The 45-foot Christmas tree is installed in Boston Common.

Trending Today

A Century-Old Boston Christmas Tree Tradition Costs Canadians Big Money

Turns out that Boston’s city Christmas tree is a very valuable gift

A detail of a 17th century map found stuffed in a Scottish chimney.

Cool Finds

Rare 17th-Century Map Found Shoved Up a Chimney Is Restored

Nothing like an antique document to block a draft

J. Frank Duryea, left, and race umpire Arthur W. White, right, in the 1895 Duryea during the Chicago Times-Herald race, the first automobile race in the U.S.

The Forgotten Car That Won America’s First Auto Race

The zippy roadster won America’s first automobile race in 1895 with an average speed of 5 mph

Turkey eggshells and bones from an offering 1,500 years ago in Oaxaca, Mexico.

New Research

Researchers Dig Into the Juicy History of Taming the Turkey

Archaeologists talk turkey in two recent studies

The Bishop's lump

Cool Finds

Researchers Trace 300-Year-Old Lump of Poop to Danish Bishop

The upper class contents of the little nugget suggests it likely belonged to Bishop Jens Bircherod or his wife

A detailed image of the baby crocodiles inside the mummy.

Cool Finds

Crocodile Mummy Found Packed With Dozens of Smaller Crocodile Mummies

The little critters escaped notice until high-powered modern scanners tackled the mummified remains

Cool Finds

One Hundred Years Ago, the Titanic’s Sister Ship Exploded While Transporting Injured WWI Soldiers

Bad luck seemed to follow the White Star Line’s infamous steam liners

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

New Dictionary Explains 45,000 English and Irish Surnames

Using sources dating back to the 11th century, researchers have put together the massive Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland

Stern of an Ottoman Wreck

Cool Finds

Over 40 Ancient Ships Discovered on the Bottom of the Black Sea

Researchers on a geology survey in Bulgarian waters ended up discovering vessels from the Ottoman, Byzantine and Venetian empires

Say hello to the West Bijou Site – the United States' newest National Natural Landmark

Trending Today

The Newest National Landmark Is Chock-Full of Dinosaur History

The West Bijou Site is home to a snapshot of the dinosaurs’ extinction

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.

Trending Today

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

Cool Finds

This 6,000-Year-Old Amulet Is an Ancient Metal Marvel

Lost-wax casting is still used in modern manufacturing

Wernher von Braun, one of the architects of the Apollo program, was a Nazi scientist brought to the U.S. in secret in 1945.

Trending Today

Why the U.S. Government Brought Nazi Scientists to America After World War II

As the war came to a close, the U.S. government was itching to get ahold of the German wartime technology

Trending Today

The Colosseum Waits on Funding for Critical Repairs in the Fight Over Rome’s Subway System

Caretakers fear the row over the metro’s overspending could endanger the ancient arena

American soldiers in Nimrud in 2008, with the Ziggurat in the background.

Trending Today

ISIS Has Destroyed a Nearly 3,000-Year-Old Assyrian Ziggurat

The ziggurat of Nimrud was the ancient city’s central temple

An original Western Union stock ticker from the Oakland Museum of California.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

The Physical Stock Ticker Is a Relic, But Its Influence Reverberates Loudly Today

On this day 149 years ago, the first digital transmitter debuted

Gwen Ifill died today. She was 61.

Trending Today

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

Page 260 of 327