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The scimitar-horned oryx was declared extinct in the wild in 2000.

Rewilding the African Scimitar-Horned Oryx

In a historic first, an animal that went extinct in the African wild is reintroduced, giving hope for many endangered species

Robin Williams by Michael Dressler, 1979

Harken Back to the Glory Days When ‘Time’ Magazine Was King

A new show honors the once powerful cover shot and the artists who made celebs shine bright

This conception of jazz as a means of bringing people together is manifested nowhere better than in Benny Carter (above, 1986).

It’s Springtime and Jazz Is In Bloom

This year’s Jazz Appreciation Month celebrates the singularly talented alto saxophonist Benny Carter

In a new book The Naturalist, the Smithsonian's Darrin Lunde draws on Teddy Roosevelt's diaries and expedition journals to tell the story of the 26th president as a prodigious hunter, tireless adventurer and ardent conservationist.

Teddy Roosevelt’s Epic (But Strangely Altruistic) Hunt for a White Rhino

In a new book, a Smithsonian naturalist tells the gritty, controversial tale of how one of America’s presidents felled a threatened species

Run-DMC-JMJ on the rooftop of Russell Simmons's apt

Breaking Ground

Vintage Photos Recall the Early Days of Hip-Hop, Before It Became a Billion-Dollar Industry

More than 400 images from the 1980s to the early 2000s detail the “standout moments” of the rise of Run DMC, Grandmaster Flash, Jay Z and many more artists

Untitled by Robert Irwin, 1963-65

To Truly Experience Robert Irwin, You Simply Must View His Artworks in Person

Part visionary, part magician, Irwin makes art that breaks all the rules

Wayne Shorter and McCoy Tyner at Shorter's April 29, 1964 session for "Night Dreamer" at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

These Rarely Seen Images Show Jazz Greats Pouring Out Their Hearts

Frank Wolff’s gritty portraits, the hallmark of Blue Note Records, became a visual catalog of jazz in action

The Chilarchaea quellon trap-jaw spider can snap its long chelicerae shut in about a quarter of a millisecond.

Tiny Spiders Are the Fastest Known on Earth

Some trap-jaw spiders can snap their mouths shut with incredible force—in less than a millisecond

Crisis, From the series Ashab Al-Lai/ Fault Mirage: A Thousand Lost years by Ahmed Mater, 2015

A Changing Mecca Is the Focus of the First U.S. Exhibition to Feature a Saudi Artist

The works of Ahmed Mater at the Sackler examine the stark collision of the sacred and profane

Rima Timbaryan collects dough for baking.

Armenia

Tastes of Memory: How to Bake an Authentic Armenian Lavash

Preserving Armenian culture, memory and identity in the kitchen

Chester Medicine Crow (Apsáalooke, Crow) and his grandfather Joe Medicine Crow (Apsáalooke, Crow)

Remembering Dr. Joe Medicine Crow

He showed us we are capable of great things when we look within ourselves, says scholar Nina Sanders

Feather identification expert Roxie Laybourne stands surrounded by colorful birds. This image took roughly eight hours to set up.

The Story Behind Those Jaw-Dropping Photos of the Collections at the Natural History Museum

The images capture only a fraction of the millions of creatures and objects that are stored away from the public eye

Don Cheadle stars as Miles Davis in the new film Miles Ahead.

Smithsonian Jazz Expert Gives Liner Notes to the New Miles Davis Biopic

The American History Museum’s James Zimmerman dives into Miles Davis’ sound and style

As we turn towards Kawaihae, I get another turn at the steering paddle. All of us steered at different times, sometimes two or three at once to handle the paddle in rough seas.

A Firsthand Account of What It Takes to Pilot a Voyaging Canoe Across the Ocean

More than just a desire to learn, a seat aboard the historic vessel Hōkūle`a requires skill, dedication and well, …obsession

In a reconstruction, by artist John Gurche, the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum displays what the Hobbit would have looked like in the Hall of Human Origins.

“Hobbits” Disappeared Much Earlier Than Previously Thought

If the tiny hominins ever coexisted with modern humans, the arrangement apparently didn’t last long

David Baker directing the SJMO in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall

Jazz Legend David Baker’s Soaring Legacy

Smithsonian’s maestro, a founding director of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, has died at the age of 84

Avenue of Cherry Trees Yoshida Hiroshi, Showa era, 1935

How Cherry Trees Blossomed Into a Tourist Attraction

The fragile and transient blossom may herald the first stirrings of spring, but their significance has evolved since the 9th century

Independence Day Celebration by Lauren Good Day Giago, (Arikara/Hidatsa/Blackfeet/Plains Cree), 2012, antique ledger paper, colored pencil, graphite, ink, felt-tipped marker

For These Native American Artists, the Material Is the Message

A new exhibition traces the evolution of Plains tribes’ narrative art from the 18th century up through today’s contemporary works

From the desk of Susan B. Anthony, this inkstand was used by the women's rights advocate to produce the articles she wrote for her newspaper The Revolution.

Women Who Shaped History

For Susan B. Anthony, Getting Support for Her ‘Revolution’ Meant Taking on an Unusual Ally

Suffragists Anthony and Cady Stanton found common cause in a wealthy man named George Francis Train who helped to fund their newspaper

How Do Butterflies Fly and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

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