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History

The dancers in the Rouge chorus line brought crowds to their feet with the "Tropi Can Can."

The Vegas Hotspot That Broke All the Rules

America’s first interracial casino helped end segregation on the Strip and proved that the only color that mattered was green

The burial ground to what some claim is Jesus' final resting place.

The Little-Known Legend of Jesus in Japan

A mountain hamlet in northern Japan claims Jesus Christ was buried there

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The History of the Teddy Bear: From Wet and Angry to Soft and Cuddly

After Teddy Roosevelt’s act of sportsmanship in 1902 was made legendary by a political cartoonist, his name was forever affixed to an American classic

Company H of the 48th New York Regiment, stiffly posed for this 1863 formal portrait at Fort Pulaski, in Savannah, GA, seems oblivious to the more informal baseball game in progress behind them. The photo is one of the ealiest known photographs of a baseball game.

The Civil War

That Time More Than 150 Years Ago When Thousands of People Watched Baseball on Christmas Day

During the Civil War, two regiments faced off as spectators, possibly as many as 40,000, sat and watched

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Santa Claus Builds A Flying Machine

As the 1800s gave way to the 1900s, many Americans felt that old Saint Nick needed a new way of getting from house to house

First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln by Francis Bicknell Carpenter.

The Civil War

Document Deep Dive: Emancipation Proclamation

When freeing the slaves 150 years ago, Abraham Lincoln traded in his famous lyricism for a dry, legal tone. Harold Holzer explains why

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The Decline and Fall of the Space Action Hero

Elroy gets to meet the star of his favorite show—but, in the real world, spacemen were disappearing from American televisions

The Inkwell used by Lincoln, the Proclamation draft and Lincoln's pen.

How the Emancipation Proclamation Came to Be Signed

The pen, inkwell and one copy of the document that freed the slaves are photographed together for the first time

The Smithsonian homepage in 1995

Fun Places on the Internet (in 1995)

What were you doing on the web back in the age of Netscape and Gopher?

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White Gold: How Salt Made and Unmade the Turks and Caicos Islands

Turks and Caicos had one of the world’s first, and largest, salt industries

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Sit Back and Plug In: Entertainment in the Year 2000

Was our future to be delightful or depraved? Sort of depends on your perspective

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The Best Gifts to Give (or Receive) About Paleofuturism

Books and DVDs make up our expert’s gift guide of more ideas for this holiday season

Mr. Spacely takes a swing from his flying golf cart (1962)

A Futuristic Golf Game in the Sky

In the year 2062, you really, really don’t want to hit a ball out of bounds

Motopia as illustrated in 1960 by Arthur Radebaugh for “Closer Than We Think”

Motopia: A Pedestrian Paradise

Visit the futuristic town where drivers and non-drivers live in perfect harmony

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The Day Henry Clay Refused to Compromise

The Great Pacificator was adept at getting congressmen to reach agreements over slavery. But he was less accommodating when one of his own slaves sued him

Richard Paul Pavlick (at right) attempted to assassinate Kennedy outside the President-elect's church in Palm Beach, Florida, in December 1960. Shown here is Kennedy and his family outside that church in April 1963.

The Kennedy Assassin Who Failed

Richard Paul Pavlick’s plan wasn’t very complicated, but it took an eagle-eyed postal worker to prevent a tragedy

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Your Genetic Future: Horse-Dogs, Plantimals and Mini-Rhino Pets

A kids’ magazine in the ‘80s hoped that by now we’d have a whole new array of pets to choose from

Elroy and Grandpa Jetson play “spaceball” (1962)

Grandpa Jetson is Way Cooler Than Grandpa Simpson

Montague Jetson is 110 years old—and loving it

Anne Kelly Knowles uses geography and technology to trace history.

The Civil War

Looking at the Battle of Gettysburg Through Robert E. Lee’s Eyes

Anne Kelly Knowles, the winner of Smithsonian American Ingenuity Awards, uses GIS technology to change our view of history

The Tucker on display at the National Museum of American History.

The Tucker Was the 1940s Car of the Future

Visionary inventor
 Preston Tucker risked everything when he saw his 1948 automobile as a vehicle for change

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