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American History

New to the collections: John Coltrane's 1965 Mark VI tenor saxophone

A Sax Supreme: John Coltrane’s Legendary Instrument Joins the Collections of the American History Museum

Ravi Coltrane, son of jazz musicians John and Alice Coltrane, donates one of his father’s three saxophones

Redpath lectures lasted well into the 20th-century (above, 1913), but when James Redpath started them in the late 1860s, he sought out speakers who could electrify an audience.

Before SXSW and Ted, A Manic Visionary Revolutionized the American Lecture Circuit

Meet James Redpath, the man who coached national celebrities on how to bring a crowd to its feet

Chew-Een Lee was the first Chinese American Marine officer and served during the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

Korean War Hero Kurt Chew-Een Lee, the First Chinese-American Marine, Dies at 88 Years Old

Lee overcame racism and saved upward of 8,000 men during one climactic battle

Mine!

Cool Finds

Seventy Five Years Ago, the Bronx Tried to Take Over Part of Manhattan With Just a Limo And a Flag

James F. Lyons drove over to Marble Hill and planted his flag, claiming it as his. It didn’t work.

Pyramid of the Sun

Cool Finds

Mexico’s Pyramid of the Sun Is Slowly Turning Into a Pile of Dust

When scientists scanned the pyramid’s insides, they found a giant pile of dust

Meet Lammily.

Cool Finds

An Average-Looking Doll Comes to the Rescue of Barbie-Addled Girls

A new Barbie-like doll with realistic proportions might help dispel stereotypes that influence little girls

Solomon Northup, portrayed by Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years A Slave.

Vintage Headlines

The New York Times’ 1853 Coverage of Solomon Northup, the Hero of “12 Years A Slave”

Northup’s story garnered heavy press coverage and spread widely in the weeks and months after he was rescued

V-J Day in Times Square, New York City.

Cool Finds

That Time the U.S. Government Made All Bars in America Close At Midnight

In 1945, the government gave America a nationwide curfew for the first and last time

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

The FBI Was Still Investigating John Wilkes Booth a Century After Lincoln’s Death

The blog Wonders and Marvels came across the FBI file on John Wilkes Booth

The first map of the new Hollywood development, from 1887.

Cool Finds

Hollywood Was Once an Alcohol-Free Community

Modern Hollywood is a far cry from its intrepid female founder’s “dream of beauty”

From the Editor

From the Editor

From the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

How Merv Griffin Came Up With That Weird Question/Answer Format for Jeopardy!

Champion Ken Jennings delves into what gives the virtually unchanged game show its lasting power

The Baliem Valley was a “magnificent vastness” in Rockefeller’s eyes, and its people were “emotionallly expressive.” But Asmat proved to be “more remote country than what I have ever seen.”

What Really Happened to Michael Rockefeller

A journey to the heart of New Guinea’s Asmat tribal homeland sheds new light on the mystery of the heir’s disappearance there in 1961

Invitees to the museum’s grand reopening in 2008 admire the newly restored flag.

Previewing the Smithsonian’s Plans for the 200th Anniversary of the Star-Spangled Banner

And at the same time, the American History Museum celebrates its 50th birthday

This is the late 18th - early 19th century internal (vaginal) irrigator made of bone discovered at City Hall Park, New York City.

Cool Finds

A Strange Object Found at New York’s City Hall Was a 200-Year-Old Feminine Hygiene Product

Archaeologists were initially mystified

Woodrow Wilson

Cool Finds

Woodrow Wilson’s Family Home Opens in Columbia

Woodrow Wilson’s boyhood home in Columbia, South Carolina is having it’s grand opening on Saturday, February 15

The Hasselblad EDC, the custom camera designed for use on the Moon.

Cool Finds

At Auction: One of the Only Cameras to Ever Make it Back From the Moon

James Irwin’s custom Hasselblad was one of the only cameras to make it back from the Moon… or was it?

A vintage postcard presents a deceptively sunny view of the school

Trending Today

Forensic Experts Have Found 55 Bodies Buried at Notorious Reform School

That’s more than twice as many as they expected to find

Hustle through America’s Huckster History with a Smithsonian Curator as Your Guide

A blow by blow of the flimflams and tales of hustlers throughout history, art and literature

The USS Pueblo.

Cool Finds

The Time the U.S. Nearly Nuked North Korea Over a Highjacked Spy Ship

The Pueblo incident ended peacefully, but newly unclassified documents detail President Johnson’s contingency plans

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