Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Exhibits

Portuguese King Manuel I (who ruled from 1495-1521), commissioned this Belgian tapestry to commemorate explorer Vasco da Gama's "discovery" of India in 1498. Da Gama is the figure at the left, kneeling before an Indian sultan. In the center, Portuguese sailors load exotic animals—including, strangely, a unicorn—into their ships, for transport to the Portuguese royal zoo.

Global Empire

The curator of an ambitious new exhibition explains how Portugal brought the world together

The question doesn't rank up there with, say, What is gravity? But where was the hamburger invented? To promote its claim, Akron, Ohio, hosts the National Hamburger Festival on July 21 and 22. Over 20,000 people served, including competitive eater Dave "Coondog" O'Karma.

Highlights & Hotspots

A selection of the season’s noteworthy events

None

Highlights & Hotspots

Some of this year’s noteworthy European events

None

Highlights & Hot Spots

The Postal Museum

Dispatches from the Past

An exhibition at the Postal Museum commemorates the centennial of the Klondike/Alaska gold rush

Page 36 of 36