Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Artifacts

Cool Finds

Take a Look at How Disney Got Investors for Disneyland

Boing Boing was given the original Disneyland prospectus, and now you can see it

Window washer Jan Demczur used his squeegee to pry open the elevator doors where he and five others were trapped. Taking turns, they used the squeegee and its metal handle to hack through drywall so that they could squeeze through and escape down the stairs.

How a Squeegee Handle Became a Life-Saving Tool on September 11, 2001

Artifacts now on loan to New York City’s National September 11 Memorial and Museum tell the story in ways that words cannot

Ghazali monastery

Cool Finds

These Archaeologists Were Looking for Tombs, But They Were Totally Psyched to Find Toilets

The discovery of toilets at a Sudanese monastery indicates that the site was an important one

Trending Today

The 9/11 Memorial Museum Opens to the Public

So far, the 9/11 Memorial Museum has provoked a range of reactions. Now, you can come to your own verdict.

Cool Finds

Someone Had to Build the Terracotta Army—Archaeologists Just Found Their Humbler Grave Sites

Forty-five grave sites were found only kilometers from the emperor’s tomb

Far View House, Mesa Verde

Cool Finds

This “Lake” at Mesa Verde Is Actually a Ceremonial Structure

The old theory, that it was a reservoir, didn’t hold water

New to the collections: Actor Reeve Carney's red and blue spandex bodysuit, which he wore while starring in Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark

‘Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark’ Suit Receives a Lifetime Encore at the American History Museum

After a two-year run on Broadway, the web-slinging stage show’s iconic superhero costume is heading to the Smithsonian.

Sewer cover in Los Angeles

Cool Finds

L.A. Needs Water, And for a Century, the “Mother Ditch” Supplied It

Built in 1781, the “Mother Ditch” supplied water to the early city

Everything at This 4,500-Year-Old Site Was Removed—And Then Reburied

An unprecedented trove of artifacts and burials found at a development site were recently removed and reburied

Charles Dodgson

Cool Finds

Lewis Carroll Hated Fame So Much He Almost Wished He’d Never Written His Books

At least, that’s what he said in a letter, now in the University of Southern California library

Discovery Hut

Cool Finds

Preserving Antarctic History Means Chipping Out Tons of Ice From Between Floorboards

Built by Robert Falcon Scott, Discovery Hut is one of several historic structures being preserved in Antarctica

Mayan Ruins

New Research

Mayas Used Spiked Clubs to Bash Combatant’s Heads

Analysis of skulls gives insight into violence in the Mayan culture

Tourists Outside King Tut's Tomb

Cool Finds

Egypt Building a Fake Version of King Tut’s Tomb for Tourists

The original tomb is being damaged by constant visitors, so authorities are building another

Carcinogenic material was used as a finish coating in this painting.

New Research

Byzantine Monks Built Walls With Asbestos, Too

In millennia past, asbestos has also been used to make stronger pottery and flame-proof napkins

Pyramids of Meroe, Sudan

Cool Finds

Qatar Gives $135 Million to Sudan for Archaeological Projects

The war-torn region has some of the most incredible, unexplored antiquities sites in Africa.

The Miami Circle

Cool Finds

Miami Developers And Preservationists Are Fighting Over the Fate of an Incredible, 1,500-Year-Old Settlement

The archaeologists who found it say it’s “likely one of the most significant prehistoric sites in the United States”

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

Cool Finds

Tennessee Is About To Get a New State Artifact

A Native American sculpture is about to become Tennessee’s state artifact

Ukraine's Independence Square February 23

Cool Finds

Ukrainian Protesters Are Already Establishing a Museum for Maidan Artifacts

Less than a week after the uprising in the Ukraine, some groups are already documenting the historic moment

A dollar bill found floating in the basement of the offices of Smack Mellon, a Brooklyn arts organization, after flooding due to Superstorm Sandy. Submitted by Adriane Colburn.

Art Meets Science

A Crowdsourced Collection of Objects That Embody Climate Change

“A People’s Archive of Sinking and Melting” features publicly submitted items from places that could be on the brink of disappearance

Page 52 of 57