Take a Peek Into the Future’s Present With Our Live Coverage of Smithsonian’s Two-Day Festival

Just outside North Carolina's Outer Banks is Roanoke Island, the scene of one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in U.S. history: the disappearance of an entire colony of English settlers.

The Colonial Settlement That Vanished Into Thin Air (2:10)

Despite its dry desert landscapes, Utah is a land of surprises, and Glen Canyon is one of them, rivaling Arizona's Grand Canyon for sheer majesty.

Utah's Otherworldly Landscapes (2:20)

In 1828, John Jacob Astor built a trading post on the Missouri River. Business was so profitable that it only took four decades for Astor to become America's first multimillionaire.

America's First Multimillionaire (2:49)

With the development of better flight technology, commercial air travel received an unprecedented boom in the 1960s. But to fully sell the glamor of flying, the airlines needed these women on board.

Air Travel Was a Party, and They Were the Hosts (2:57)