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The area is home to about 500 residential eagles that attract visitors year-round, most especially in the fall when migrating birds up the count to historic highs of 3,000.

Behold the Largest Congregation of Bald Eagles in the United States

Every November, hundreds if not thousands of the birds of prey gather in Haines, Alaska, to feast on salmon

This mummified steppe bison was donated to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in the 1970s. Right now, museum audiences can see it online during a virtual tour.

Smithsonian Voices

How Bison Mummies Help Scientists to Ruminate on Ancient Climate

Bison mummies hold valuable information for researchers who want to understand how biodiversity evolved and responded to climate change.

A young man watches incoming presidential election results in 2016 on the giant screens of Times Square.

Anxious About Election Results? Here’s What’s Happening in Your Brain as You Wait

Scientists are learning more about the neuroscience of awaiting uncertain outcomes

Glass ballot boxes were used as a way to show voter transparency at the polls and became popular in the late 1800s.

A Glass Ballot Box Was the Answer to Voter Fraud in the 19th Century

This transparent approach let voters know that their ballots were counted

Five to ten percent of people will read an email, but 80 to 90 percent of people will read a text.

How the 2020 Presidential Race Became the ‘Texting Election’

Campaigns took full advantage of text-to-donate technology and peer-to-peer texting to engage voters this election cycle

Sommelier Erik Segelbaum leads a guided tasting of the perfect wines to pair with the season’s traditional foods on November 20.

Smithsonian Voices

Perfect Food and Wine Pairings and 26 Other Smithsonian Programs Streaming in November

Paul Glenshaw examines the iconic work ‘The Shaw Memorial’ by Augustus Saint Gaudens, and other offerings

Luisa Capetillo, left, was a labor organizer and one of Puerto Rico's foundational feminists. Right, women on Election Day in 1936, the first year all women on the island could vote.

Puerto Rico

In Puerto Rico, Women Won the Vote in a Bittersweet Game of Colonial Politics

Puertorriqueñas’ fight for suffrage shaped by class, colonialism and racism—but even today, island residents cannot vote for president

Time-lapse of fruiting mushrooms

Watch an Amazing Time-Lapse of Growing Mushrooms

A mesmerizing 10,000-shot video captures the dramatic life cycles of several species

"Assassination of Julius Caesar" by Vincenzo Camuccini

The Hunt for Julius Caesar’s Assassins Marked the Last Days of the Roman Republic

A new page-turning history details the events that led to the deaths of many of the conspirators

An elegant solution—raise money from donors to underwrite the purchase of food locally for polling stations in each city—tacos in Milwaukee, barbecue in Atlanta, cupcakes in Houston, empanadas in Portland, burritos in L.A.

Chefs Are Helping Hungry Voters Waiting in Line at the Polls

One clear winner this election season? Everything from empanadas to barbecue, courtesy of star chef José Andrés and his partners

Telling a joke has its roots in the Irish tradition of Samhain

This Halloween Is Scary Enough. Tell a Joke Instead

The tradition in St. Louis is for trick-or-treaters to focus on humor more than horror

Carlos A. Cortéz, "José Guadalupe Posada," 1981, signed 1983, linocut on paper mounted on paperboard

Smithsonian Voices

How Día de los Muertos Is Celebrated in the United States

Chicano artists and activists blend cultural and visual traditions

Damselfish typically live in the nooks and crannies of coral reefs. But do you have anything with more of an open concept?

If a Fish Could Build Its Own Home, What Would It Look Like?

By exposing fish to experimental constructions, scientists hope to find out if replicating coral reefs is really the way to go

Doña Ofelia Esparza decorates the ofrenda "Sacred Connections," created with her daughter Rosanna Esparza Ahrens for the 2019 celebration of El Día de los Muertos—the Day of the Dead—at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington.

Smithsonian Voices

Celebrate the Day of the Dead With Music, Butterfly Science and Other Activities

The roots of el Día de los Muertos are millennia-deep in Indigenous Mexico

Rattlesnakes can bite after death.

14 Fun Facts About Frightening Animals

From snakes that eat their prey alive to primates that inject their peers with flesh-rotting venom, these are the scariest deeds committed by critters

Halloween can be a particularly challenging time for families navigating life-threatening food allergies.

Allergic Reactions to Peanuts and Tree Nuts Spike 85 Percent on Halloween

Parents and children can avoid the dangers by taking key precautions and embracing alternative activities

The ogre-faced spider earns its name from its large eyes and mandibles.

How Ultra-Sensitive Hearing Allows Spiders to Cast a Net on Unsuspecting Prey

Sounds trigger the ogre-faced spider to backflip and shoot a silk trap on other insects

Canned cocktails are a craze again.

The Intoxicating History of the Canned Cocktail

Since the 1890s, the premade cocktail has flip-flopped from novelty item to kitschy commodity—but the pandemic has sales surging

Part of the Crow reservation is in Montana's Big Horn County, but the at-large election system meant that the first Crow county commissioner wasn't elected until 1986.

100 Years of Women at the Ballot Box

To Make Native Votes Count, Janine Windy Boy Sued the Government

‘Windy Boy v. Big Horn County’ helped ensure the Crow and Northern Cheyenne were represented, but the long struggle for Native voting rights continues

For "Overboard," artist Andy Yoder created more than 200 Nike Air Jordan sneakers using garbage.

Artist Fashions Nike Air Jordan 5s From Trash

Sculptor Andy Yoder’s latest exhibition is a nod to the Great Shoe Spill of 1990 and the advances in ocean science that came from it

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