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At left, Tony Buttino prepares Western New York book reviewers (from left to right: Stephanie, Percy and Afrika) with production assistant Pam Johnson at right.

To Combat Summer Reading Slumps, This Timeless Children’s Television Show Tried to Bridge the Literacy Gap With the Magic of Stories

With a charismatic host and charming book readings and reviews, the hit series “Reading Rainbow” stands as a beacon of children’s literature

The Smithsonian’s own Etch A Sketch, acquired in 2011, is displayed as a cultural artifact—a symbol of a toy that has shaped generations.

How the Etch A Sketch Etched Itself Into Pop Culture

Sixty-five years after it first hit store shelves, the iconic, red-framed drawing toy continues to enchant kids, artists, and collectors alike

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How Superman Became a Character for the Ages

The superhero from Krypton has a forgotten superpower: the ability to connect to people across space and time

Through this model of community-based conservation, Peru’s vicuña population has grown to over 200,000.

How an Ancestral Peruvian Ceremony Is Saving the Once-Endangered Vicuña

Each year in the first weeks of June, Indigenous communities in the Andes form a human chain to corral the camelids and shear their valuable wool

Christopher Reeve's costume from Superman is seen on display at an auction at Christie's in London, December 16, 2003

Here’s How Superman’s Iconic Motto of ‘Truth, Justice and the American Way’ Evolved Over Time

The quintessential superhero has always stood for truth and justice, but the final part of his catchphrase has morphed to match a more connected world—and his place in it

Thousands attended the afternoon circus show in Hartford, Connecticut, on July 6, 1944. A fire broke out around 2:40 p.m., killing at least 167 people.

How a Deadly Circus Fire on the ‘Day the Clowns Cried’ Traumatized a Community—and Led to Lasting Safety Reforms

On July 6, 1944, a blaze broke out at a Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey show in Hartford, Connecticut. At least 167 people died, and hundreds were injured

Jewish communities in Poland originated foods like the bialy, the knish and the bagel.

Jewish Food Is Making a Comeback in Poland

Bagels, knishes, bialys and more are popping up in bakeries as the country reckons with historical trauma

Titled Nightview, New York, this silver gelatin print, shot in 1932, was part of a project undertaken by the photographer to document the rapidly modernizing city. 

See a Stunning Photo of New York City From Above in 1932

In her dazzling portraits of a metropolis on the rise, Berenice Abbott captured the city that never sleeps

James Baldwin in Kilyos, Turkey, in 1965

A New Biography Offers the Most Intimate Portrait Yet of One of the 20th Century’s Greatest Authors

Research into James Baldwin’s archives reveals incisive details about the writer’s personal relationships, both platonic and romantic, with other men

Clachtoll Broch, a Scottish dwelling with dry stone walls, was built at least 2,000 years ago. Its thatched roof was destroyed in a fire.

Why the Ancient Craft of Dry Stone Walling Still Holds So Much Appeal in the 21st Century

Artisans around the world are ditching the mortar and embracing an old method of building rock walls

More than 1,800 feet high, the CN Tower, a communications hub and tourist attraction, pierces the night sky just after dusk in downtown Toronto.

From the Coast to the Capital, Enjoy an Eyeful of Extraordinary Eastern Canada

See 15 images of our neighbor to the north from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest

An engraving by Edward Savage, after Robert Edge Pine's 1784-1788 painting Congress Voting Independence

America's 250th Anniversary

These Daring Revolutionary-Era Artists Promoted the Patriot Cause From the Heart of Enemy Territory

A new book explores how painters, sculptors and writers, especially women and people of color, used their craft to advocate for American independence while living in George III’s capital city

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There's More to That

Why You Should Love Durian, the World’s Smelliest Fruit

The southeast Asian crop is a complex and layered one-of-a-kind fruit that consumes the lives of the devoted

 Cards from the Sola Busca, the earliest extant example of a complete 78-card tarot deck, made in Italy in the late 1400s.

The Colorful History of Tarot Is as Mesmerizing as the Decks Themselves

The original meaning behind the cards, first created 500 years ago, still remains elusive. But that didn’t stop our reporter from traveling to Milan in an effort to find out

A young Ernest Hemingway on what would prove his most fruitful trip to Pamplona, in July 1925.

Go Behind the Scenes of the Running of the Bulls

An offbeat journey to the legendary Spanish festival 100 years after the life-changing trip that inspired Ernest Hemingway to write “The Sun Also Rises”

Tove Jansson with Moomin dolls

A Bold Finnish Artist Brought These Precious Little Hippopotamus-Like Trolls to the World 80 Years Ago

Tove Jansson was a trailblazing illustrator and author—and the inventor of the beloved Moomins, the central characters of her whimsical children’s books

At the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, California, visitors bring characters to life using a light table.

How the Beloved ‘Peanuts’ Found Its Way to Define the Modern Comic Strip

With poignant wisdom and gentle wit, Charles M. Schulz reinvented the form and introduced the nation to Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy and so many more indelible characters

Over the years, a conservator replaced the headgear on deer with real antlers and the originals mounted on moose with synthetic alternatives.

When a Lumberjack’s Imagination Ran Wild, He Created More Than 200 Sculptures in Wisconsin’s Northwoods

Decades later, a conservator keeps Fred Smith’s art alive in the whimsical Wisconsin Concrete Park

The costume for the Wiz, the title character of The Wiz musical, which made its Broadway debut in 1975, is in the collection of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

When ‘The Wiz’ Debuted on Broadway 50 Years Ago, It Sparked a Brand New Day for Audiences

How the remarkable musical transformed a beloved folk tale into a celebratory vision for the future of Black America

Pages from Eve Adams' Polish passport

LGBTQ+ Pride

America Deported Her for Publishing a Book Titled ‘Lesbian Love.’ Years Later, She Was Murdered by the Nazis for Being Jewish

Eve Adams, an immigrant and the proprietor of a 1920s lesbian tearoom, was imprisoned for disorderly conduct and obscenity, then sent back to Europe, where she became a target of the Holocaust

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