Smithsonian Stories

Stories that spark curiosity from the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex.

Spacecraft Telephone
Smithsonian Snapshot

Ground Control to Major Tom?

This mid-century space oddity allowed visitors to phone home.
Gettysburg Battle Artifacts
Smithsonian Snapshot

Relics of a Pivotal, Calamitous Battle

These relics commemorate the bloodiest single battle on American soil.
Bob Newhart's Grammy
Smithsonian Snapshot

A Life Well-Laughed

Bob Newhart has had an award-winning, six decade-long career as a stand-up comedian and film and television actor.
Harlem Hellfighters
Smithsonian Snapshot

Let's Go!

The Harlem Hellfighters fought with ferocity and gallantry and are honored in Bisa Butler’s artwork.
Sand Bottle by Clemens
Smithsonian Snapshot

Grain by Grain

Part painting, part sculpture, the resulting art form is unique and often quite astonishing in its detail and precision.
A grid of about 300 different marine animals on a white background. They include fish and shellfish.
Smithsonian Story

This is How Much Marine Life Fits in One Cubic Foot

Biocubes reveal the incredible diversity of life on the planet.
Space instrument against a dark starry background
Smithsonian Story

Tracking Air Pollution from Space

TEMPO will help us understand air pollution’s causes and impact to improve the health and well-being of life on Earth.
beads sewn on a black cloth with stars and the Milky Way
Smithsonian Snapshot

Cosmic Beadwork

This artwork brings illumination to the problem of light pollution.
Hedy Lamarr Pictured in "Paint Book"
Smithsonian Snapshot

Hedy Lamarr: Golden Age Film Star—and Important Inventor

Lamarr’s invention contributed to communications technologies used today, such as Wi-Fi and GPS.
School
Smithsonian Snapshot

A Path to Genealogical and Historical Discovery

Family historians and genealogists can search for their ancestors; scholars can research topics related to slavery and the era of Reconstruction.
Four stamps showing scenes of a little boy in a red snow suit playing from "The Snowy Day"
Smithsonian Story

"The Snowy Day" Stamps

The book by Ezra Jack Keats was published in 1962.
Betty White in Uniform
Smithsonian Snapshot

Betty White's Lesser-Known Role

From Hollywood to the home front.
Grace Thorpe
Smithsonian Snapshot

Grace Thorpe: A Life of Service at Home and Abroad

Thorpe was a World War II veteran and advocate for Native American rights.
Scraps
Smithsonian Snapshot

What a Good Boy!

What kind of dog is this?!
Three bouquet holders: gold and purple with a painted landscape, silver filigree in a flower shape, and gold with blue beads
Smithsonian Story

Victorian Women’s Must-Have Accessories? Bouquet Holders

Peruse the tiny and ornate fashion of bouquet holders from Smithsonian Gardens.
Rolodex File
Smithsonian Snapshot

Still Rolling Around

Even in the digital age, the Rolodex survives.
Brown and yellow box of Crayola young artist drawing crayons with a handful of crayons next to it
Smithsonian Story

Going Old School

We’re going back to school with inspiration from across the Smithsonian’s collections.
Two barn owls on a perch
Smithsonian Story

Meet the Owls That Lived in the Smithsonian Castle

This pair stayed in a tower in the 1970s, but they weren't the building's only owl residents.
In a museum gallery, draped canvas dangling from string is painted in bright colors
Smithsonian Story

Remembering Abstract Artist Sam Gilliam

See pieces by Gilliam from across the Smithsonian’s collections.
Museum gallery for “¡Presente! A Latino History of the United States”
Smithsonian Story

Five Objects in the New National Museum of the American Latino Gallery

These Smithsonian collections tell how Latino history is American history.
Blue Morpho
Smithsonian Snapshot

Beautiful Blue Morpho

What makes this butterfly blue?
EHT Black Hole
Smithsonian Snapshot

Confirmation at Last of a Black Hole at the Center of the Milky Way

Eight radio observatories across the planet formed a single “Earth-sized” virtual telescope to capture the image.
Muybridge Horse Gait
Smithsonian Snapshot

The Photographer Who Captured Humans and Animals in Motion

Muybridge’s groundbreaking photography captured the moment all of a horse’s hooves were off the ground at once.
Person-sized monarch butterfly wings with a graduation cap and colorfully striped stole
Smithsonian Story

A Dreamer’s Graduation Attire

Explore an object from the first online exhibition from the National Museum of the American Latino.

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