT

When orbiting pranksters Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford launched into "Jingle Bells," Mission Control almost lost control

Downtown Digs

Wed, 01 May 2002 04:00:00 GMT

One step ahead of bulldozers, Urban archaeologists pull historic treasures from America's cityscapes

The Treasures of Timbuktu

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 05:00:00 GMT

Scholars in the fabled African city, once a great center of learning and trade, are racing to save a still emerging cache of ancient manuscripts

Unearthing Athens' Underworld

Fri, 01 Nov 2002 05:00:00 GMT

Throughout the decade-long construction of the city's new metro, archaeologists have found a trove of treasures

Curiosities and Wonders

Sun, 01 Jun 2003 04:00:00 GMT

Where do you put all those treasures?

The Smithsonian's Crystal Skull

Fri, 30 May 2008 09:19:59 GMT

How the museum's quartz cranium highlights the epic silliness of the new Indiana Jones movie

Lincoln's Pocket Watch Reveals Long-Hidden Message

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 05:54:13 GMT

The Smithsonian opens one of its prized artifacts and a story unfolds

Genghis Khan’s Treasures

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 04:03:59 GMT

Beneath the ruins of Genghis Khan’s capital city in Central Asia, archaeologists discovered artifacts from cultures near and far

Czar Treasures From the East

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 08:26:21 GMT

A trove of spectacular objects from the Kremlin’s collection highlights Ottoman opulence

Chasing the Lydian Hoard

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 04:27:49 GMT

Author Sharon Waxman digs into the tangle over looted artifacts between the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Turkish government

Hi-Yo, Silver! Away!

Mon, 01 Oct 2001 04:00:00 GMT

The story of how the Smithsonian came by its mask rivals in interest the way the Lone Ranger got his

A Symbol That Failed

Thu, 01 Jan 1998 05:00:00 GMT

In 1918, a hopeful France gave Mrs. Wilson a peace brooch, but peace eluded her husband and the world

Moving Down the Line

Thu, 01 Apr 1999 05:00:00 GMT

It's pulled and jimmied, tied and lifted but the 20-ton Jupiter engine finally reaches its new home

A Mystery in Miniature

Sat, 01 Jan 2000 05:00:00 GMT

An enigmatic button once decorated the uniform of Haitian liberator Toussaint Louverture

Salem Sets Sail

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 07:31:25 GMT

After the Revolutionary War, ships from a little Massachusetts seaport brought the new nation wares from China and the mysterious East

The Object at Hand

Fri, 01 Nov 1996 05:00:00 GMT

A young war-horse helped Phil Sheridan win the day in the Shenandoah Valley and, made famous by a poem, helped Abraham Lincoln win re-election

The Object at Hand

Sat, 01 Mar 1997 05:00:00 GMT

A bejeweled box from a sorely beset emperor leads to a Yankee dentist, and how he rescued the beautiful empress Eugénie from a Paris mob

Ring King

Sun, 01 Mar 1998 05:00:00 GMT

"Who made the doughnut with the hole in the middle? Just how it got there will be always a riddle"

Faces of War

Thu, 01 Feb 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Amid the horrors of World War I, a corps of artists brought hope to soldiers disfigured in the trenches

Rome Reborn

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 04:00:00 GMT

Archaeologists unveil a 3-D model of the great city circa A.D. 400

The Unmaking of the President

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 06:15:33 GMT

Lyndon Johnson believed that his withdrawal from the 1968 presidential campaign would free him to solidify his legacy

Where Dinosaurs Roamed

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:00:00 GMT

Footprints at one of the nation's oldest—and most fought over—fossil beds offer new clues to how the behemoths lived

Indelible- Tabled Resolution

Tue, 27 May 2008 06:00:00 GMT

Betty Ford had a what-the-hell moment—and an accomplice in photographer David Hume Kennerly

Raiders or Traders? - Viking

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 06:00:00 GMT

A replica Viking vessel sailing the North Sea has helped archaeologists figure out what the stalwart Norsemen were really up to

