Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

At the Smithsonian

A chocolate pot from Yokohama, Japan, ca. 1904. Porcelain with clear glaze and overglaze enamels

Chocolate Week

A Brief History of the Chocolate Pot

How humans have consumed chocolate sheds lights on its significance to cultures and eras

Cocoa roasters at the Hershey Chocolate Company in Pennsylvania

The World of Chocolate

The Short Rise and Fall of the Crazy-for-Cocoa-Trade Cards Craze

In the late 19th-century, when you bought chocolate, the grocer dropped a delightful prize into your bag, a trade card to save and share

Chocolate Week

D.C.’s Artisan Chocolate Makers Show Off Their Sweet Labor of Love

Leaving no task undone, this husband-and-wife team demonstrate their process for producing chocolate

What little-known facts could you learn about FDR?

Ten Fascinating Presidential Facts to Impress on Presidents’ Day

Learn a new side of the Commanders-in-Chief, from whiskey seances and magazine cover boys

Richard Cadbury began selling chocolates in heart-shaped boxes in 1861.

The World of Chocolate

How Chocolate and Valentine’s Day Mated for Life

Tracing the lovers, the leaders and the ladies responsible for the pairing of chocolate to Valentine’s Day

A close-up of the 2012 cake.

The World of Chocolate

How an Archaeologist Revived King Tut’s Tomb With A Chocolate Cake

By day Eric Hollinger is an archeologist, but his passion is baking and his chocolate cakes are works to behold

Though threatened by adverse conditions in the Chesapeake Bay, oysters are filter feeders and may provide a much-needed solution for better water quality.

Let Oysters Get Sick to Clean Up the Chesapeake

The delicious oyster you love to slurp might be the best bet for clearing away pollutants

An aerial view of the city of Washington, D.C, in 1861 as seen from a balloon.

How the Backwater Town of Washington, D.C. Became the Beacon of a Nation

As the Anacostia Community Museum delves into daily life in a city at war, author Ernest B. Furgurson recalls the nascence of a city on the verge

Melts in your mouth, not in microgravity.

The World of Chocolate

The Rich and Flavorful History of Chocolate in Space

From vacuum-sealed pudding to Blue Bell ice cream, astronauts have been taking the treat into orbit since the dawn of the space age

Lick and Lather, 1993, two self-portrait busts: one chocolate and one soap is currently on view at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

The World of Chocolate

The Art of Chocolate (and Soap)

Conservators went on a scientific journey to discover the best ways to preserve artist Janine Antoni’s landmark “Lick and Lather”

Eddie Van Halen, 1985

The Electric Guitar’s Long (And Louder), Strange Trip

From its gentle 16th-century acoustic origins to the souped-up ‘Frankenstein,’ a Smithsonian scholar strums the historic chords of the guitar

The sleek 11-foot model of the Enterprise had been seen in the 1966-69 television series Star Trek.

A Feisty Capt. James T. Kirk Checks in on the Starship ‘Enterprise’

When the model for the TV show Star Trek was removed for conservation at the National Air and Space Museum, the actor William Shatner weighed in

Ask Smithsonian: How Does a Satellite Stay Up?

Meet a Harvard-Smithsonian researcher who monitors all the satellites and explains why they rarely fall

Art Molella delivers his speech on innovation.

The Innovative Spirit - OLD

The Recipe for Innovation Calls for a Little Chaos and Some Wall Bashing

Scholar Art Molella chronicles the habits, habitats and behaviors of the men and women who invent

In the garden, Levisticum is a tall plant with dark leaves and greenish-yellow flowers. Under a microscope, however, it can morph into a cellular rainbow. This image was made using polarized light to enhance contrast. Waves in polarized light share an orientation, and special filters can block out any unpolarized waves and make the fine details easier to see.

New Exhibit Showcases the Power of Light in Our Everyday Lives

The open-source show “LIGHT: Beyond the Bulb” crosses disciplines to show the many ways photonics has improved our lives

Faced with the only high-cost options, Smithsonian researcher Whitman Miller began building his own portable, inexpensive monitoring stations.

Saving Money is Great, but Saving the Chesapeake Bay Will Be Even Better

Whitman Miller’s “off the shelf” technology may answer complicated questions about rising CO2 and ocean acidification

Choose among these three cultural icons for the comedian who will be featured at the National Portrait Gallery.

Sponsor: National Portrait Gallery

Which of These Comedians Should the Portrait Gallery Put on Display?

This is no laughing matter for the Smithsonian museum

The 1354 painting, Dwelling in Seclusion in the Summer Mountains, by the artist Wang Meng is now on view at the Freer Gallery through May 31.

Why this 14th-Century Chinese Artist Is Having a Rebirth

The rare works of Wang Meng, an artist with a brilliance for brushstrokes, bring millions at auction

Page 141 of 276