American History
One of the First Maps to Include “America” Found in Old Geometry Book
Tucked away in a geometry book at the Munich University Library, researchers found a 500-year old map of the new world, and one of the first to bear the name America.
July 03, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
Chimps Celebrate the End of a Research Era
For 30 years, countless chimps have lived out their days at Bioqual, a research facility where the Humane Society described treatment of some animals as “unethical.” Now, the last four chimps living at Bioqual are bidding goodbye to the facility, thanks in part to a recent report calling most chimp research unnecessary. The Washington Post [...]
July 02, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Events July 3-5: Flag Folding, Celebrate the Fourth, Explore the Heirloom Garden
Kick off the Fourth of July celebration this week with flag folding, a concert and a tour of the Heirloom Garden.
July 02, 2012 |
By K. Annabelle Smith
The Collections of the African American History and Culture Museum Await Their New Home
Objects from Muhammad Ali's headgear to Nat Turner's Bible sit in a holding facility in Maryland, ready to be put on display
July 2012 |
By G. Wayne Clough, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution
Why Are Jim Thorpe’s Olympic Records Still Not Recognized?
100 years ago, Jim Thorpe became the greatest American Olympian of all time, but not if you ask the IOC
July 2012 |
By Sally Jenkins
Insider Tips for the Tourists in Town
Think you know all of the cool sights on the Mall? We bet you'll find these insider tips from the Institution helpful this tourist season.
June 29, 2012 |
By K. Annabelle Smith
What If the Founding Fathers Had Known About Voltron?
Olly Moss, a UK-based graphic designer, riffs on Benjamin Franklin's 1754 political cartoon, "Join, or Die."
June 29, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
At the Portrait Gallery: “One Life: Amelia Earhart” Opens 75 Years After Her Disappearance
“One Life: Amelia Earhart” takes visitors on a clockwise journey around the one-room exhibit, a thoughtful, deliberate selection of photographs, artwork and memorabilia documents an extraordinary life.
June 29, 2012 |
By Kat J. McAlpine
Presidents vs. Monsters and Legends
This past weekend’s release of the movie “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” raises the question of how other American presidents might have dealt with monsters and conspiracy theories.
June 28, 2012 |
By Kat J. McAlpine
A Little Perspective: Congress First Mandated Health Care in 1798
The Supreme Court handed down its decision on the Affordable Care Act this morning, and the individual mandate -- the requirement that all Americans buy health insurance, which was one of the bill's most at-risk provisions -- survived.
June 28, 2012 |
By Sarah Laskow
Obama Could Win 2012 Because the South Used to Be Underwater
One hundred million years ago, the coastline of North America was drastically different than it is now. First off, the precursors of the Rocky Mountains, stretching from the tip of Alaska to Central America, were their own island, separated from the eastern states by the ocean. Florida was under water, as was much of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. And this ancient coastline, giving birth to the Deep South since the waters receded, could swing this year's election.
June 28, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
America’s Other (Lady) Audubon
Genevieve Jones got an early start as a birder. Born in the 1850s, the 6-year old would accompany her father on egg collecting trips to fill the family’s curiosities shelf. She wanted to create a book illustrating different nests and eggs of bird species, but her family discouraged her since producing such a book would [...]
June 27, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Recessions Lead to Lipstick Lead to Babies, Says Science
t Sarah Hill and her colleagues say there could be a basic explanation for the lipstick effect: Women are trying to enhance their reproductive potential in a "period of scarcity," when baby-making (before perishing from hunger) is a greater priority.
June 27, 2012 |
By Sarah Laskow
Things That Are Surprisingly New: Forks, Lunch, Huge Drinks
Who knew that there existed a time when some of our staples of modern eating habits — the use of forks, the existence of lunch, and, unfortunately, the ubiquitous super-sized drinks found at every fast food chain around the U.S — did not exist. Forks are taken for granted in modern western eating, yet relatively [...]
June 27, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Events June 26-28: Duke Kahanamoku, Bring Back the Funk, and the Folklife Festival
This week, learn about past Olympians, get funky with George Clinton and other music legends, and kick off this summer's Folklife Festival.
June 26, 2012 |
By Aviva Shen
Events June 22-24: Choctaw Days, Hollywood Classics and a Day at the Zoo
This weekend, celebrate the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, watch some Hollywood classic films and take the kids to the zoo.
June 21, 2012 |
By K. Annabelle Smith
Today is Juneteenth, the Most Important Holiday No One Knows About
Today is Juneteenth! That’s the day we solemnly remember one of the greatest horrors in American history, or not, since it’s not an official holiday. Although Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, it didn’t impact slaves in Texas for more than two years, until June 19, 1865. As Kenneth C. Davis wrote last [...]
June 19, 2012 |
By Sarah Laskow
What the Taliban and Jenny McCarthy Have in Common
Jenny McCarthy and Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a Taliban commander in Pakistan, have at least one thing in common: they are both paranoid about vaccination. Bahadur blocked a vaccination campaign, scheduled to start in a few days, that would have reached 161,000 children in North Waziristan. Unlike McCarthy, the Taliban commander is not worried that vaccinations [...]
June 18, 2012 |
By Sarah Laskow
Today We Celebrate the Time Canada Burned Down the White House
Two hundred years ago today, a 36-year old America declared war, for the second time, against Great Britain. The plan was to conquer Canada and wrest North America for the United States once and for all. But, by pretty much all measures, the war was a total mess… It began in confusion, with the United [...]
June 18, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
How Canada Celebrates the War of 1812
The Rodney Dangerfield of wars in the United States, the 19th-century conflict is given great respect by our Northern neighbors
June 18, 2012 |
By John Hanc