1964 Republican Convention: Revolution From the Right

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:39:11 GMT

At the ugliest of Republican conventions since 1912, entrenched moderates faced off against conservative insurgents

1912 Republican Convention

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:37:49 GMT

Return of the Rough Rider

1948 Democratic Convention

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:38:43 GMT

The South Secedes Again

1968 Democratic Convention

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:39:41 GMT

The Bosses Strike Back

Parties to History Main

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:51:14 GMT

Four Political Conventions That Changed America

Conventional Facts

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:44:12 GMT

Four Political Conventions That Changed America

Commander in Chief

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 07:00:00 GMT

A self-taught strategist with no combat experience, Abraham Lincoln saw the path to victory more clearly than his generals

The Freedom Riders

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Fighting racial segregation in the South, these activists were beaten and arrested. Where are they now, nearly fifty years later?

Civil War Geology

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 08:52:10 GMT

What underlies the Civil War’s 25 bloodiest battles? Two geologists investigate why certain terrain proved so hazardous

Preserving the World’s Most Important Artifacts

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 03:59:22 GMT

The Memory of World Register lists over 800 historic manuscripts, maps, films and more to help raise funds for preservation

Setting Sail on the Hudson River 400 Years Later

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 09:44:58 GMT

Using 17th century techniques, volunteers built a replica of Henry Hudson's vessel in honor of the anniversary of his exploration

The Triumph of Frank Lloyd Wright

Tue, 19 May 2009 06:00:00 GMT

The Guggenheim Museum, turning 50 this year, showcases the trailblazer's mission to elevate American society through architecture

Presence of Mind - Recovered Ground - Jun09

Tue, 19 May 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Famed World War II Gen. George S. Patton's grandson finds his calling in the ashes of his fathers journals

Indelible Images - Salami, Mr. Holcomb? - July09

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 06:00:00 GMT

The first women to attend the Naval Academy became seniors in 1979. Photographer Lucian Perkins was there as the old order changed

We Have Liftoff

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 06:00:00 GMT

The launch 40 years ago of Apollo 11, which put a man on the moon, brought Americans together during a time of nationwide unrest

Nikita in Hollywood - Khrushchev

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Lunch with the Soviet leader was Tinseltown's hottest ticket, with famous celebrities including Marilyn Monroe and Dean Martin

On the Hunt for Jefferson's Lost Books

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 07:30:58 GMT

A Library of Congress curator is on a worldwide mission to find exact copies of the books that belonged to Thomas Jefferson

In the Event of War

Tue, 01 May 2007 04:00:00 GMT

How the Smithsonian protected its "strange animals, curious creatures" and more

Ancient Greece Springs to Life

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 02:36:35 GMT

Athens’ New Acropolis Museum comes to America in an exhibition highlighting treasures of antiquity

The Object at Hand - What a difference the Difference Engine made: from Charles Babbage's calculator emerged today's computer

Thu, 01 Feb 1996 05:00:00 GMT

The incredible world of computers was born some 150 years ago, with a clunky machine dreamed up by a calculating genius named Charles Babbage

Chilly Reception

Mon, 01 Jul 2002 04:00:00 GMT

Dr. John Gorrie found the competition all fired up when he tried to market his ice-making machine

Stamps What an Idea!

Thu, 01 Jan 1998 05:00:00 GMT

New commemoratives look like our first stamps, which were slow to catch on in 1847

Inventive Abe

Sun, 01 Oct 2006 04:00:00 GMT

In 1849, a future president patented an ingenious addition to transportation technology.

Darwin on Lincoln and Vice Versa

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 08:53:07 GMT

Two of the world’s greatest modern thinkers are much celebrated, but what did they know of one another?

