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Everybody Loves Lists

Our Top Ten Videos of 2015

From Hitler’s home videos to the suffocating upbringing of an American princess, here are the most-watched videos on Smithsonian.com this year

The Verreaux's sifaka is one of the unique mammals found only on Madagascar.

Tiny Fossils Reveal the Rise of Mammals on Madagascar

Recent finds are helping paleontologists piece together what happened after dinosaurs vanished from the island

A gondolier navigates the Venetian Lagoon, a shallow, 210-square-mile bay fed by the Adriatic Sea, at sunset.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Venice

The Enduring Mystique of the Venetian Lagoon

Among islands barely emerging from the water, you find yourself in an ageless world

Everybody Loves Lists

Our Top Ten Stories of 2015

From treasures buried in glaciers to the racial history of a vanished city in Oregon, here are the most-read stories on Smithsonian.com this year

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Everybody Loves Lists

The Best History Books of 2015

Beyond the boldface names are these chronicles from the past year that are well worth your time

Ralphie from A Christmas Story gets his decoder ring from Little Orphan Annie.

American Children Faced Great Dangers in the 1930s, None Greater Than “Little Orphan Annie”

Advertisements for Ovaltine were just part of the problem

Overlooking the Sea of Galilee, Bethsaida was a day’s walk from Nazareth. When Jesus returned to his boyhood hometown to preach, the Gospels say he was rejected by a mob.

Unearthing the World of Jesus

Surprising archaeological finds are breaking new ground in our understanding of Jesus’s time—and the revolution he launched 2,000 years ago

In a photograph by Devin Allen, a young girl holds a sign at a protest in Baltimore.

Breaking Ground

How the African American History Museum Is Curating “Black Lives Matter”

Photographs, posters and other artifacts documenting the protests find a home at the new Smithsonian museum

An illustration shows what Shonisaurus popularis might have looked like in the late Triassic.

What Killed These Marine Reptiles Found in a Nevada Ghost Town?

Paleontologists are going high tech to solve the mystery of a mass ichthyosaur death near the old mining town of Berlin

The Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia undergoes a scanning process for the creation of a 3-D model.

In Another Giant Leap, Apollo 11 Command Module Is 3-D Digitized for Humankind

Five decades after Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins journeyed to the moon, their spaceship finds a new digital life

The first Christmas Card

The History of the Christmas Card

Borne out of having too little time, the holiday greeting has boomed into a major industry

David Rubenstein of The Carlyle Group and Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway preview the “Giving in America" display at the National Museum of American History.

The Day a Bunch of Billionaires Stopped by the Smithsonian

A new effort to study the history of philanthropy is announced and a number of significant charitable contributions are recognized

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The ‘Charlie Brown Christmas’ Special Was the Flop That Wasn’t

In 1965, CBS gambled big on an animated spectacular that’s now become a holiday tradition

A gibbous moon shines over a large petrified log embedded in the sandstone at Blue Mesa in Arizona's Petrified Forest National Park.

Protecting Arizona’s Petrified Forest Can Be as Easy as Taking a Hike

After dispelling myths about vandals and thieves, rangers are working to make this national park more open and engaging

The ruins of an ancient Norse settlement still stand near Hvalsey Fjord in Greenland.

New Research

Did Climate Change Make the Norse Disappear From Greenland?

Evidence from glacial deposits adds a new twist to the tale of the mysterious lost settlements

A Brief History of Sending a Letter to Santa

Dating back more than 150 years, the practice of writing to St. Nick tells a broader history of America itself

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