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Articles

Seen from the aircraft that Steinmetz calls his "flying lawn chair," a salt-making site at the village of Teguidda-n-Tessoumt in arid northern Niger appears to be a vast work of abstract art. The clay-lined pools hold briny water that slowly evaporates, yielding salt solids that workers truck to southern Niger and Nigeria, where the minerals are given to livestock. The bluish pools bear a salty crust that reflects the sky.

Africa on the Fly

Dangling from a paraglider with a propeller on his back, photographer George Steinmetz gets a new perspective on Africa

Ceremonial palanquin that was a form of transport favored by warlords in 19th-century Japan.

Easy Rider

Charles Harrison, who created a more affordable View-Master and the first plastic trash can, designed 8 to 12 Sears sewing machines ever year for 12 years.

Intelligent Designer

Charles Harrison, former industrial designer at Sears, Roebuck and Company, created practical innovations that touched many lives

President Roosevelt shaking hands with Vice President Truman during his fourth inauguration.

Jukebox: Hail to the Chief

Franklin Roosevelt’s fourth inaugural, which was less than 600 words long, focused on the perils of isolationism

Pulitzer Prize-winning author N. Scott Momaday operates the Buffalo Trust, a nonprofit organization working to preserve Native cultures.

N. Scott Momaday and the Buffalo Trust

Pulitzer Prize-winning author and Kiowa Indian N. Scott Momaday runs a nonprofit organization working to preserve Native cultures

Dorothy's Ruby Red Slippers from The Wizard of Oz are back on display at the National Museum of American History.

For Those Ruby Red Slippers, There’s No Place Like Home

The newly reopened Smithsonian National Museum of American History boasts a rare pair of Judy Garland’s legendary ruby slippers

Fluid Dynamics by Tina York.

What’s Up

"Very seldom do a bunch of Santas get together," says Jerry Clarke, the right-most Santa, who manages apartments by day.

The More the Merrier

Photographer Neal Slavin captures the night some Santas bent the rules

"Some halls of fame are admittedly just a nice way for industries to give loyal timeservers a pat on the back."

Your Name Here

If you’re not yet a Hall of Famer, maybe you’re just not trying

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Letters

Readers Respond to the November Issue

Van Gogh painted his iconic The Starry Night in 1889, while in an asylum in Saint-Rémy. "One of the most beautiful things by the painters of this century," he had written to Theo in April 1885, "has been the painting of Darkness that is still COLOR."

Van Gogh’s Night Visions

For Vincent Van Gogh, fantasy and reality merged after dark in some of his most enduring paintings, as a new exhibition reminds us

David Frost (Michael Sheen) interviews Richard Nixon (Frank Langella) in "Frost/Nixon."

Frost, Nixon and Me

Author James Reston Jr. discovers firsthand what is gained and lost when history is turned into entertainment

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January Anniversaries

Momentous or Merely Memorable

President Abraham Lincoln, with officers in 1862, rarely dictated battlefield tactics.

Lincoln as Commander in Chief

A self-taught strategist with no combat experience, Abraham Lincoln saw the path to victory more clearly than his generals

Scaffolding covers the reconstructed golden dome. With help from the U.N. and the Iraqi prime minister's office, workers are rebuilding the sacred Shiite site.

Samarra Rises

In Iraq, the restoration of the shattered Mosque of the Golden Dome brings together Sunnis and Shiites in an unlikely alliance

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Weekend Events: Story Time and Art a la Cart

In Spain people eat 12 grapes at the strike of midnight.

New Year’s Foods for Luck and Money

Why traditional New Year’s Day meals tend to be humble.

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Enter the Dinosphere

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Top 10 Things to Do at the Smithsonian in 2009

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The Year of Charles Darwin Ultimate Tour (Part 1)

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