Twin Peaks

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 07:00:00 GMT

Born on the same day, Lincoln and Darwin would forever influence how people think about the modern world

When the Shooting Started

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 07:24:56 GMT

A century and a half ago, Britain's Roger Fenton pioneered the art of war photography

Saving New Orleans

Tue, 01 Aug 2006 04:00:00 GMT

In a new book, "Patriot Fire," the author of "Forrest Gump" paints an uncommonly vivid picture of an overlooked chapter in American history -- and its unlikely hero.

Lincoln-Douglas Debate Negotiations

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 06:57:59 GMT

Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas engaged in pre-debate negotiations in 1858.

Face the Nation - Lincoln - Sept 08

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 06:00:00 GMT

Abraham Lincoln's debates with Stephen A. Douglas turned the backwoods rail-splitter into presidential timber

The Brink of War- Utah

Tue, 27 May 2008 06:00:00 GMT

One hundred fifty years ago, the U.S. Army marched into Utah prepared to battle Brigham Young and his Mormon militia

Presence of Mind - A Man of His Words - Oct 08

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 06:00:00 GMT

Ted Sorensen finds that of all the U.S. presidents, Lincoln had the best speechwriter—himself

Remembering the Alamo

Thu, 01 Apr 2004 05:00:00 GMT

Move over, John Wayne. John Lee Hancock's epic re-creation of the 1836 battle between Mexican forces and Texas insurgents casts the mythic massacre in a more historically accurate light

Digitizing the Hanging Court

Sun, 01 Apr 2007 04:00:00 GMT

Cutpurses! Blackguards! Fallen women! The Proceedings of the Old Bailey is an epic chronicle of crime and vice in early London. Now anyone with a computer can search all 52 million words

A Metal Far From Base

Wed, 01 Jul 1998 04:00:00 GMT

A tiny flake started the rush to California, but where gold is concerned, that isn't the half of it.

Encore! Encore!

Fri, 01 Sep 2006 04:00:00 GMT

Lorenzo Da Ponte was a hit in Europe: a courtier, a cad, the librettist for Mozart's finest operas. But the New World truly tested his creative powers.

The Vote That Failed

Sun, 01 Nov 1998 05:00:00 GMT

Old style ballots cast illegally in Indiana helped topple a president then he helped topple them

Chief Lobbyist

Wed, 01 Jun 2005 04:00:00 GMT

He made little headway with President Grant, but Red Cloud won over the 19th century's greatest photographers.

Abandoned Ship

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 02:16:38 GMT

What really happened aboard the Mary Celeste? More than a century after her crew went missing, a scenario is emerging

A Brief History of the Orient Express

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 05:00:00 GMT

Spies used it as a secret weapon. A president tumbled from it. Hitler wanted it destroyed. Just what made this train so intriguing?

Facing a Bumpy History

Wed, 01 Oct 1997 04:00:00 GMT

The much-maligned theory of phrenology gets a tip of the hat from modern neuroscience

Tea and Sisterhood

Thu, 01 Oct 1998 04:00:00 GMT

In 1848 when it came time to declare the rights of women, this tilt-top table provided solid support

Airmail Letter

Tue, 01 Aug 2006 04:00:00 GMT

Stale Mail: The nation's first hot-air balloon postal deliveries barely got off the ground.

Pay Dirt

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 05:00:00 GMT

When self-taught archaeologists dug up an 1850s steamboat, they brought to light a slice of American life

Digs - Finding Feisty Fungi - May09

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:00:00 GMT

In a place where no one believed they existed–-treeless Antartica–wood fungi are feasting on polar exploration relics

100 Days That Shook the World

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 04:00:00 GMT

The all-but-forgotten story of the unlikely hero who ensured victory in the American Revolution

The Swamp Fox

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 04:00:00 GMT

Elusive and crafty, Francis Marion outwitted British troops during the American Revolution

A Brief History of House Cats

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 04:00:00 GMT

It may be that "nobody owns a cat," but scientists now say the popular pet has lived with people for 12,000 years

Jewel of the Jungle

Sun, 01 Jul 2007 04:00:00 GMT

Traveling through Cambodia, our writer details the history and archaeology of Angkor's ancient temples

Making Copies

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 07:29:31 GMT

At first, nobody bought Chester Carlson's strange idea. But trillions of documents later, his invention is the biggest thing in printing since Gutenburg

We saw him land!

