This July 4th, Celebrate Two Million Years of Grilling

Tutored in several European languages for hours on end and strapped to a steel rod for posture, Consuelo Vanderbilt's childhood was anything but easy.

Could You Have Endured Consuelo Vanderbilt's Upbringing? (4:30)

Green ants build their grand nests out of leaves, which they pull and join together with silk. Amazingly, this silk is produced by their newborn larvae.

Magnificent Leaf Homes Woven by Australian Green Ants (2:50)

Sand strikers, also known as bobbit worms, are primitive-looking creatures that lack eyes, or even a brain. Despite this, they are savage predators who shoot out grapple-like hooks to reel in passing fish.

This Terrifying Worm Snatches Fish From the Ocean Floor (3:18)

Why saying cheese just didnt happen in the early days of photography.

Ask Smithsonian: Why Don’t People Smile in Old Photographs? (1:12)