Polaroid Portraits: Capturing President Obama’s Second Inauguration

A diver stumbles across a whale shark trapped in a commercial fishing line. Sensing the diver is there to help, the goliath lies still while the rope is cut.

A Whale Shark Cooperates With a Diver Saving Him (1:28)

Why saying cheese just didnt happen in the early days of photography.

Ask Smithsonian: Why Don’t People Smile in Old Photographs? (1:12)

For six weeks, luna moth caterpillars gorge themselves on the leaves of the marula tree. Then, when they're ready, they instinctively weave giant cocoons around themselves in preparation for their stunning metamorphosis.

Timelapse Footage of a Giant Caterpillar Weaving Its Cocoon (2:34)

With the development of better flight technology, commercial air travel received an unprecedented boom in the 1960s. But to fully sell the glamor of flying, the airlines needed these women on board.

Air Travel Was a Party, and They Were the Hosts (2:57)