People
These influential artists, celebrities, leaders and scholars have shaped our world
Events April 3-5: Spring Break, Let’s Move! and Baseball Presidencies
This week, spend spring break at the National Portrait Gallery, explore the Smithsonian gardens, and learn about baseball's special place in our presidential history.
April 02, 2012 |
By Aviva Shen
Dear Science Fiction Writers: Stop Being So Pessimistic!
Neal Stephenson created the Hieroglyph Project to convince sci-fi writers to stop worrying and learn to love the future
April 2012 |
By Annalee Newitz
Roberto Clemente: The King of Béisbol
Forty years ago, the sports superstar and humanitarian transcended baseball's borders
April 2012 |
By David Maraniss
Who Was Casanova?
The personal memoir of history's most famous lover reveals a misunderstood intellectual who befriended the likes of Ben Franklin
April 2012 |
By Tony Perrottet
Historic Film Studios Gone, but Not Forgotten
The demolition of buildings in West Hollywood and New York City leads us to ask: "What parts of our film heritage are we going to keep?"
March 30, 2012 |
By Daniel Eagan
The Portrait of Sensitivity: A Photographer in Storyville, New Orleans’ Forgotten Burlesque Quarter
The Big Easy's red light district had plenty of tawdriness going on—except when Ernest J. Bellocq was taking photographs of prostitutes
March 28, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
Hirshhorn’s “SONG 1″ Strikes a Chord With Couple’s Anniversary
For this pair, serendipity was on their side during last weekend's opening of artist Doug Aitken's take on the popular tune, "I Only Have Eyes For You"
March 27, 2012 |
By K. Annabelle Smith
Events March 27-29: 80s Night, Musicians from Marlboro, and American Painting Techniques
This week, test your memory of the 80s, enjoy a performance from Marlboro Music Festival's best young musicians, and learn what techniques distinguished early American painters.
March 26, 2012 |
By Aviva Shen
An American Library in Paris
Founded after World War I, the City of Light's English-language library has long been a haven for expats, including Hemingway
March 25, 2012 |
By Susan Spano
The Ottoman Empire’s Life-or-Death Race
Custom in the Ottoman Empire mandated that a condemned grand vizier could save his neck if he won a sprint against his executioner
March 22, 2012 |
By Mike Dash
Why Has It Been So Hard to See Margaret?
The Kenneth Lonergan film that many critics hailed as one of the best of 2011 has had a long and tortuous journey to the theaters. It opens in New York tomorrow
March 22, 2012 |
By Daniel Eagan
Edward Curtis’ Epic Project to Photograph Native Americans
His 20-volume masterwork was hailed as "the most ambitious enterprise in publishing since the production of the King James Bible"—and he paid dearly for his ambition
March 21, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
The Search for Amelia Earhart Resurfaces, 75 Years Later
With new leads on where she may have landed, the mystery and her legacy continue.
March 20, 2012 |
By K. Annabelle Smith
Ask Smithsonian: Can Birds Be Identified Just From Their Feathers? Questions from Our Readers
Our new feature, Ask Smithsonian, is all about finding the answers. Do you have a question for our curators?
March 15, 2012 |
By Beth Py-Lieberman
Weekend Events March 16-18: Evolution of Video Games, Saint Paddy Party, and Masterworks of Three Centuries
This weekend, "Art of Video Games" curator Chris Melissinos leads a panel on the past, present and future of video games, Saint Paddy Party turns the Discovery Theater green, and baritone William Sharp performs Schumann.
March 15, 2012 |
By Aviva Shen
Amy Henderson: “Downton Abbey” and the Dollar Princesses
A curator tells the story of 19th-century American socialites, who like Cora Crowley, hopped the pond, found noble husbands and flushed the British Empire with much-needed cash
March 14, 2012 |
By Amy Henderson
Game On At the American Art Museum This Weekend
"The Art of Video Games" opens at the American Art Museum with a weekend packed with enough gaming, panels, and performances to satisfy even the most hardcore gamer geek.
March 14, 2012 |
By Aviva Shen
Clarence Dally — The Man Who Gave Thomas Edison X-Ray Vision
"Don't talk to me about X-rays," Edison said after an assistant on one of his X-ray projects started showing signs of illness. "I am afraid of them."
March 14, 2012 |
By Gilbert King
Arthur Conan Doyle’s Ethereal Dinosaurs
Prior to the 1925 debut of The Lost World, the novelist pulled a stunt to make people think dinosaurs might still be alive in a distant jungle
March 13, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
Excavating the River of Giants
Rare footage shows how paleontologist R.T. Bird diverted a river to excavate a set of Texas dinosaur tracks in 1938
March 12, 2012 |
By Brian Switek