Wed, 01 May 2002 04:00:00 GMT

In a long-lost letter an American woman describes Lindbergh's tumultuous touchdown in Paris75 years ago this month

Langley's Feat--and Folly

Sat, 01 Nov 1997 05:00:00 GMT

The Smithsonian Secretary assembled a devoted team, a remarkable engine and a plane that wouldn't fly

Useful Gadget

Wed, 01 Oct 2003 04:00:00 GMT

The legendary explorers carried destiny on their expedition. But they could not have fulfilled is without this unprepossessing device

Flower Power

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 08:00:00 GMT

Studying ancient botanical drawings, Daniela Bleichmar is rewriting the history of the Spanish conquest of the Americas

Civil Wrongs

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 08:00:00 GMT

In a painstaking study of 1960s Atlanta, Kevin Kruse takes suburban whites to task

The Big Picture

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 08:00:00 GMT

Political historian Jeremi Suri has come up with a new way of looking at the links between the low and the mighty

Catching a Glimpse of America's Industrial Past

Fri, 01 May 1998 04:00:00 GMT

Political historian Jeremi Suri has come up with a new way of looking at the links between the low and the mighty

People's Choice

Mon, 01 Nov 2004 05:00:00 GMT

With the advent of mechanized vote counting in the 1890s, a ballot could be tallied in minutes not hours or days

Here's Looking at You, Kids

Tue, 01 Jul 2003 04:00:00 GMT

For three decades, the fluoroscope was a shoe salesman's best friend

Around the Mall Feb 95: Smithsonian digs up a 19th century neighbourhood

Wed, 01 Feb 1995 05:00:00 GMT

At the site of a new Smithsonian museum, a team of archaeologists dug up traces of a 19th-century neighborhood; bottles, chinaware and even a doll will help us learn more about how the people lived

James Smithson's legacy

Mon, 01 Sep 2003 04:00:00 GMT

The Stranger and the Statesman: James Smithson, John Quincy Adams, and the Making of America's Greatest Museum

The Stranger and the Statesman

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 05:00:00 GMT

An excerpt from Nina Burleigh's book, The Stranger and the Statesman: James Smithson, John Quincy Adams, and the Making of America's Greatest Museum

The Lost World of James Smithson

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 05:00:00 GMT

An excerpt from Heather Ewing's book, The Lost World of James Smithson: Science, Revolution, and the Birth of the Smithsonian

Pushing the Envelope

Wed, 01 Oct 1997 04:00:00 GMT

At the National Postal Museum, envelopes are as critical a part of history as the letters inside

A Real "Nation's Attic"

Sat, 01 Nov 1997 05:00:00 GMT

It's a place with a two-foot-wide "dead zone," a "wet" pod and a refrigerated room for the garbage

Presidential Designs

Wed, 01 Nov 2000 05:00:00 GMT

Re-created at the Smithsonian, the White House's Cross Hall tells a tale of changing styles

Picturing Pocahontas

Fri, 01 Jan 1999 05:00:00 GMT

An image at the National Portrait Gallery may be the truest account we have of the Indian princess

Saving the Nation's Flag

Thu, 01 Oct 1998 04:00:00 GMT

After nearly two centuries of exposure, the Star-Spangled Banner gets a much needed overhaul

Romance And The Stone

Tue, 01 Feb 2005 05:00:00 GMT

A rare Burmese ruby memorializes a philanthropic woman

A Century's Roar and Buzz

Mon, 01 Dec 2003 05:00:00 GMT

Thanks to an immigrant's generosity, the Steven Udvar-Hazy Center opens its massive doors to the public

The Object at Hand - Howard Hughes

Wed, 01 Feb 1995 05:00:00 GMT

A silver speedster from the 1930s evokes the golden age of flight, a pair of world-class speed records and the early triumphs of Howard Hughes' ultimately tragic life

In Honor of Struggle

Thu, 01 Jan 1998 05:00:00 GMT

Life came hard for people like historian Lonnie Bunch's ancestors; he strives to commemorate them

Steve Fossett

Fri, 01 Sep 2006 04:00:00 GMT

On March 3, 2005, after 67 hours aboard his Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer, he became the first person to fly alone around the world nonstop.

