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Articles

Turn of the century thespians play their roles wearing Roman togas.

Halloween

No Costume? Grab A Sheet And Rock a Toga

Costume designer Mariah Hale explains how to wrap the perfect last-minute toga

A yellow fever epidemic may have planted the seeds of inspiration for Washington Irving's iconic tale of the a headless horseman.

Halloween

What “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” Tells Us About Contagion, Fear and Epidemics

Washington Irving fled New York because of a yellow fever epidemic. Twenty-two years later, his classic story spoke to the chaos of his youth

A common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) isn't as scary as its name might suggest.

Halloween

Seven Vampires That Aren’t Bats (Or Bela Lugosi)

From flying frogs to deep-sea squid, meet some of the other nosferatu of the animal kingdom

The Innovative Spirit - OLD

The Smithsonian Celebrates American Invention at This Weekend’s Innovation Festival

How do you bring an idea to life? The inventors of new technologies will share their stories at a two-day event at the National Air and Space Museum

Throwing money into the air during the celebration of the Hungry Ghost Festival.

Festivals of the Dead Around the World

In the United States, Halloween is mostly about candy, but elsewhere in the world celebrations honoring the departed have a spiritual meaning

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Halloween

This Grave Atlas Shows Where to Find the Distinguished Deceased

We know where the bodies are buried … take a virtual tour of world cemeteries that host famous artists and rogues

Introducing Rana kauffeldi, a newly recognized New York City resident.

New Research

New Leopard Frog Found in New York City

The unique species, discovered near the Statue of Liberty, is the first amphibian found in the region in 150 years

Houdini's grave at the Machpelah Cemetery in Queens.

Halloween

Nine Famous People and What They’re Buried With

Icons of their time, these celebrities didn’t stray far from their public personae when it came to their final resting places

Bubbles from the divers' breathing aparatus collect on the belly of the ship.

Bermuda

What’s So Important About the Bottom of a Cargo Ship? A Smithsonian Dive Team Explains

Smithsonian photographer Laurie Penland details the exhausting, but rewarding, work of scraping invasive species off the hull of a boat

Dr. Linda Hazzard’s Washington State Penitentiary mug shots.

The Doctor Who Starved Her Patients to Death

Linda Hazzard killed as many as a dozen people in the early 20th century, and they paid willingly for it

Crop irrigation in arid regions, such as California’s San Joaquin Valley, can lead to overly salty soils.

Anthropocene

Earth’s Soil Is Getting Too Salty for Crops to Grow

Buildup of salts on irrigated land has already degraded an area the size of France and is causing $27.3 billion annually in lost crops

Doctors are refining a method to remove the "ouch" from injections.

A Needle Could Make For Pain-Free Flu Shots

Using temperature, vibration and pressure, this needle can trick a patient into feeling no pain

Illustration found in Die Totentänze (Stammler,1922)

Halloween

This Halloween, Spend a Ghoulish Night (or Day) at the Smithsonian

Whether actual or virtual, D.C. or NYC, there’s plenty of scary stuff to go around at the Institution

A "Sea Devil" as depicted by Conrad Gessner in Historia Animalium, 2nd ed, 1604.

Halloween

Five “Real” Sea Monsters Brought to Life by Early Naturalists

From kraken to mermaids, some monsters are real—if you know how to look for them

A zombie enjoys a bite of pan de muertos at a Day of the Dead celebration in Atlanta, Georgia.

Halloween

Barmbrack, Toffee and Other Treats to Have an Around-the-World Halloween Celebration

This weekend’s celebrations extend beyond snarfing down Hershey and Mars bars

The trope of the beautiful witch was popular between 1905 and 1915.

Halloween

Women of the Early 1900s Rallied Behind Beautiful, Wartless Witches

Women looking to work, vote and marry whomever they wanted turned the Halloween icon into a powerful symbol

One of the greatest inland waterways disasters in the history of the United States took place in the Chicago River, Chicago, Ill., July 24, 1915, when the steamship Eastland capsized with a loss of near 850 lives. The photo shows the ill-fated ship after it had turned "turtle."

The Eastland Disaster Killed More Passengers Than the Titanic and the Lusitania. Why Has It Been Forgotten?

Chicago’s working poor were expecting a day in luxury. They instead faced a horrific calamity on Lake Michigan

Nicole MacCorkle, a giant panda keeper at Smithsonian's National Zoo, says the animals have taught her about parenting.

What Giant Pandas Taught Me About Parenting

When animal keeper Nicole MacCorkle became a parent, she looked to Bao Bao’s mother for inspiration

A group of great tit birds (Parus major) perch on a dead tree stump during a snowfall in Poland.

Anthropocene

Ten Species That Are Evolving Due to the Changing Climate

From tropical corals to tawny owls, some species are already being pushed to evolve—but adaptation doesn’t guarantee survival

Cool Finds

From Lightning on Jupiter to Apollo 13’s Call for Help, Hear Some of NASA’s Greatest Recordings

An audio archive captures some iconic moments of space history

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