Eras
Eras are periods of time defined by geologic or historic events
Ben Franklin: Patriot, Foodie
American patriot Benjamin Franklin was a fan of food and helped France change their opinion on potatoes
July 02, 2009 |
By Smithsonian.com
Robot Babies
Can scientists build a machine that learns as it goes and plays well with others?
July 2009 |
By Abigail Tucker
The World's Largest Fossil Wilderness
An Illinois coal mine holds a snapshot of life on earth 300 million years ago, when a massive earthquake "froze" a swamp in time
July 2009 |
By Guy Gugliotta
Terra Cotta Soldiers on the March
A traveling exhibition of China's terra cotta warriors sheds new light on the ruler whose tomb they guarded
July 2009 |
By Arthur Lubow
A Salute to the Wheel
Always cited as the hallmark of man’s innovation, here is the real story behind the wheel – from its origins to its reinvention
June 18, 2009 |
By Megan Gambino
In Damascus, Restoring Beit Farhi and the City’s Jewish Past
An architect works to restore the grand palace of Raphael Farhi, one of the most powerful men in the Ottoman world
June 11, 2009 |
By Stephen Glain
1934: The Art of the New Deal
An exhibition of Depression-era paintings by federally-funded artists provides a hopeful view of life during economic travails
June 2009 |
By Jerry Adler
Via Aurelia: The Roman Empire's Lost Highway
French amateur archaeologist Bruno Tassan fights to preserve a neglected 2,000-year-old ancient interstate in southern Provence
June 2009 |
By Joshua Hammer
A Tour of France’s Cave Homes
In France’s Loire Valley, domesticated cave dwellings, known as troglodyte homes, offer a history as rich as the region’s chateaus
May 19, 2009 |
By Kristin Ohlson
What’s the Deal about New Deal Art?
As the first of the New Deal acts that funded public art projects with federal money, the PWAP produced more than 15,000 works of art in just six months
May 19, 2009 |
By David A. Taylor
The Legends Behind the Dragon Boat Festival
Celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese calendar, Duanwu Jie honors storied history with culinary treats
May 15, 2009 |
By Jeninne Lee-St. John
Dancing for Mao
A photograph of a 5-year-old girl made her famous in China—and haunted the man who took it
May 2009 |
By Jennifer Lin
Discovering the Titanoboa
As part of a multi-organizational team, Smithsonian scientist Carlos Jaramillo uncovered the fossils of a gigantic snake
April 20, 2009 |
By Bruce Hathaway
The Measure of Genius: Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel at 500
Half a millennium later, the story of the painting of the Sistine Chapel is as fascinating as Michelangelo’s masterpiece itself
April 10, 2009 |
By Jamie Katz
Carving Out the West at the Great Smoke Conference
In 1851, American Indian tribes gathered to seek protection of their western lands from frontiersman on the Oregon Trail
April 02, 2009 |
By Paul VanDevelder
Booting Up a Computer Pioneer’s 200-Year-Old Design
Charles Babbage, the grandfather of the computer, envisioned a calculating machine that was never built, until now
April 02, 2009 |
By Aleta George
The Dinosaur Fossil Wars
Across the American West, legal battles over dinosaur fossils are on the rise as amateur prospectors make major finds
April 2009 |
By Donovan Webster
Eudora Welty as Photographer
Photographs by Pulitzer-Prize winning novelist Eudora Welty display the empathy that would later infuse her fiction
April 2009 |
By T.A. Frail
Genghis Khan’s Treasures
Beneath the ruins of Genghis Khan’s capital city in Central Asia, archaeologists discovered artifacts from cultures near and far
March 25, 2009 |
By Abigail Tucker
Roman Splendor in Pompeii
Art and artifacts reveal the elaborate maritime pleasure palaces established by Romans around the Bay of Naples
March 16, 2009 |
By Jason Edward Kaufman
