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History

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Alaska

Life Aboard a Renovated World War II Tugboat

With help from friends, a transplanted Philadelphian embarks on a voyage of discovery through Alaska’s waters

Boldly going where no curatorial object has gone before.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

The Mission to Restore the Original Starship Enterprise

The beloved 1960s studio model stars in Building Star Trek, a documentary premiering on Smithsonian Channel this Sunday

Gas or charcoal? It's the perpetual debate. And despite many grilling advances, many still prefer good old fashioned charcoal.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

The Story of the Weber Grill Begins With a Buoy

When metalworker George Stephen, Sr. put two halves of a buoy together, he didn’t know he was making a charcoal grill that would stand the test of time

Inside the Church of Saint Nicholas, Father Nikolai Yakunin blesses parishioners during Pascha (Russian Easter), which begins at midnight and ends at dawn. The smoke of the incense is said to lift prayers to heaven.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Alaska

In a Remote Alaskan Town, a Centuries-Old Russian Faith Thrives

Residents of Nikolaevsk remain true to the traditions of their ancestors, who fled religious persecution in the 17th-century

Oil painting of the Great Fire, seen from Newgate.

History of Now

The Great Fire of London Was Blamed on Religious Terrorism

Why scores of Londoners thought the fire of 1666 was all part of a nefarious Catholic conspiracy

The Williams Dreamland Theatre, Tulsa, OK, c. 1921

Your Questions About African-American History, Answered

A special edition of Ask Smithsonian on the occasion of the opening of a new Smithsonian museum

Once 2,000 square miles in Virginia and North Carolina, the swamp today is perhaps one-tenth that size.

Deep in the Swamps, Archaeologists Are Finding How Fugitive Slaves Kept Their Freedom

The Great Dismal Swamp was once a thriving refuge for runaways

The Browns in Topeka, Kansas

The Children of Civil Rights Leaders Are Keeping Their Eyes on the Prize

The next generation is following in the footsteps of its forebears

The Carnegie Quarry fossil excavation at Utah's Dinosaur National Monument has yielded more than 11 different species, including dinosaurs, such as Allosaurus, Diplodocus and Stegosaurus, as well as turtles, crocodiles and lizards.

You Can Thank Scientists for the National Park System

Early conservation research and scientific expeditions laid the groundwork and helped to convince the public national parks were a good idea

An African-American family leaves Florida for the North during the Great Depression.

The Long-Lasting Legacy of the Great Migration

When millions of African-Americans fled the South in search of a better life, they remade the nation in ways that are still being felt

Breaking Ground

Take an Interactive Tour of the National Museum of African American History and Culture

What to expect when you visit the Smithsonian’s newest museum

People sit on a roof waiting to be rescued after Hurricane Katrina

Eleven Years After Katrina, What Lessons Can We Learn Before the Next Disaster Strikes?

Author and playwright John Biguenet offers his thoughts on the narrative of destruction

Marie Tharp's map helped vindicate plate tectonics, but her work was initially dismissed as "girl talk."

Journey to the Center of Earth

Seeing Is Believing: How Marie Tharp Changed Geology Forever

Marie Tharp’s maps helped prove continental drift was real. But her work was initially dismissed as “girl talk”

Breaking Ground

The Definitive Story of How the National Museum of African American History and Culture Came to Be

From courting Chuck Berry in Missouri to diving for a lost slave ship off Africa, the director’s tale is a fascinating one

Breaking Ground

The Powerful Objects From the Collections of the Smithsonian’s Newest Museum

These artifacts each tell a part of the African-American story

Hutton, as painted by Sir Henry Raeburn in 1776.

Journey to the Center of Earth

The Blasphemous Geologist Who Rocked Our Understanding of Earth’s Age

James Hutton was a leading light of his time, but is rarely talked about today

Redd Velvet (born Crystal Tucker) started her career as a classically trained singer. In her early 40s she moved to Memphis and switched to the blues.

Keeping the Blues Alive

Is blues music a thing of the past? A festival in Memphis featuring musicians of all ages and nationalities shouts an upbeat answer

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