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Smart News / Smart News Arts & Culture

French toast, also known as lost bread, German toast, and "poor knights' pudding" is celebrated today, but it tastes great any day.

There Are as Many Names for French Toast as Ways to Cook It

People have been enjoying the eggy bread treat since Roman times

Chaunté Lowe, who placed sixth in the high jump in the 2008 Beijing Games, is now a bronze medalist

Trending Today

New Doping Tests Are Turning Past Runners-Up Into Olympic Medalists

Over 75 medal winners from the 2008 and 2012 games have been busted for doping, scrambling the Olympic record books

Roughly 400 people attempted to mount the blockaded Backwater Bridge last night, resulting in another clash between protestors and police.

Trending Today

Police Spray Dakota Access Pipeline Protesters With Water and Tear Gas in Freezing Temperatures

Latest clash comes over access to a barricaded bridge

Cool Finds

What Pilgrims Heard When They Arrived in America

They came to America seeking religious freedom, but what did their prayers, and those of the local Native Americans, sound like?

Cool Finds

World’s Largest Herd of Origami Elephants Takes Over the Bronx Zoo

People around the world folded the paper pachyderms to raise awareness of the elephants’ plight

A national museum of women's history would celebrate the accomplishment of women like these members of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, who went on strike against non-union shoulder pads in 1930.

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Why a Congressional Commission Wants a National Women’s History Museum

Will the American Museum of Women’s History ever become reality?

James Welch is featured on today's Google home page in honor of his birthday.

Google Makes Ledger Art to Celebrate Legendary Native American Author James Welch

In an exclusive interview with Smithsonian.com, artist Sophie Diao talks about what inspired today’s Google Doodle

A closeup of Bernini's "The Elephant and the Obelisk" before it was damaged.

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One of Rome’s Most Famous Sculptures Has Been Vandalized

Bernini’s “Elephant and Obelisk” is missing part of its tusk

Gwen Ifill died today. She was 61.

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Five Things to Know About Gwen Ifill

The late, great reporter turned curiosity into a career that changed journalism

Little People meant big fun for generations of imaginative kids.

Cool Finds

These Childhood Delights Just Made It Into the National Toy Hall of Fame

Dungeons & Dragons, Little People and the humble swing are this year’s toy honorees

"Wedding Dance in the Open Air"
Pieter Brueghel the Younger
1607-1614, oil on oak panel.

Cool Finds

A Brueghel Painting Long Thought to Be Made by a Copyist Is Going on Display

Vindication for Pieter Brueghel the Younger

"Ginzer"
Kiki Smith, 2000
Aquatint, drypoint, and burnishing etching on paper.

Smith placed the corpse of her cat on the plate and traced the outline to produce the image of the etching before burying him to create the etching.

Cool Finds

A Massive Collection of Cat Art Is up for Auction

The results of an art teacher’s passion project are for sale

Trending Today

What Happens to Obama’s Social Media Accounts When He Leaves Office?

The White House and National Archives have come up with a strategy to smoothly transition the POTUS Twitter and other communications channels

Trending Today

Four American Cities Voted for Taxes on Soda Last Night

One step forward in tackling obesity in America

The newly restored "St. John the Baptist," by Leonardo da Vinci.

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The Louvre Has Restored “St. John the Baptist”

To clean, or not to clean?

A lobby card for Gunsaulus Mystery, a 1921 silent film written, directed and produced by Oscar Micheaux, an early black silent film auteur.

Cool Finds

Explore the Flickering, Forgotten Past of African-Americans in Silent Film

An estimated 80 percent of silent movies with all-black casts are thought to be lost, but a new project is making sure the people who made them aren’t

Trending Today

Major Renaissance Painting Restored 50 Years After It Was Covered in Flood Waters

Giorgio Vasari’s “Last Supper” was heavily damaged during Florence’s 1966 flood. Conservationists finally figured out how to save it

A legal rumpus threw the author's epic book collection into question.

Trending Today

Legal Dispute Over Maurice Sendak’s Epic Book Collection Gets Wild

A legal rumpus has concluded—but have concerns about the author’s legacy only just begun?

As much as possible of the ad-hoc memorial that arose outside the headquarters of the  Dallas Police after the shootings of five officers this year will be preserved in the city's public library.

Trending Today

Library Launches Campaign to Preserve Shrines to Slain Dallas Police Officers

A fundraising effort looks to make remnants of the city’s tragic shootings available for future generations

L.M. Montgomery published articles, short stories and poems over 500 times in her lifetime.

Cool Finds

New Digital Collection Unveils the Other Stories of ‘Anne of Green Gables’ Creator

KindredSpaces brings together kindred spirits interested in the life and legacy of Lucy Maud Montgomery

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