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Artifacts

Does China’s Only Female Emperor Deserve Her Bad Rap?

Wu Zetian, empress of the Tang Dynasty, was believed to be a cunning and ruthless ruler

Leutwyler spent three weeks in the archives of the Elvis Presley Estate photographing objects, such as this gold-plated microphone (c. 1960).

A New Photo Book Reveals the Objects That Tell the Stories of the Rich and Famous

Photographer Henry Leutwyler usually shoots his camera at celebrities. For this book, he looked at their stuff

Visitors on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. arrive to see the grand opening ceremonies.

Breaking Ground

Thousands Converge on the National Mall For Music, Family, Remembrance and Celebration

Families from all over the country arrive to celebrate the grand opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture

Cool Finds

Colombian Statue Heads Home After 80 Years

The slab figure disappeared from Colombia’s National Musuem in 1939

Why Dead Rulers of the Han Dynasty Were Plugged With Jade

During the days of China’s Han dynasty, when a ruler died his corpse was carefully packed with jade “plugs”

Resurrection City Mural (detail), 1968

Breaking Ground

A Mural on View in the African American History Museum Recalls the Rise of Resurrection City

The 1968 Hunger Wall is a stark reminder of the days when the country’s impoverished built a shantytown on the National Mall

How the Heated, Divisive Election of 1800 Was the First Real Test of American Democracy

A banner from the Smithsonian collections lays out the stakes of Jefferson vs. Adams

Archaeologists excavating the Antikythera Shipwreck skeletal remains.

New Research

Skeleton Pulled From the Antikythera Shipwreck Could Give Clues to Life Aboard the Vessel

Archaeologists hope to analyze DNA taken from a skeleton found among the wreckage

Wu Zetian’s Bold Move at the Spectacular Longmen Grottoes

The Longmen Grottoes remain one of the most sacred places in China

A 3,000-year-old clay pot with cheese residue found burnt to the bottom

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Find Ancient Pot With Traces of 3,000-Year-Old Burnt Cheese

This ancient mishap gives researchers a peek into Bronze Age life

A beta version of the 3D interactive exhibit that is set to open in 2017.

Breaking Ground

Google Is Redefining 3D Tech at the New African American History Museum

Next spring, visitors will interact with artifacts beyond those in the physical exhibitions

It is thought that Nat Turner was holding this Bible when he was captured two months after the rebellion he led against slaveholders in Southampton County, Virginia.

Breaking Ground

Nat Turner’s Bible Gave the Enslaved Rebel the Resolve to Rise Up

A Bible belonging to the enslaved Turner spoke of possibility says curator Rex Ellis of the National Museum of African American History and Culture

Envelopes and other artifacts from the 2001 anthrax attacks are on view in “Behind the Badge: The U.S. Postal Inspection Service” at the National Postal Museum.

The Anthrax Letters That Terrorized a Nation Are Now Decontaminated and on Public View

Carriers of the deadly anthrax bacteria, these letters—on loan from the FBI—can be seen at the National Postal Museum

The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries

Even Napoleon Had an Unpublished Manuscript, and Now It’s up for Auction

His handwritten novella captures his feelings toward love at age 26

Fuselage from Flight 93, Shanksville, Pennsylvania, September 11, 2001

Remembering 9/11, From a Scrawled Note to a Scrap of Fuselage

How objects both ordinary and extraordinary help us reflect on the devastation

Breaking Ground

The Powerful Objects From the Collections of the Smithsonian’s Newest Museum

These artifacts each tell a part of the African-American story

One of the dig sites at Durrington Walls where researchers have uncovered a post that once held a large, prehistoric timber post.

Cool Finds

The So-Called “Superhenge” Was Made of Wood, Not Stone

New research shows that the ancient structure was also taken down in a hurry

Cool Finds

Tourists in Hawaii Accidentally Discovered Ancient Petroglyphs

A stroke of luck on the beach

“Even the greatest things in the world need attention when they’re not as strong as they could be. It was a cry for freedom,” says Tommie Smith of his silent act at the 1968 Olympics.

The Paris Olympics

What You Don’t Know About Olympian Tommie Smith’s Silent Gesture

The simple act of civil disobedience, thrusting a black-gloved fist in the air, produced shock waves across the nation

Some of the threads discovered at Must Farms are the width of a human hair.

Cool Finds

This Ball of Thread Is 3,000 Years Old

If it is simply held in the wrong way, the priceless artifact could crumble to pieces

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