People
These influential artists, celebrities, leaders and scholars have shaped our world
Michael Benson’s Awe-Inspiring Views of the Solar System
A photographer painstakingly pieces together raw data collected by spacecraft to produce color-perfect images of the Sun, planets and their many moons
April 02, 2013 |
By Megan Gambino
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
April 01, 2013 |
By Paul Bisceglio
How to Tour Frank Sinatra’s Las Vegas
Even though most of 1950s Vegas is long gone, there are still many ways to relive the haunts of Ol’ Blue Eyes and the Rat Pack
April 01, 2013 |
By Nina Fedrizzi
What Major World Cities Look Like at Night, Minus the Light Pollution
Photographer Thierry Cohen tries to reconnect city dwellers with nature through his mind-blowing composite images—now at New York City's Danziger Gallery
March 29, 2013 |
By Megan Gambino
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
March 28, 2013 |
By Paul Bisceglio
Butterflies, Baseball and Blossoms: Tours for Your Spring Vacation
Two custom tours come fully loaded with insider information, digital postcards and step-by-step directions
March 27, 2013 |
By Leah Binkovitz
The Otherworldly Calm of Wolfgang Laib’s Glowing Beeswax Room
A German contemporary artist creates a meditative space—lined with beeswax—at the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C.
March 26, 2013 |
By Megan Gambino
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
March 25, 2013 |
By Paul Bisceglio
PHOTOS: Portrait Gallery Announces Winners of its Outwin Boochever Competition
Winners of the triennial National Portrait Gallery competition used everything from rice to glitter to thread to capture themselves and the people around them
March 22, 2013 |
By Leah Binkovitz
Caleb Cain Marcus’ Photos of Glaciers on a Disappearing Horizon
With a surprisingly light touch, the New York City-based photographer instills feelings of solitude in his images of massive glaciers
March 21, 2013 |
By Megan Gambino
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
March 21, 2013 |
By Paul Bisceglio
B.F. Skinner: The Man Who Taught Pigeons to Play Ping-Pong and Rats to Pull Levers
One of behavioral psychology's most famous scientists was also one of the quirkiest
March 20, 2013 |
By Marina Koren
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
March 18, 2013 |
By Paul Bisceglio
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
March 14, 2013 |
By Paul Bisceglio
Why the Department Store Brought Freedom for the Turn of the Century Woman
Harry Selfridge, a London department store owner, may have opened the doors to more than just his retail store when he gave women a chance to power shop
March 13, 2013 |
By Amy Henderson
The Most Audacious Australian Prison Break of 1876
An American whaling ship brought together an oddball crew with a dangerous mission: freeing six Irishmen from a jail in western Australia
March 12, 2013 |
By Gilbert King
Poetry Matters: Women’s Work: Toward a New Poetic Language
For Women's History month, curator David C. Ward considers the steady ascendency of poets from Emily Dickinson to today's Eavan Boland
March 12, 2013 |
By David C. Ward
The Northern Lights—From Scientific Phenomenon to Artists’ Muse
The spectacular aurora borealis is inspiring artists to create light installations, musical compositions, food and fashion
March 12, 2013 |
By Megan Gambino
Events March 12-14: Missions to Mars, the Civil War in Art and a Meditation on Imaginary Landscapes
This week, meet the scientist behind the Mars rover, learn the civil war's influence on contemporary art and watch films by European media collective Flatland
March 11, 2013 |
By Paul Bisceglio
The Secret Plot to Rescue Napoleon by Submarine
In 1820, one of Britain's most notorious criminals hatched a plan to rescue the emperor from exile on the Atlantic isle of St Helena -- but did he ever try it?
March 08, 2013 |
By Mike Dash
