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America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

These Ten Remarkable Objects From the Smithsonian Collections Make the Case for America’s Status as the Innovation Nation

An encouragement for invention was written right into the Constitution, and whatever the task at hand, someone is always up for the challenge

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America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

At a Pivotal Moment of the Civil War, Frederick Douglass Delivered a Speech That Reframed What Was at Stake if Slavery Stood

In “The Mission of the War,” America’s incomparable orator helped turn public sentiment in favor of the Union and Abraham Lincoln, beginning the process of “national regeneration”

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America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

When Patent Protections Couldn’t Keep Pace With Ingenuity in the Colonies, One Inventive Woman Took Her Case to Britain

Sybilla Righton Masters devised a novel way to work with grains available to her in Philadelphia. A long journey led to the first patent issued to an American (though it went to her husband)

The author and abolitionist, surrounded by silhouette renderings of vignettes from her vivid, world-changing novel.

America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

Harriet Beecher Stowe Wrote a Work of Fiction That Seemed So Real That It Changed the History of the Country

To fight against slavery, the author collected true stories then picked up a pen and distilled them into “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”

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America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

Among All the Great Things Benjamin Franklin Invented or Discovered, His Alter Egos Gave Him the Most Freedom

Silence Dogood. Richard Saunders. Benevolus. Sidi Mehemet Ibrahim. All were pen names that allowed Franklin to say things he couldn’t have otherwise said

The view from Olana State Historic Site in Hudson, New York.

America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

America’s Original Travel Influencer Drew Up a Revolutionary Itinerary 200 Years Ago. There’s Still Plenty to See Along the Way

Follow along as we retrace the route one journalist laid out in “The Fashionable Tour,” from New York City to Niagara Falls, when memories of the fight for independence were still fresh

A swan swims on the Scharmützelsee at sunrise on July 2, 2025, when temperatures in the nearby German cities of Berlin and Brandenberg were expected to hit 102 degrees Fahrenheit.

‘Stupid Hot’: Heat Waves Muddle the Minds of Animals and Humans as Confusion and Aggression Seem to Rise With the Temperature

Wide-ranging research suggests that as temperatures increase, some creatures pick fights while others struggle to learn. The findings hint at consequences that may ripple through ecosystems

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America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

Because of a Mathematician From Rural Virginia’s Work on Global Positioning, You Have No Excuse for Getting Lost

Gladys West had an “insatiable thirst for knowledge.” She used computers, radars and satellites to make calculations that led to the GPS technology that allows us to pinpoint any spot on the globe

Carrie Chapman Catt stands with flags of 22 nations in 1917.

America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

A Woman’s Right to Vote Was Secured After Work That Was Inspired by Mothers and Driven by Maternal Instincts

In a poignant pattern, many of the most important contributions to suffrage were enacted—or inspired—by mothers

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America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

When George Washington Decided It Was Time to Leave Office, He Inadvertently Set a Lasting Precedent

While history recorded his refusal to seek a third term as a legendary act of statesmanship, the opinions of the day were actually quite mixed on the issue

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America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

This Playful Interactive Reveals the Medical Advances That Have Made Life Better … and Sometimes Longer

From replacing lost limbs to helping a heart find its rhythm, the work of American doctors and researchers has improved lives in incalculable ways

By combining ecological data-gathering with philosophical contemplation, Leopold bridged the art and science of conservation.

America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

In the Early 1900s, a Young Ecologist Shot a Wolf and Watched the Life Leave Its Eyes. That Changed His Position on Conservation

Aldo Leopold’s writing reconsidered the place of humans in the natural world and challenged people to be less conquerors of the land and more citizens of it

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America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

In the Early Days of Machine Learning, Massive Computers Said George Harrison Was a Woman. A.I. Has Come a Long Way

A Cornell professor designed a room-size network of sensors that represented a single neuron. He claimed it would grow wiser as it gained experience, and it has never stopped

An illustration of all 726 solar systems depicting planets confirmed as of October 30, 2018, the end of Kepler’s life span. The colors represent each planet’s temperature, ranging from chilly dark blue to fiery red. The mission yielded so much data that scientists are still announcing new planets years later.

America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

A Blip on a Telescope in a Colorado Parking Lot Bolstered a Space Mission That Has Found Thousands of Planets … and Counting

The Kepler telescope changed how we saw the sky. It’s just one of the devices we’ve sent out beyond the reach of humans to search our solar system

This painting, titled Excelsior, shows Liberty and Justice as allegorical figures. A new exhibition “moves past symbolism to center the real expertise and labor of women who navigated a world of blurred allegiances to help found the United States,” says Louise Mirrer, president and CEO of the New York Historical.

America's 250th Anniversary

During the Revolution, American Women Fought for Freedom, Spied on the British, Cared for the Sick and Fell in Love. A New Exhibition Reveals Their Rich Wartime Stories

Now on view at the New York Historical, “Revolutionary Women” spotlights figures with connections to the state, including a Jewish chocolatier, a Mohawk leader and a woman who disguised herself as a man to enlist in the Continental Army

Robinson Theater, Richmond, Virginia, 2013. Opened 1937, architect Edward Francis Sinnott Sr., original seating capacity 597.

In a Plea to Preserve Them, One Photographer Has Captured 1,200 American Movie Theaters and Counting

For more than 40 years, Benita VanWinkle has photographed vintage movie houses in all 50 states

A photo illustration of Jonas Salk.

America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

When the Fear of Polio Gripped the World, Jonas Salk’s Determination Led to a Liberating Medical Breakthrough

The son of the doctor, himself now a physician and researcher, recalls his vaccination in the kitchen as painless. Now, he recounts the impact of the work his father led

A portrait of Fuller, inspired by her 1845 Woman in the Nineteenth Century, which argued for equality of the sexes. The book’s opening illustration featured mystical symbols of harmonizing opposites, including the Ouroboros, a snake eating its own tail.

America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

Born in 1810, Margaret Fuller Was Labeled a Child Prodigy. She Later Used Her Intellect to Ask Important Questions About Women’s Role in America

Her writing posed the novel premise: What does it mean to be a woman? Her early death meant she never saw the movement she inspired

O’Keeffe’s New Mexico studio Ghost Ranch. Opposite, a 1918 photo portrait by future husband Alfred Stieglitz.

America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

Georgia O’Keeffe Ignored Advice to Mimic Great European Masters. Her Goal Instead Was to Be a Great American Painter

The genius of her work was in painting things as she saw them through her own eyes. So when she surrounded herself with beauty, her work reflected it

After Isaac Newton, above, revolutionized celestial mechanics, admirers such as Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and Paine, left, saw in Newton’s natural laws a model for democratic self-government.

America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

The American Revolution’s Overlooked Influence? Physics. How ‘Common Sense’ Spelled Out Astronomical Expectations for a New Nation

The manifesto leaned heavily on Isaac Newton’s theories in making a case for independence, and fellow founders drew on the notion to build a new system of government

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