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On December 21, 1968, Apollo 8 launched from Kennedy Space Center at 7:51 a.m. EST with Frank Borman in command. His crew became the first humans to ride the mighty Saturn V rocket, breaking the bonds of Earth’s physical pull and entering the gravitational field of another celestial body.

How Apollo 8 Delivered Christmas Eve Peace and Understanding to the World

In a new book, Smithsonian curator Teasel Muir-Harmony examines the geopolitics during NASA’s space flight program

The portal currently features 613,458 entries documenting the people, events and places involved in the transatlantic slave trade.

Who Were America’s Enslaved? A New Database Humanizes the Names Behind the Numbers

The public website draws connections between existing datasets to piece together fragmentary narratives

Gray wolves in Montana

These Non-Lethal Methods Encouraged by Science Can Keep Wolves From Killing Livestock

Experts say old, repurposed techniques and new technologies may be better than bullets at curbing attacks by the predators

Since the start of the pandemic, people all over the world have increased their time spent with nature.

Smithsonian Voices

Try These Tips from Smithsonian Educators to Make the Outdoors a Curiosity-Sparking Classroom

Make the Outdoors a Curiosity-Sparking Classroom

The spectacled tyrant (Hymenops perspicillatus) inhabits harsh, dry deserts, which new research suggests tend to produce new species at a higher rate than lush, biodiverse places like the Amazon.

New Research

Earth’s Harshest Ecosystems May Birth New Species Fastest

A genetic study of nearly 1,300 different birds suggests places with fewer species spit out new ones more frequently than biodiversity hotspots

Lost Animals: Extinct, Endangered and Rediscovered Species by John Whitfield is just out from Smithsonian Books.

Ten Exquisite Creatures That Once Roamed the Earth

From Smithsonian Books, comes a magnificent tome to highlight evolution’s greatest hits

While many people have walked by the red door on Chicago's Wells Street, very few—likely less than one or two thousand—have ever gotten a chance to see what’s behind it.

Virtual Travel

A New Virtual Tour Takes Us Inside Architect Edgar Miller’s Masterwork

Seen by few until now, Glasner Studio in Chicago’s Old Town is a rich mix of stained glass windows, wood carvings, tilework and bas-reliefs

Volunteers with the Navajo & Hopi Families Covid-19 Relief Fund distribute food and other essential supplies to isolated communities and farmsteads on Navajo Nation and Hopi lands. As part of the Smithsonian's virtual program 24 Hours in a Time of Change, Shandiin Herrera (Diné)—seated on the left, wearing a Duke University sweatshirt—describes how this grassroots response to the COVID-19 pandemic came together last March and shares her experiences as the fund's volunteer coordinator in Monument Valley, Utah.

Smithsonian Voices

Smithsonian Wants Your 2020 Stories

This Friday, December 11, 2020, ten Smithsonian museums and cultural centers offer a moment for reflection and sharing

Dr. Seuss works on an early drawing of the Grinch.

The Grinch That Keeps on Grinching

A new television special hearkens back to the nearly 50 years of Christmas thievery from the Dr. Seuss classic

John Glenn by Henry C. Caselli, Jr., 1998 is in the collections of the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.

Why John Glenn Couldn’t Escape the Hero Label

A new book explores the man who would serve his country as a fighter pilot, an astronaut and a U.S. Senator

Jack Yoast, Ambler, Pennsylvania

Eight Elaborate Christmas Displays Across America—and the People Behind Them

In her new book, photographer Danelle Manthey captures a distinct type of American folk art: Christmas light decoration

Chuck Yeager with Bell X-1.

Smithsonian Voices

A Smithsonian Curator Reflects on Chuck Yeager, a Pilot With the ‘Right Stuff’

Seventy-nine years to the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor Brig. Gen. Charles “Chuck” Yeager is dead at the age of 97

Artist J. Howard Miller produced this work-incentive poster for the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company. Though displayed only briefly in Westinghouse factories, the poster in later year has become one of the most famous icons of World War II.

Women Who Shaped History

Why Rosie the Riveter Continues to Endure

Forever changing the nation, the women who worked in American factories during the war have been collectively awarded the Congressional Gold Medal

Chimps relax at the Sweetwaters Chimpanzee Sanctuary at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. Humans can transmit many diseases to chimps, orangutans and their kin.

How Researchers Are Protecting Great Apes From Covid-19

Humans who study and care for the primates are taking precautions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and its unknown effects

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Smithsonian Voices

Rare Iridescent Snake Discovered in Vietnam

The discovery could help scientists piece together new information about snake evolution.

Gift Guides

The Best Books of 2020

In our efforts to increase and diffuse knowledge, we highly recommend these 80 titles released this year

The female giant panda Mei Xiang (pronounced may-SHONG) and male Tian Tian (tee-YEN tee-YEN), will return to China at the end of 2023 at the relatively elder panda ages of 25 and 26, respectively.

Smithsonian’s Giant Pandas Will Continue to Cavort for Three More Years

A new agreement ensures that the Zoo’s beloved animals and the new cub can stay through 2023

Our favorite books this year are ones with messages that help kids understand the world around them.

The Ten Best Children’s Books of 2020

These top titles deliver history lessons, wordplay and a musical romp through the animal kingdom

The election of 1800 didn't invent the idea of a peaceful transition of power from one set of ideals to another, but it did engrave the United States into history as a democracy.

Inauguration History

How John Adams Managed a Peaceful Transition of Presidential Power

In the election of 1800, for the first time in U.S. history, one party turned the executive office to another

The Ladder (Sun or Moon), Illuminate SF, 1066 Market St., by Ivan Navarro, 2020.

More Than 40 Light Installations Have San Francisco Aglow During the Holidays

Illuminate SF’s Festival of Light spreads across 17 of the city’s neighborhoods

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