San Francisco's modern-day Chinatown. Old Chinatown was almost completely destroyed during the earthquake of 1906 and the fires that ensued.

Cool Finds

Traces of San Francisco’s Pre-1906 Earthquake Chinatown Uncovered

Old sewing machines shed light on an enclave that city officials once tried to eliminate

A NOAA archaeologist examines the wreck of Two Brothers in Hawaii.

Cool Finds

NOAA Made a Sequel to ‘In the Heart of the Sea’

Because the story that inspired Moby-Dick is just the beginning

Screenshot from Boogie Belgique - Ms. Yutani (official music video)

Cool Finds

Take a Tour of Postwar Tokyo in the 1940s

High-quality archival footage makes a fascinating backdrop in a new music video

When the crew felt they had a good chance of freeing the trapped Endurance from the sea ice of the Weddell Sea, they put the sails up. As we know, this and other attempts failed. Realizing the ship wasn't moving, Hurley went onto the ice to take this photograph. New details of sea ice have been revealed.

Trending Today

Restored Photos From Shackleton’s Antarctic Wreck Reveal New Details

Photos taken during Shackleton’s Antarctic expedition have been digitally restored for the first time

Portrait of Suleyman I (1520-1566), 10th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

Cool Finds

Suleiman the Magnificent’s Lost Tomb Might Finally Be Found

Hungarian historians believe they have found the Ottoman sultan’s final resting place

Cool Finds

Explore Laos’ Plain of Jars with Drone Footage

Many parts of the 2,000-year-old-site are off-limits because of Vetnam-era cluster bombs

The ashram's entrance was once closed to visitors, who had to sneak in or bribe a guard.

Cool Finds

Abandoned Beatles Ashram Is Opened to the Public for the First Time in a Long, Long, Long Time

Get back to the site of the Fab Four’s disastrous meditation retreat

Maybe the white whale just wanted a hyphen.

Cool Finds

Why Does Moby-Dick (Sometimes) Have a Hyphen?

The hunt for the true story behind Melville’s hyphen is as mysterious as the famous white whale

A dog mascot named Whisky in the arms of his captain Wolfgang Erhart on board a German ship in the harbor of New York in 1962

Cool Finds

The British Navy Has a Long History of Adopting Animal Mascots

Ships’ pets included dogs, cats and some other animals that were more unusual

Cool Finds

Is Stonehenge a Hand-Me-Down Monument?

New research suggests the monument was first built in Wales then dragged 180 miles to its current location

An illustration of a Spanish galleon at the time when European travelers searched for treasure across the seas.

Cool Finds

Legendary Shipwreck May Have Been Found off the Colombia Coast

The sunken treasure on the Spanish galleon San Jose could be worth up to $17 billion

A diver inspects the plane's forward turret.

Cool Finds

View a Rare Seaplane Lost Just Before the Pearl Harbor Attack

The plane was a casualty of the first phase of the raid that took place on December 7, 1941

How many curls can you count?

Cool Finds

A Buddha in Japan Is Missing Half of Its Curls

What happened to the Buddha of Nara’s famous ‘do?

This 19th-century cartoon depicts a corpse brought back to life through the power of "galvanism."

Cool Finds

How Twitching Frog Legs Helped Inspire ‘Frankenstein’

Galvanism sought to reanimate the dead—and in doing so provided the impetus for one of literature’s most famously frightful books

A close-up of what might be one of the oldest depictions of a human dwelling.

New Research

Does This Carving Depict a Paleolithic Campsite?

A chunk of stone may be marked with one of the oldest drawings of a human campsite

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Inca Road

Visit Machu Picchu With Google Street View

Armed with a backpack and 15 high-res cameras, Google just tackled one of the world’s wonders

Trending Today

Americans Used to Really Hate Tipping

Are gratuity’s days numbered?

New Research

Europeans Only Started Digesting Dairy 4,000 Years Ago

They can enjoy that cheese thanks to ancient nomadic herders

A booking photo from Rosa Parks' arrest on December 1, 1955.

Trending Today

Sixty Years Later, Cities Celebrate Rosa Parks’ Legacy

Statues, streets and anti-bias education commemorate the civil rights activist’s historic protest

Cool Finds

What Was the First Thing Sold on the Internet?

The answer depends on how the question is approached

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