Editors' Picks

The History of the Lava Lamp

At 50, the legendary relic of the college dorm room is still groovy after all these years

The World’s Largest Collection of Coffee Cup Lids

With over 500 different disposable plastic lids, the architect-collector has pieced together a history of American innovation and culture

Designing a 51-State Flag

Even in 1958, the American flag was designed through crowdsourcing amateurs. If Puerto Rico joins the union, who will design the 51-star flag?

Arts & Culture Beats

When F. Scott Fitzgerald Judged Gatsby By Its Cover

A surprising examination of the original book jacket art to The Great Gatsby
May 14, 2013 | By Jimmy Stamp

Page 1 of 3

One of the founding father's more quixotic quests was to create a new alphabet. No Q included
May 10, 2013 | By Jimmy Stamp

The Japanese artist depicts blossoms from various plant species in fastidious detail
May 10, 2013 | By Megan Gambino

From a Las Vegas Denny's with a wedding chapel to rock 'n' roll posters, this year's design award winners have a good time with great design
May 09, 2013 | By Leah Binkovitz

There's a word for that odd quirk of Apple iPads that hold on to design components of old keyboards
May 08, 2013 | By Jimmy Stamp

What came first: the typist or the keyboard? The answer may surprise you
May 03, 2013 | By Jimmy Stamp

Venture into the highly regulated and fascinating world of bovine pyroglyphics
April 30, 2013 | By Jimmy Stamp

These infrastructural lines mark the pathways of pipes and wires beneath the paved surface -- but what does each color mean?
April 26, 2013 | By Jimmy Stamp

With programmable robots and student competitions, Lego is making “tinkering with machines cool again”
May 2013 | By Franz Lidz

Jerry Uelsmann and other artists manually blended negatives to produce dreamlike sequences
May 2013 | By Paul Bisceglio

Without this simple invention, impressionists such as Claude Monet wouldn’t have been able to create their works of genius
May 2013 | By Perry Hurt

The sequel to Alice's Adventure's in Wonderland was designed to be a playable, albeit whimsical chess problem
April 17, 2013 | By Jimmy Stamp

The definition of being eco-conscious is so much more than having solar panels on a roof
April 12, 2013 | By Megan Gambino

How far can you push the design of a knight before it stops looking like a knight?
April 15, 2013 | By Jimmy Stamp

Just what are those red, blue, and yellow diamonds hanging outside warehouses and factories?
April 10, 2013 | By Jimmy Stamp

The brush to block revolution saw a flowering of Japanese popular culture that still intrigues and enchants
April 05, 2013 | By Leah Binkovitz

The vaunted Staunton Chess Set, the standard chess set you probably grew up with, has its roots in neoclassical architecture
April 03, 2013 | By Jimmy Stamp

The evolution of the All American Hero from artist's mannequin to action figure
March 29, 2013 | By Jimmy Stamp

Celebrate the birthday of the iconic car that changed the way families drove
March 26, 2013 | By Jimmy Stamp

Five years in, the merits of Make It Right's housing project are under new scrutiny
March 22, 2013 | By Jimmy Stamp

Modern headphones have their origin in opera houses, military bases and a kitchen table in Utah
March 19, 2013 | By Jimmy Stamp

The story behind how the Windy City gets its yearly watery makeover
March 15, 2013 | By Jimmy Stamp

It's supposedly the 50th anniversary of the original design of the iconic image, but its history since then is surprisingly complex with millions of dollars at stake
March 13, 2013 | By Jimmy Stamp

The spectacular aurora borealis is inspiring artists to create light installations, musical compositions, food and fashion
March 12, 2013 | By Megan Gambino

It wasn't a military expert or an aviation pioneer, but a Russian actor who developed the first viable parachute
March 07, 2013 | By Jimmy Stamp

Advertisement

Follow Us

Travel with Smithsonian