Around the Mall Aug 96

Thu, 01 Aug 1996 04:00:00 GMT

Every belfry must have its bell, and what better time than noon on August 10, the Smithsonian Institution's 150th birthday, to hoist one up to the Castle clock tower and ring out the hour?

Around the Mall Jan 96

Mon, 01 Jan 1996 05:00:00 GMT

Since its founding in 1967, the Anacostia Museum has grown from "storefront" concept to "neighborhood museum" to world renown for its innovative programs and service to the community

The Object at Hand

Mon, 01 Jul 1996 04:00:00 GMT

How an upside-down biplane on a 24-cent stamp, now on display at the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum, seemed to jinx early attempts at carrying the mail by air

Symbolically Speaking

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 10:02:03 GMT

A Q&A with hieroglyphs expert Janice Kamrin

Digs: Copernicus Unearthed

Mon, 01 May 2006 04:00:00 GMT

Archaeologists believe they have found the remains of the 16th century astronomer who revolutionized our view of the universe

Indelible Images - Dancing for Mao - May09

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:00:00 GMT

A photograph of a 5-year-old girl made her famous in China—and haunted the man who took it

Savoring Pie Town

Tue, 01 Feb 2005 05:00:00 GMT

Sixty-five years after Russell Lee photographed New Mexico homesteaders coping with the Depression, a Lee admirer visits the town for a fresh slice of life

Off the Beaten Track

Mon, 12 Nov 2007 07:31:29 GMT

During a civil rights march in 1965, photographer Bruce Davidson left the highway to focus on a single Alabama sharecropper and her nine children

Flower Child

Thu, 01 Apr 2004 05:00:00 GMT

A Vietnam War protester recalls a seminal '60s image, part of a new book celebrating French photographer Marc Riboud's 50-year career

Indelible Images: Comrades and Arms

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 06:08:32 GMT

When Fidel Castro asked for a show of hands in support of his new policies, an American journalist captured the response

We Followed Odysseus

Sat, 01 Sep 2001 04:00:00 GMT

When Fidel Castro asked for a show of hands in support of his new policies, an American journalist captured the response

Books: Every Book Its Reader

Wed, 01 Feb 2006 05:00:00 GMT

The Power of the Printed Word to Stir the World, by Nicholas A. Basbanes

Hidden History Excerpt

Fri, 23 May 2008 08:17:59 GMT

An excerpt from Kenneth C. Davis's new book explains they arrived half a century before the Mayflower reached Plymouth Rock

Sarah Vowell on the Puritans' Legacy

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 08:00:00 GMT

The author and 'This American Life' correspondent talks about her book on the colonies' early religious leaders

Review of 'The Beggar and the Professor: A Sixteenth-Century Family Saga'

Fri, 01 May 1998 04:00:00 GMT

The author and 'This American Life' correspondent talks about her book on the colonies' early religious leaders

Review of ' The Seed Is Mine and Across Boundaries'

Wed, 01 Apr 1998 05:00:00 GMT

The author and 'This American Life' correspondent talks about her book on the colonies' early religious leaders

Review of 'All You Need Is Love: The Peace Corps and the Spirit of the 1960s'

Wed, 01 Sep 1999 04:00:00 GMT

The author and 'This American Life' correspondent talks about her book on the colonies' early religious leaders

'The Basque History of the World' By Mark Kurlansky

Sat, 01 Apr 2000 05:00:00 GMT

The author and 'This American Life' correspondent talks about her book on the colonies' early religious leaders

Excerpt from Elizabeth Winthrop's "Counting on Grace"

Fri, 01 Sep 2006 04:00:00 GMT

This novel about a 12-year-old mill worker was inspired by a Lewis Hine photograph.

