Articles

What if you could unlock your smartphone this way?

Could a Doodle Replace Your Password?

Drawing your own unlock pattern on a touchscreen is faster and easier to remember than a password, and much harder to crack

On May 6, 1937, the German airship Zeppelin LZ 129 Hindenburg burst into flames in Lakehurst, New Jersey, while the airship was landing.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

What Really Felled the Hindenburg?

On the anniversary of the conflagration, mysteries still remain

Students for a Democratic Society was the largest – and arguably most successful – student activist organization in U.S. history.

What Was the Protest Group Students for a Democratic Society? Five Questions Answered

Todd Gitlin, former president of Students for a Democratic Society, shares his perspective on protest in the 60s and now

Is Champagne Still Champagne Without Bubbles?

In a storied part of France, a group of artisan producers is making this beloved wine the old fashioned way—sans fizz

Mateo-Vega (right) shows Emberá and Kuna colleagues how to take forest measurements. From left to right, indigenous technicians Edgar Garibaldo, Chicho Chamorro, Baurdino Lopez, Evelio Jiménez, Alexis Solís.

Future of Conservation

How Scientists And Indigenous Groups Can Team Up to Protect Forests and Climate

A collaboration between Smithsonian researchers and the Emberá people of Panama aims to rewrite a fraught narrative

Footage of the Alarming Moments Before the Everest Avalanche

An earthquake in Nepal fills hikers on Everest with fear. Once the tremors subside, however, a new threat begins to loom on the horizon: an avalanche

The 20 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2017

From remote hideaways to coastal harbors, discover the towns that topped our list this year

Lifting an Unwieldy 75-Ton Hovercraft Out of the Water

When you're crane-lifting a giant hovercraft into a ship's hold, plenty can go wrong

A slave fortress in Cape Coast, Ghana

A Digital Archive of Slave Voyages Details the Largest Forced Migration in History

An online database explores the nearly 36,000 slave voyages that occurred between 1514 and 1866

NASA's Cassini spacecraft captures three of Saturn's moons—Tethys, Enceladus and Mimas—in this group photo.

Space Hub

How and When Did Saturn Get Those Magnificent Rings?

The planet's rings are coy when it comes to revealing their age, but astronomers are getting closer

When Londoners worried about losing their jobs in 1517, they turned against foreigners.

On Evil May Day, Londoners Rioted Over Foreigners Stealing Their Jobs

It’s been 500 years since London’s artisans turned a festival into a rampage

Some Very Compelling Evidence the Tower of Babel Was Real

Biblical scholars have debated whether the Tower of Babel existed. A remarkable stone tablet never before shown on film appears to settle that question

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Get Lost in London’s Secret Gardens

Follow us to these fragrant green oases secreted away within central and far-flung London neighborhoods

After the war, the contents of Pershing's office, including his desk, were shipped back to the U.S. and delivered to the Smithsonian.

World War I: 100 Years Later

From This Desk, 100 Years Ago, U.S. Operations in World War I Were Conceived

Germany's defeat could be traced to pins in a map now on display at the Smithsonian's American History Museum

Does Creativity Breed Inequality in Cities?

Richard Florida thinks so. In his new book, the urban theorist says sometimes the most innovative cities also have the worst social and economic disparity

On the canal in Tongli.

Explore China's Ancient Water Towns

The Venice of the East sits just 30 minutes by train from Shanghai

Smart Startup

There's No Snoozing in Class With This Chemistry App

Chem101 allows professors to push out exercises for students to do on their devices, increasing classroom engagement

The censorship board. George Creel is seated at far right.

How Woodrow Wilson’s Propaganda Machine Changed American Journalism

The media are still feeling the impact of an executive order signed in 1917 that created 'the nation's first ministry of information'

"Old City Hall, Wall St., N.Y." Steel engraving by Robert Hinshelwood

George Washington's Congress Got Off to an Embarrassing Start

The new federal government was plagued with absences and excuses—until James Madison helped kick things into gear

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