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Brigadier General Courtney Whitney, government section, Far East Command; General Douglas MacArthur, Commander-in-Chief, United Nations Command, and Major General Edward Almond (at right, pointing), Commanding General, X Corps in Korea, observe the shelling of Incheon from the USS Mount McKinley.

The Redacted Testimony That Fully Explains Why General MacArthur Was Fired

Far beyond being insubordinate, the military leader seemed to not grasp the consequences of his desired strategy

A fireman's hat dating to around 1860 was decorated for the Phoenix Hose Company of Philadelphia by David Bustill Bowser

In the Early 19th Century, Firefighters Fought Fires … and Each Other

Fighting fires in early America was about community, property and rivalry

Outside the Winter Palace stands a column honoring Alexander I, who took kindly to the presence of the Adamses when they lived in St. Petersburg.

The Russian-U.S. Relationship Goes Way Back to John Quincy Adams

Before he became president, Adams was the nascent country’s first ambassador to Russia

Leutwyler spent three weeks in the archives of the Elvis Presley Estate photographing objects, such as this gold-plated microphone (c. 1960).

A New Photo Book Reveals the Objects That Tell the Stories of the Rich and Famous

Photographer Henry Leutwyler usually shoots his camera at celebrities. For this book, he looked at their stuff

On September 26, 1960, presidential candidates Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy stood before cameras for the first-ever televised presidential debate.

Debating on Television: Then and Now

Kennedy and Nixon squared off in the first televised presidential debate decades ago and politics have never been the same

07 Oct 1960, Washington, DC, USA --- Presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon shake hands after their televised debate of October 7, 1960. The two opponents continued their debate after the cameras had stopped.

Eight Lessons for the Presidential Debates

What are the key do’s and don’ts the candidates should remember when campaigning for the White House?

By looking back at historic polls, we can find some surprising relevance to today's politics

Inside the Alluring Power of Public Opinion Polls From Elections Past

A digital-savvy historian discusses his popular @HistOpinion Twitter account

Visitors on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. arrive to see the grand opening ceremonies.

Breaking Ground

Thousands Converge on the National Mall For Music, Family, Remembrance and Celebration

Families from all over the country arrive to celebrate the grand opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture

Why Do We Still Have Morse Code and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answer

Langston Hughes powerfully speaks for those excluded.

Breaking Ground

What Langston Hughes’ Powerful Poem “I, Too” Tells Us About America’s Past and Present

Smithsonian historian David Ward reflects on the work of Langston Hughes

Conservationists assess the bell, which was not rung throughout much of the 20th century after it fell into disrepair.

Breaking Ground

Historic Bell Helps Ring in New African American History Museum

Why President Obama won’t cut a ribbon when the new museum opens this Saturday

Today Santiago de Cuba, which lies at the foot of the Sierra Maestra, is a bustling cultural capital.

Tony Perrottet's Cuba

How Cuba Remembers Its Revolutionary Past and Present

On the 60th anniversary of Fidel Castro’s secret landing on Cuba’s southern shore, our man in Havana journeys into the island’s rebel heart

After U.S. Border Patrol spots their raft, migrants speed back toward the Mexico side of the Rio Grande.

Myth and Reason on the Mexican Border

The renowned travel writer journeys the length of the U.S.-Mexico border to get a firsthand look at life along the blurry 2,000-mile line

Resurrection City Mural (detail), 1968

Breaking Ground

A Mural on View in the African American History Museum Recalls the Rise of Resurrection City

The 1968 Hunger Wall is a stark reminder of the days when the country’s impoverished built a shantytown on the National Mall

How the Heated, Divisive Election of 1800 Was the First Real Test of American Democracy

A banner from the Smithsonian collections lays out the stakes of Jefferson vs. Adams

A view of Mount Rushmore under construction, c.1938-1939

The Sordid History of Mount Rushmore

The sculptor behind the American landmark had some unseemly ties to white supremacy groups

Founder James Smithson (1765-1829) published a paper in search of better way to brew coffee and then considered how his method might work with hops to make beer.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

The Founder of the Smithsonian Institution Figured Out How to Brew a Better Cup of Coffee

Almost two hundred years ago, James Smithson devised a method for better brewing. We recreated it.

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