Artist’s representation of “neglected story on Smithsonian.com.”

The Ten Stories You Didn’t Read in 2017 But Should Have

From music behind prison bars to a San Francisco building with a dark past, here are the top 10 pieces we published last year that deserve another look

For some Manhattan sybarites, the department store's 1982 bag spelled Christmas.

Finding the Sacks Appeal in a Collection of Holiday Shopping Bags

The Cooper Hewitt’s collection of some 1,000 bags reveals a few with some very cheery holiday scenes

The Ten Best Children’s Books of 2017

Our picks are full of silly words, weird animals and unknown histories

Jimi Hendrix was “a central figure in the history of African-American music,” says Kevin Strait, a historian and curator at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, home to this gold-brocade vest that the musician wore.

Gone at 27 and Eternally Youthful For the Ages, Jimi Hendrix Would Have Been 75 This Year

A gold-brocade vest at the Smithsonian evokes the innovative musician’s enduring legacy

A Plea to Resurrect the Christmas Tradition of Telling Ghost Stories

Though the practice is now more associated with Halloween, spooking out your family is well within the Christmas spirit

Bradford saw the dollhouse, shown decorated for Christmas, as ever evolving: "I shall never be completely satisfied with its creation."

Christmas at the Smithsonian’s Dolls’ House Includes All the Trimmings—in Miniature

It’s ‘Deck the Halls’ with Christmas cheer at the beloved Victorian-style dollhouse at the National Museum of American History

BB-8 is an “astromech droid” who first appeared in The Force Awakens.

What the Robots of Star Wars Tell Us About the Future of Human Work

The films’ much-loved robots exist mostly to assist rather than replace humans—and like us, they are prone to errors

In a recent presentation held at the National Museum of Natural History, University of Melbourne researcher Gerald Roche called attention to 21 minority languages spoken in villages across Tibet.

The Incredible Linguistic Diversity of Tibet Is Disappearing

Thanks to national schooling and the Internet, many of the plateau’s unique languages are in danger

Enrico Fermi, Italian-American physicist, received the 1938 Nobel Prize in physics for identifying new elements and discovering nuclear reactions by his method of nuclear irradiation and bombardment.

Was Enrico Fermi Really the “Father of the Nuclear Age”?

A new book takes a fresh look at the famed scientist

Most of the T-shirts had in common the image that appeared on Juan Diego’s cloak: the Virgin modestly looking down, her hands folded together in prayer.

A New Way to Show Your Devotion in Mexico City: Wear a T-Shirt

A Smithsonian folklorist makes the pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and discovers an emerging tradition

Ryan McGinley, Dakota Hair, 2004.

Don’t Miss These 10 New Art and Design Exhibits Opening This Winter

Explore everything from artistic chairs to underground magazines this season

Tagliavini is attracted to the time of Filippo Lippi, famously said by Robert Browning to “paint the soul.”

An Extravagant New Tribute to the Rise of Portraiture 600 Years Ago

The artist takes 21st century technology and culture to a 15th century aesthetic

Viewers are invited to sprawl on the carpeted floor and look up.

People Are Lying on the Floor To See this Dazzling Ceiling Puzzle

The work pays homage to the vaulted domes, ornate Italianate arches and Art Deco geometric forms of nine of the nation’s historic ceilings

The Ten Best History Books of 2017

From presidential biographies to a look at the long rise of fake news, these picks will surely interest history buffs

Bentley found "each snowflake is as different from its fellows as human beings are from each other."

The Man Who Revealed the Hidden Structure of Falling Snowflakes

Beginning in the 1880s, amateur photographer Wilson A. Bentley considered the endlessly varied crystals “miracles of beauty”

Hurricane Maria, September 2017

Turning Hurricane Data Into Music

Can listening to storms help us understand them better? A meteorologist and a music technologist think so

The film (with Dustin Hoffman and Katharine Ross) is still subversive, though in different ways.

When ‘The Graduate’ Opened 50 Years Ago, It Changed Hollywood (and America) Forever

The movie about a young man struggling to find his way in the world mesmerized the nation when it debuted

Gold plating sheathes most of C-3PO’s costume. Later films included variations such as a red arm.

How Anthony Daniels Gives C-3PO an Unlikely Dash of Humanity

The fussy but brave “protocol droid” plays the role of the Greek chorus in the Star Wars franchise

Ivan Chermayeff (June 6, 1932-December 2, 2017)

Commentary

Designer of the Smithsonian Sunburst Logo Dies

Ivan Chermayeff was a brilliant designer, a gifted artist and the purveyor of a unique visual language, says Smithsonian curator Ellen Lupton

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery is home to a photograph of Travolta by Douglas Kirkland, (above, detail), striking his characteristic dance pose.

John Travolta’s Breakout Hit Was America’s Best Dance Party

It’s been 40 years since ‘Saturday Night Fever’—a gritty film powered by music, machismo and masterful footwork—became a cultural phenomenon

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