Lillian Randolph in It's A Wonderful Life, with a dusting of fake snow made from foamite, sugar, water and soap.

The Crazy Tricks Early Filmmakers Used To Fake Snow

Cornflakes, flour and, uh, asbestos were all used in early movies

Uniformed Letter Carrier with Child in Mailbag

Smithsonian Podcast

A Brief History of Children Sent Through the Mail

In the early days of the parcel post, some parents took advantage of the mail in unexpected ways

Crossword puzzles have been around for over one hundred years. In that time, they've gone through fads.

Why Crossword Puzzles Are Still Mostly Written By Humans

Computers can write sports articles, replace stock brokers and help diagnose patients. But they can’t write good crosswords

Poland's Sjem, or lower house of parliament, was the site of a recent showdown on press freedoms.

Trending Today

Poland Has Lifted Its Media Ban

It’s the latest in an ongoing saga about press freedoms in the populist-led country

The Westinghouse Atom Smasher in its prime.

The Strange Story of the Westinghouse Atom Smasher

The giant bulb was an important part of early American nuclear history. Now it’s part of a miniature railroad

Eggnog is connected to a medieval drink called posset.

The Long, Rich, Boozy History of Eggnog

This December, we’re exploring the drink’s storied history

Anne Frank in 1940, four years before her arrest and deportation.

Trending Today

Anne Frank May Not Have Been Betrayed

New evidence suggests the family was not specifically targeted, but rather discovered during an investigation related to illegal ration coupons

The first edition of A Christmas Carol. The illustration on the left is of Mr. Fezziwig's ball, one of Scrooge's good memories.

Why Charles Dickens Wrote ‘A Christmas Carol’

The beloved story sold 6,000 copies in its first week in print and 15,000 in its first year

A photo of Bill Clinton taken in 1993, the first year of his presidency.

Presidents Can Be Impeached Because Benjamin Franklin Thought It Was Better Than Assassination

The founding fathers struggled with the idea of whether the top leader should be impeachable

South Texas is among the most inhospitable places to cross the border—and is now the most popular.

Cool Finds

New Database Helps Families ID People Who Died Crossing the Border

I Have a Name/Yo Tengo Nombre offers a devastating glimpse of those who are gone—and a glimmer of hope to those who want to find them

A modern flight data recorder, a.k.a. a "black box." Despite the name, these recorders are typically painted orange.

On This Day, The Black Box Proved Its Worth

The Park Slope plane crash was a tragedy, but it proved the importance of the flight data recorder

Bei Bei, the National Zoo's youngest giant panda cub, during a veterinary exam when he was less than three months old.

The Long, Adorable History of Pandas in America

Su Lin was the first giant panda to come to America, landing in San Francisco in 1936

Gold armband

Trending Today

Dutch Court Rules Crimean Artifacts on Loan Will Return to Ukraine

Following Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula, Ukraine’s government asked that the artifacts be returned to Kiev

Pinball players are no longer scofflaws in the eyes of Kokomo, Indiana law.

Trending Today

Pinball Is Finally Legal Again in This Indiana City

Kokomo, Indiana, has reversed a 61-year-old ban on the game

Photo of Olivia de Havilland (left), Leslie Howard (center) and Vivien Leigh (right) from Gone With The Wind.

Why Do We Love Period Dramas So Much?

Gone With The Wind, the highest-grossing period drama ever, premiered on this day in 1939

Glad tidings! There's a new Christmas song in town.

Researchers Found a Long-Lost Christmas Song

“Crown Winter With Green” has some serious archival cred—and a sad story to tell

The Russian Front of World War II as of 1942.

Cool Finds

The CIA Is Celebrating Its Cartography Division’s 75th Anniversary by Sharing Declassified Maps

Decades of once-secret maps are now freely available online

The stone in front of the home in Braunau am Inn, Austria, where Adolf Hitler was born reads "For peace, freedom and democracy, never again fascism, millions of dead are a warning"

Trending Today

Austria Will Seize the Home Where Hitler Was Born

The government doesn’t want the apartment complex turning into a Neo-Nazi shrine

The tea bag made it possible to brew a single cup of tea rather than a whole pot.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Ever Wonder Who Invented the Tea Bag?

Its two competing origin stories are linked by one thing: convenience

An official notice of exclusion and removal posted on April 1, 1942.

Trending Today

75 Years Ago, the Secretary of the Navy Falsely Blamed Japanese-Americans for Pearl Harbor

The baseless accusation sparked the road to the infamous internment camps

Page 262 of 332