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History

LGBTQ Women Who Made History

As women entered through the “Ladies” side of a turnstile, Lenna Winslow’s “Voting Machine” concealed ballot items on which they could not vote.

The Voting Machine That Displayed Different Ballots Based on Your Sex

In an era of partial suffrage, these inventions helped women cast their votes

Drag queen in Atlanta, 1972

LGBTQ+ Pride

The Stonewall of the South That History Forgot

A month after the riots in New York, a raid on an Atlanta movie theater sparked a gay liberation movement of its own

Canadian Memorial at Vimy, France

Explore These World War I Trenches and Tunnels in France and Belgium

These four sites give visitors a glimpse into the trench warfare tactics soldiers experienced during the Great War

Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin, July 24, 1969

Apollo at 50: We Choose to Go to the Moon

How Neil, Buzz and Mike Got Their Workouts in on Their Way to the Moon and Back

To counter the effects of weightlessness, NASA equipped Apollo 11 with an Exer-Genie for isometric exercises

Smithsonian Podcast

Sidedoor: A Smithsonian Podcast

Stories from the Institution told in an innovative audio experience

Drivers wait in the drive-thru line at an In-N-Out Burger restaurant in Alhambra, California, on August 30, 2018.

A Crispy, Salty, American History of Fast Food

Adam Chandler’s new book explores the intersection between fast food and U.S. history

Every year its manufacturer, 3M, sells enough of it to circle Earth 165 times.

How the Invention of Scotch Tape Led to a Revolution in How Companies Managed Employees

College dropout Richard Drew became an icon of 20th century innovation, inventing cellophane tape, masking tape and more

Women compare A.J. Freiman shoes.

‘Vis-O-Matic’ Was the 1950s Version of Online Shopping

A Canadian department store tried to revolutionize buying when it opened a shop with booths and screens for ordering merchandise

Anaxagoras, who lived in the fifth century B.C., was one of the first people in recorded history to recognize that the moon was a rocky, mountainous body.

An Ancient Greek Philosopher Was Exiled for Claiming the Moon Was a Rock, Not a God

2,500 years ago, Anaxagoras correctly determined that the rocky moon reflects light from the sun, allowing him to explain lunar phases and eclipses

The slogan on this button from the 1960s is attributed to astronomer-turned-activist Frank Kameny. After being barred from federal employment because of his sexuality, Kameny organized gay rights groups and protests starting years before the Stonewall riots galvanized the movement more broadly.

LGBTQ+ Pride

A Look at the Struggles and Celebrations of LGBTQ Americans

Artifacts from the National Museum of American History highlight the broader story of gay history and activism

Original Caption: Firemen stand on a bridge over the Cuyahoga River to spray water on the tug Arizona, as a fire, started in an oil slick on the river, sweeps the docks at the Great Lakes Towing Company site in Cleveland Nov., 1st. The blaze destroyed three tugs, three buildings, and the ship repair yards.

The Cuyahoga River Caught Fire at Least a Dozen Times, but No One Cared Until 1969

Despite being much smaller than previous fires, the river blaze in Cleveland 50 years ago became a symbol for the nascent environmental movement

In the corner of one side of the document, Washington wrote "Genealogy of the Washington Family in Virginia"

This Long-Ignored Document, Written by George Washington, Lays Bare the Legal Power of Genealogy

In Washington’s Virginia, family was a crucial determinant of social and economic status, and freedom

A wooden canoe seat, carved with a spider's web, became noteworthy for being the very first of the 36,000 artifacts in NMAAHC’s collections.

Meet Juan García Salazar, the Man Who Championed Black Identity in Ecuador

Behind the very first artifact to enter the African American History Museum’s collections resides a story about recovering the Afro-Ecuadorian experience

Smithson and Hungerford family members scanned a geneology treee, searching for their place among the clan.

Mr. Smithson’s Family Goes to Washington

A contingent of descendants, related to the founder of the Smithsonian Institution, embarked on a tour of the museums

This detail of The Apotheosis of Washington, a fresco painted in the 19th century by Constantino Brumidi in the eye of the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol Building, depicts George Washington rising to the heavens, flanked by the Roman goddesses of liberty (left) and victory (right).

Why No One Can Agree on What George Washington Thought About the Relationship Between Church and State

The first president wanted to unite citizens of all religions without alienating Catholics, freethinkers and Jews

An illustration by J. Troncy of savagnin grapes from Ampelographie: Traite General de Viticulture.

Ancient Grape DNA Tells the Prolific History of Wine

Grape seeds dating back to medieval and Roman periods share many similarities with the wine grapes we enjoy today

A candlelight vigil is tinged with a sense of resistance and resilience as activists honor the second anniversary of Stonewall, 1971.

LGBTQ+ Pride

The First Pride Marches, in Photos

A look back at a major turning point in the struggle for gay rights

Wyoming women voting.

Women Who Shaped History

Women Have Been Voting in Wyoming for 150 Years, and Here Is How the State Is Celebrating

To mark the anniversary, Wyoming is delivering an impressive lineup of events, from a reenactment of the first vote to female-focused exhibits and retreats

The Museum of the Moon is just one of many events taking place across the United States celebrating the 50th anniversary of landing on the moon.

Apollo at 50: We Choose to Go to the Moon

A Cross-Country Guide to Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Moon Landing

It’s been half a century since humankind touched down on the surface of the moon, and we’re not done praising the feat

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