Learn how to knit! Classes run by Smithsonian Associates start on Tuesday.

Events April 16-18: Art Classes, 19th Century Laundry and the Peacock Room

This week, learn how to knit or make pottery, appreciate how much of a luxury your washing machine is and experience the prettiest room on the Mall

Nam June Paik’s “Video Flag” (1985-96). Celebrate the avant-garde artist’s life and work on Sunday with a symposium and performance organized by some of his most prominent contemporaries.

Events April 12-14: Experimental Films, Airplanes, Nam June Paik and Cherry Blossoms!

This weekend, watch shorts from a South Korean film festival, learn about flight, celebrate the work of an avant-garde great and enjoy the cherry blossoms

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Old Ebbets Field Opens One Hundred Years Ago Today

Revisiting a few pieces of baseball's past

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The Story Behind Smithsonian Castle’s Red Sandstone

Author Garrett Peck talks about uncovering the stone's history for his new book, The Smithsonian Castle and the Seneca Quarry

See the moon up close through a 16-inch telescope this Wednesday at the Air and Space Museum’s observatory.

Events April 9-11: Tarantulas, Star Gazing and an Award-winning Film

This week, hold some creepy crawlers, look at craters on the moon and watch a film based on Joseph Conrad's first novel

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, a National Historic Landmark, was designed in the 1870s by Calvin T.S. Brent, Washington, DC’s first black architect. Learn more about famous black architects and how they shaped the city in “Master Builders”at the Anacostia Community Museum on Sunday.

Events April 5-7: Japanese Art, Poetry Month and African-American Architects

This week, experience Japanese design, celebrate poetry with your family and learn about African Americans' roles in shaping Washington, DC's architecture

Earthworms may play a crucial role in helping plants defend themselves from being devoured by slugs.

Earthworms: A Nightmare for America’s Orchids?

Though assumed to be great for soil, earthworms actually may be killing off orchids by ingesting their seeds

Gerhard Richter (above) is one of the world’s most accomplished living painters. Watch a documentary about him and his creative process at the Hirshhorn Museum this Thursday.

Events April 2-4: Native Sousa Music, Free Art Lessons and Gerhard Richter

This week, learn about a little-known Native American musical tradition, make something creative and see a world-class painter in action

Night Raid, by Louie Palu.

Spotlight

A toy Statue of Liberty was one of thousands sold to raise funds to build the real statue's pedestal.

America’s Got a Case of Souvenir Mania

A new book from a Smithsonian curator looks at the culture and business of memorabilia

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VIDEO: “MLK: The Assassination Tapes” now a Peabody Award Winner

The award-winning program brings to light recently rediscovered footage and offers a fresh perspective on one of America's greatest tragedies

The tiny parasitic wasps flourish by laying eggs inside other insects (above: a wasp punctures a fruit fly).

Events March 29-31: Parasitic Wasps, Joseph Henry and Victorian Portraits

This weekend, learn about wasps that live inside their prey, meet Smithsonian's first secretary from 1846 and see living rooms from 150 years ago

Reusable water bottles, like those above, are good for the environment. Instead of throwing away your disposable plastic bottles, bring them to the Anacostia Community Museum on Wednesday to turn them into art.

Events March 26-28: Student Sit-Ins, Environmental Art and Female Historical Perspectives

This week, re-enact an event that encouraged civil rights, turn water bottles into art and see American history through women's eyes

A team of scientists has recovered pieces of a rocket engine that launched Apollo astronauts to outer space.

Apollo Rocket Engines Pulled From Sea — But Where Will They Land?

Scientists retrieved pieces of rocket engines that may have launched the first man to the moon. Will any of them end up at the Air and Space Museum?

Delicious Peace, out April 9, features 16 tracks that cover a range of Uganda’s musical styles. The songs all have the same message, though: spread peace.

Give the World a Cup of Joe and Teach It Harmony

Musicians in a fair trade coffee cooperative hope to change the world through song and coffee

The Garrison Dam, whose construction displaced the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in the 1950s. See a documentary on the dam’s effects on American Indians on Saturday.

Events March 22-24: Flying Lessons, the Garrison Dam and Dream Folk-Rock

This weekend, have your kids learn the science of flight, hear the history of a displaced North Dakota tribe and listen to local folk-rockers Kindlewood

Nam June Paik’s “Electronic Superhighway” (he coined the phrase). See a curated selection of short films by the video artists on Wednesday at the American Art Museum.

Events March 19-21: Poetry Lessons, Nam June Paik Films and a Native Ballet

This week, unlock your inner poet, see films by the first video artist and take in the history of the Osage people performed in dance

Shanti the Asian elephant plays with a tire in the National Zoo’s new Elephant Community Center, which opens on Saturday, March 23.

Look Out! Look Out! Elephants Get New Digs

The Elephant Community Center, the newest addition to the National Zoo's "Elephant Trails" habitat, opens on Saturday, March 23

Chahārshanbe-Sūri, Iran’s Festival of Fire, falls on the Wednesday before the Persian New Year. Join in celebrating Iran’s unique New Year traditions this Saturday at the Freer and Sackler Galleries.

Events March 15-17: Three Movies, the Persian New Year and Native Story Time

This week, see free films, celebrate the Persian New Year by jumping over fire and hear children's stories from different Native communities

To boldly go where only a few men (and women) have gone before: “Moving Beyond Earth,” a permanent exhibit at the Air and Space Museum, has a replica of the waste collection system used aboard NASA’s space shuttles. This may be the fanciest toilet you will ever see.

How Do Astronauts Go to the Bathroom in Space?

A look at the space shuttle toilet and "the deepest, darkest secret about space flight"

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