The epic of Rockefeller Center

Mon, 01 Mar 2004 05:00:00 GMT

Rockefeller Center symbolizes the heart of Manhattan

Dividing the Spoils

Sun, 01 Dec 2002 05:00:00 GMT

In a new book, historian Michael Beschloss re-creates the 1945 Potsdam Conference at which Harry Truman found his presidential voice and determined the shape of postwar Europe

Mr. Lincoln's Washington

Tue, 01 Apr 2003 05:00:00 GMT

The house where the conspirators hatched their heinous plot now serves sushi, and the yard where they were hanged is a tennis court.

Review of 'Daisy Bates in the Desert: A Woman's Life Among the Aborigines'

Fri, 01 Sep 1995 04:00:00 GMT

The house where the conspirators hatched their heinous plot now serves sushi, and the yard where they were hanged is a tennis court.

Book Reviews - An Adirondack Passage

Thu, 01 Feb 1996 05:00:00 GMT

The house where the conspirators hatched their heinous plot now serves sushi, and the yard where they were hanged is a tennis court.

Review of 'A Schoolteacher in Old Alaska: The Story of Hannah Breece'

Thu, 01 Aug 1996 04:00:00 GMT

The house where the conspirators hatched their heinous plot now serves sushi, and the yard where they were hanged is a tennis court.

Review of 'House of Houses'

Mon, 01 Dec 1997 05:00:00 GMT

The house where the conspirators hatched their heinous plot now serves sushi, and the yard where they were hanged is a tennis court.

Review of 'The Perfect Storm Sonnet'

Wed, 01 Oct 1997 04:00:00 GMT

The house where the conspirators hatched their heinous plot now serves sushi, and the yard where they were hanged is a tennis court.

Review of 'Lady's Choice: Ethel Waxham's Journals and Letters, 1905-1910', 'Homesteading: A Montana Family Album'

Mon, 01 Dec 1997 05:00:00 GMT

The house where the conspirators hatched their heinous plot now serves sushi, and the yard where they were hanged is a tennis court.

Book Reviews - Discovering the Unknown Landscape: A History of America's Wetlands

Wed, 01 Apr 1998 05:00:00 GMT

The house where the conspirators hatched their heinous plot now serves sushi, and the yard where they were hanged is a tennis court.

Review of 'We Will Not Be Strangers'

Tue, 01 Sep 1998 04:00:00 GMT

The house where the conspirators hatched their heinous plot now serves sushi, and the yard where they were hanged is a tennis court.

Review of 'Tea That Burns: A Family Memoir of Chinatown'

Tue, 01 Dec 1998 05:00:00 GMT

The house where the conspirators hatched their heinous plot now serves sushi, and the yard where they were hanged is a tennis court.

Review of 'Rocket Boys: A Memoir'

Mon, 01 Mar 1999 05:00:00 GMT

The house where the conspirators hatched their heinous plot now serves sushi, and the yard where they were hanged is a tennis court.

Review of 'The Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century's On-Line Pioneers'

Fri, 01 Jan 1999 05:00:00 GMT

The house where the conspirators hatched their heinous plot now serves sushi, and the yard where they were hanged is a tennis court.

Review of 'Teller of Tales: The Life of Arthur Conan Doyle'

Wed, 01 Sep 1999 04:00:00 GMT

The house where the conspirators hatched their heinous plot now serves sushi, and the yard where they were hanged is a tennis court.

Review of 'Gift of the Whale: The Inupiat Bowhead Hunt, A Sacred Tradition'

Wed, 01 Dec 1999 05:00:00 GMT

The house where the conspirators hatched their heinous plot now serves sushi, and the yard where they were hanged is a tennis court.

Books: The Worst Hard Time

Wed, 01 Mar 2006 05:00:00 GMT