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Articles

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Found: Punxsutawney Phil in the Nation’s Attic

A 1976 black and white photo captures the bronze scupture of everyone’s favorite groundhog by artist Jimilu Mason

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A Robot That Tells Jokes

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The Rediscovery of Gordo the Barosaurus

Cracking Open the History of Fortune Cookies

That crunchy confection whose unobtrusive vanilla flavor is always a welcome complement to a heavy, savory meal

An actress dressed as Harriet Tubman reveals the wetlands along the Underground Railroad.

On the Trail of Harriet Tubman

Maryland’s Eastern Shore is home to many historical sites and parks devoted to the heroine of the Underground Railroad

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Google Art Project Comes to the Smithsonian

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Branson’s Own Baldknobbers Donate Artifacts to American History Museum

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Footsteps of a Dinosaur Deity

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All-Purpose Vinegar

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Letters

Shanthi, a 34-year-old female, checks out the Zoo's new digs for Asian elephants.

Trail Blazing

Bill Moggridge, director of the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, was the recipient of the 2010 Prince Philip Designers Prize.

Q and A with Bill Moggridge

The director of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum discusses the future of computing and design

Visitors to the National Zoo might glimpse one or more of the seven lion cubs born there in August and September.

What’s Up

Wayne Thiebaud may be best known for confections, but friends and critics point to his underappreciated depths.

Wayne Thiebaud Is Not a Pop Artist

He’s best known for his bright paintings of pastries and cakes, but they represent only a slice of the American master’s work

Doris Day, Miles Davis and Devo all share the stage in the form of old vinyl LPs on the author's shelf.

Together, At Last

Doris Day, Miles Davis and Devo share the stage

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Fresh Eyes

Seeing everyday experience in a new light

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This Month in History

Momentous or Merely Memorable

A rail fragment, believed to have been hewn by Abraham Lincoln is an early example of "political theater."

The Legend of Lincoln’s Fence Rail

Even Honest Abe needed a symbol to sum up his humble origins

On February 4, 1789, the 69 members of the Electoral College made George Washington the only chief executive to be unanimously elected.

George Washington: The Reluctant President

It seemed as if everyone rejoiced at the election of our first chief executive except the man himself

Samuel Eliot Morison said he wanted to capture "the feeling of desperate urgency."

Revisiting Samuel Eliot Morison’s Landmark History

The famous historian’s eyewitness accounts of the Navy during World War II—now being reissued—won’t be surpassed

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