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History / U.S. History

George Washington's bedpan

The Strange Saga of George Washington’s Bedpan

Even the most mundane of objects associated with the Founding Father have a story

Many foodies and soda lovers swear there’s a discernible difference between Coke made with sugar and Coke made with high-fructose corn syrup—a truer, less “chemical-y” taste; a realer real thing.

The Innovative Spirit

The Story of Mexican Coke Is a Lot More Complex Than Hipsters Would Like to Admit

A nasty trade war and questionable scientific assumptions make it difficult to discern what is, and what isn’t, the real thing

Robert Frost by Clara Sipprell, gelatin silver print, 1955.

Poetry Matters

What Gives Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” Its Power?

A Smithsonian poet examines its message and how it encapsulates what its author was all about

The Cape Hatteras Light of North Carolina, on the Atlantic Ocean.

The Lonely, Lifesaving Job of Lighthouse Keepers, Revealed at the National Lighthouse Museum

A new museum in Staten Island tells the stories of men and women who ran lighthouses throughout America’s history and shows off some unique antiques

Whatever Happened to the Wild Camels of the American West?

Initially seen as the Army’s answer to how to settle the frontier, the camels eventually became a literal beast of burden, with no home on the range

Past Imperfect

The Murderous Story of America’s First Hijacking

Earnest Pletch’s cold-blooded killing of Carl Bivens was just one chapter in the strange life of the mechanic, farmhand and erstwhile carnie

The Yamaki Pine, which survived the bombing of Hiroshima, resides at the U.S. National Arboretum. The tree serves as a reminder of the continued peace between the United States and Japan.

The Bonsai Tree That Survived the Bombing of Hiroshima

Now living in Washington, D.C., this bonsai tree outlasted the atomic blast

A 4.5-by 3-inch paper notepad with the word THINK embossed on its leather cover resides in the Smithsonian Institution's collections.

Innovative Spirit Health Care

How a Five-Letter Word Built a 104-Year-Old Company

THINK—printed on signs, deskplates, business cards and notepads—was the seed from which the rest of IBM’s culture would grow

Portrait of James Smithson

When Congress Looked James Smithson’s Gift Horse in the Mouth

In 1835, the U.S. government debated what to do with the generous bequest coming from across the pond

Scientists have for the first time identified the four people buried in Jamestown's first church. They are (from left) minister Robert Hunt, Sir Ferdinando Wainman, Captain Gabriel Archer and Captain William West.

New Jamestown Discovery Reveals the Identities of Four Prominent Settlers

The findings by Smithsonian scientists dig up the dynamics of daily life in the first permanent British settlement in the colonies

Visit D.C.’s Best Off-the-Beaten-Path Historic Homes and Gardens

History, nature and culture combine at these fascinating estates and gardens in our nation’s capital

The National Museum of American History in its new exhibition "American Enterprise," displays a prime example of Stephen Burrough's art—a $1 certificate on the Union Bank of Boston, dated 1807, signed by Burroughs as cashier, and later stamped COUNTERFEIT.

The Entertaining Saga of the Worst Crook in Colonial America

Stephen Burroughs was a thief, a counterfeiter and a convicted criminal. A rare piece of his fake currency is in the collections

Smithsonian Takes a Giant Step with Its First Kickstarter Campaign to Fund the Conservation of Neil Armstrong’s Spacesuit

On the 46th anniversary of the historic moonwalk, the spacesuit that made it possible is headed to the conservation lab

The Evolution of Money, From Feathers to Credit Cards

Coin collectors, and trinket lovers welcome back the National Numismatic Collections to its splendid new gallery at the American History Museum

Today, where the concept of “disruption” has become so popular in business, those developing apps and new startups can look to the Singer Sewing Machine as one of the original disruptive technologies.

How Singer Won the Sewing Machine War

The Singer Sewing Machine changed the way America manufactured textiles, but the invention itself was less important than the company’s innovative business

One series of photographs in particular is exciting for the unique perspective. It was taken from an angle no one had seen before. “In his camera lens you can see the back of Clarence Darrow, and you can see the face of William Jennings Bryan,” historian Marcel Chotkowski LaFollette says.

The Scopes Trial Redefined Science Journalism and Shaped It to What It Is Today

Ninety years ago a Tennessee man stood trial for teaching evolution, a Smithsonian archives collection offers a glimpse into the rich backstory

Entrance to the new "American Enterprise" exhibition at the National Museum of American History.

How Curators Wrestled With the Complex Story of American Business

The broad and sometimes difficult history of business in the U.S., its rogues, heros, successes and failures, is the dynamic story in a new exhibition

Ornamental weathervanes once adorned the cupolas of the stand-alone Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants, hinting at a bygone folk era and forecasting the multi-directional dominance of its corporate future.

How Colonel Sanders Made Kentucky Fried Chicken an American Success Story

A weathervane from the Smithsonian collections is emblematic of Harland Sanders’s decades-long pursuit to make his chicken finger-lickin’ good

The Thomas Jefferson original granite base and obelisk is now complete with a Smithsonian-made reproduction of the marble plaque and on view at the University of Missouri.

Urban Explorations

Bringing Thomas Jefferson’s Battered Tombstone Back to Life

The founding father’s fragile grave marker has survived for centuries, enduring souveniring, a fire and errant repairs

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