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Arts & Culture

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A Brief History of Eclipse Chasers

They also go by umbraphiles, coronaphiles, eclipsoholics and ecliptomaniacs

Christylez Bacon at the Opening Ceremony of the 2017 Smithsonian Folklife Festival.

Christylez Bacon on Finding His Voice through Music

The Grammy-nominated artist takes inspiration from weaving together seemingly disparate musical forms

Michael Twitty, a culinary historian and living-history interpreter at the Stagville Plantation in Durham, North Carolina.

Food Historian Reckons With the Black Roots of Southern Food

In his new book, Michael Twitty shares the contributions that enslaved African-Americans and their descendants have made to southern cuisine

The annual swan upping ceremony of the queen's swans on the Thames.

Europe

The Fascinating, Regal History Behind Britain’s Swans

The aristocratic bird’s has a legacy as a luxury status symbol that dates back centuries

This summer, Smithsonian reporters took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Freer Gallery and shot exclusive photographs of the building in its preparatory state.

Take an Exclusive Sneak Peek Inside the Renovated Freer Gallery, Reopening in October

Charles Lang Freer gifted this meditative haven for art lovers to the nation and was James McNeill Whistler’s friend and patron

Highly social, narwhals travel in pods, often broken off by sex, and communicate via complex vocalizations that seem to be specific to their herds.

Does the Narwhal’s Majestic Tusk Have a Point?

A Connecticut dentist, turned curator of a new exhibition, has long worked to solve the secrets of the whale’s characteristic horn

The Secret Ingredient in Kellogg’s Corn Flakes Is Seventh-Day Adventism

America’s favorite processed breakfast was once the pinnacle of healthfulness—and spiritual purity

Amelia Ceja is breaking boundaries at Ceja Vineyards, which was founded by Amelia, Pedro, Armando and Martha Ceja.

Food, Glorious Food

¡Salud! to the Mexican-American Wine Revolution

Ceja Vineyards breathes new life into Napa Valley’s wine industry

Why Hospitals Started Displaying Newborn Babies Through Windows

How peering at babies through glass became a feel-good staple of American maternity wards

Dream Of Motherhood by Pitseolak Ashoona (Inuit), 1969

Three Generations of Inuit Women Defy Exploitation by Visualizing Resilience and Love

A grandmother, a mother and a daughter, all took up pen and ink to tell their stories

The Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal.

Canada

This Bridge Transforms Data on Weather, Traffic and Twitter Rants into a Beautiful Light Display

The Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal lights up the skyline with the mood of the city

More than 300,000 Allied troops were rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk in 1940, with help from ships like the "Medway Queen."

The True Story of Dunkirk, As Told Through the Heroism of the “Medway Queen”

Retrofitted by the British Navy, the paddleboat saved 7,000 men over many dangerous trips across the Channel

Great riot at the Astor Place opera house, New York on Thursday evening May 10th, 1849

When New York City Rioted Over Hamlet Being Too British

In the deadly Astor Place Riot, how to perform Shakespeare served as a proxy for class warfare

One of the Boys by Stacy L. Pearsall, 2007

Six Artists Record the Vestiges of War in the Faces of Combatants

A look at a new exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, “The Face of Battle: Americans at War, 9/11 to Now”

Podnar shoots dry ice pellets, which sit at a frosty temperature of around negative minus-180-degrees Fahrenheit, at the object's surface

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Conservation of a Pair of Saint-Gaudens Goes al Fresco at the Freer

The beauty of dry ice cleaning is the efficient and environmentally safe process; but also the procedure was on view from the street

An earthship seems to rise out of the high plains at the foot of the mountains near Taos, New Mexico.

These Otherworldly “Earthships” Offer Visitors Unusual, Off-the-Grid Accommodations

Spend the night in an art house built from garbage

Jane Austen's brother, Edward, inherited this grand Palladian-style home from the wealthy relatives who raised him.

Take a Stroll Through Jane Austen’s England With This Interactive Map

A look at the houses and towns that shaped the life and writing of the famed author on the 200th anniversary of her death

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