This crop near Kagwada, South Sudan was destroyed first by armed rebels, then by roaming cattle who wiped it clean. South Sudan now faces a humanitarian crisis in the form of a famine.

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With Tens of Thousands Facing Starvation, Famine Is Declared in Parts of South Sudan

One million more are “on the brink” of famine

Cool Finds

Albania Wants to Show Off Its Shipwrecks

From 6th century B.C. Greek cargo ships to WWII wrecks, the Balkan nation is hoping to boost tourism by highlighting its underwater archaeology

President Trump talks to Smithsonian Secretary David Skorton in front of the "Paradox of Liberty" exhibit.

Breaking Ground

President Trump Visits the African American History Museum

Museum director Lonnie Bunch and Smithsonian Secretary David Skorton led the president and his entourage on a tour of the new museum

African-American Girl Scouts chat at a camp named after Josephine Holloway, who pioneered scouting for girls of color.

Cool Finds

Girl Scouting Was Once Segregated

Though the Girl Scouts of the USA initially declared itself a space for all girls, the reality was different for girls of color

The first "phone book" (really a one-page sheet) came long before phones like this, but it was an important step towards the printed directories that were ubiquitous in the twentieth century and are now often considered outdated.

The First Telephone Book Had Fifty Listings and No Numbers

It came out less than two years after Alexander Graham Bell invented the device

This photo shows the Berkeley 60-inch cyclotron, build in 1939. The year before, technetium-99 was discovered by Emilio Segrè and Glenn Seaborg using the facility's 37-inch cyclotron. Ernest Lawrence, the cyclotron's inventor, is standing, third from left.

Old Particle Accelerator Tech Might Be Just What the Doctor Ordered

Shortages of important supplies for nuclear medicine has researchers looking for answers on how to produce technetium-99

The original design patent for the Statue of Liberty included this image, which isn't the final picture of what it would look like, but shows how far Bartholdi's image was developed by the time he applied for the patent.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

The Statue of Liberty Was Once Patented

Reading the original patent documents can help us learn more about this history of this American icon

An 1817 illustration of a draisine.

This Wooden Running Machine Was Your Fixie’s Great-Great Grandpa

The draisine was invented as a potential replacement for the horse during a shortage

Logan (second from right) is the first ever boy American Girl doll.

Trending Today

American Girl Announces Boy

The toy titan’s newest doll is a boy named Logan

The first-known photograph of the White House, by John Plumbe, Jr.

Five Cool Finds From Google Arts & Culture’s Presidents’ Day Collection

The platform is sharing more than 2,000 items steeped in political history

An undated photo of video-game pioneer Roberta Williams during the early days of Sierra On-Line, the company she and her husband founded.

The Pioneer of Graphic Adventure Games Was a Woman

Mystery House was the first home computer game ever to include graphics as well as text

The phone that made the first 9-1-1 call in the U.S. is still in Haleyville, Alabama, now on display in the town's City Hall.

‘9-1-1’ Has Meant ‘Help, Please’ Since 1968

The first 911 call ever placed came from the small town of Haleyville, Alabama

USS Turner

Trending Today

Pentagon Investigates Missing Sailors from the U.S.S. Turner

After the ship exploded in New York Harbor in 1944, 136 sailors were classified as missing, but new research suggests some were buried on Long Island

Henrietta Lacks was a real person—and her cancer cells have led to many medical discoveries.

Trending Today

New Claims Prove the Henrietta Lacks Controversy Is Far From Over

The family of the woman who changed science forever is seeking compensation

Clifford the Big Red Dog has been delighting children for years. This collection was released by Scholastic in honor of the pooch's 50th birthday in 2013.

The Aww-Inspiring Origins of Clifford the Big Red Dog

Norman Bridwell, Clifford’s creator, was also a lot like his creation

One of the first teddy bears has been in the Smithsonian's collection for over a half-century.

Some of the Most Important (and Cutest) Teddy Bear Moments of the Past 114 Years

The American toy was introduced in 1903, and almost immediately made its mark

The "Little Laundress" was manufactured by a sister company to the one that invented the Erector Set.

This Sexist 1920s Toy is Part of the Reason for the Women in STEM Gap

Boys got Erector Sets. Girls got this stellar consolation prize

The smooching couple in the center left gave the bakery its nickname.

Cool Finds

How a Pompeiian Bakery Became This Year’s Hot Date Destination

The romance never dies at the House of the Chaste Lovers

Esther Howland popularized and mass-produced Valentine's Day cards like this one, using lace and colorful paper.

How to Make an Authentic Civil War Valentine

Handmade Valentine cards were popularized (and commercialized) in the U.S. during the Civil War years

What could be the only photos of Paul Gauguin and his Tahitian muse have surfaced. Gauguin is at the center of this photo, kissing a woman that could be his mistress Pahura.

Cool Finds

Rare Photographs Could Show Paul Gauguin in Tahiti

The newly discovered photos are from the summer of 1896

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