Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

History

One suggested design for the 51-star American flag

Designing a 51-State Flag

Even in 1958, the American flag was designed through crowdsourcing amateurs. If Puerto Rico joins the union, who will design the 51-star flag?

Desmond Llewelyn as Q in License to Kill showing Bond (Timothy Dalton) the camera gun that, when put together, became a sniper rifle.

5 Essential James Bond Accessories

The stylish spy wore a Rolex and sunglasses that you can’t buy on Black Friday on any other day

Thailand’s dreamy James Bond Island was featured in the 1974 film The Man with the Golden Gun and first brought fame to what is now a popular tourist destination.

Marking 50 Years of Luxurious Travel With James Bond

Since 1962, the films have introduced the world to all sorts of exotic, jaw-dropping destinations

None

The 2012 Election’s Big Winner: Math

Independently of President Barack Obama’s win last night, this year’s campaign was one in which numbers trumped gut

The upper and lower jaws of Duriavenator, illustrated when they were thought to belong to Megalosaurus, in A History of British Fossil Reptiles Vol. II.

Finding Duriavenator

Jaws once thought to be from Megalosaurus belong instead to this little-known species

Matchbook in the shape of a folded men’s shirt, with incised checkerboard-patterned weave, cuffs and bib, smiling child’s head peering out from opening at collar. Reverse inscribed “New York Clothing House, 102 & 104 Baltimore St., Baltimore.” Upper curved section swings open to reveal match compartment, c. mid-19th century.

Favorites From the Cooper-Hewitt’s New Online Collection

The museum’s clothing and textiles are unwrapped for view as never before

None

Why Can’t Voters Get Free Stuff?

Turns out, rewarding voters for voting is illegal

None

Brits Have Invaded Nine Out of Ten Countries

At various times, a new study found, the British have invaded almost 90 per cent of the countries around the globe

New Jersey Will Be Able to Vote Online This Year, But You Probably Never Will

This week, the state is grappling with how to bring their citizens the vote

None

Why Do We Vote on Tuesdays?

Tomorrow, Americans across the country will head to the voting booth and cast their ballots for the next president of the United States - but why always on Tuesday?

Oregon travelers Lindsay Gasik and Rob Culclasure, shown here in Penang, Malaysia, are currently in Southeast Asia on a nonstop year-long hunt for fresh durians.

Faces From Afar: Two Oregonians on the Hunt for Exotic Durians

Meet Lindsay Gasik and Rob Culclasure, who are spending a year of their lives in Southeast Asia feasting on the bizarre fruit

None

Incredible Political Fashion Statements From Past Elections

Forget buttons and T-shirts. Check out these mini dresses, bell bottoms and digital watches from old campaign trails

Pan de muerto

Food During Times of Grief

In a funereal setting, food often servers a number of symbolic functions

In the Middle East, Female Scientists Face Different Challenges

Rana Danaji, a professor of molecular biology in Jordan, weighed in in the journal Nature on what it’s like to be a woman in science in an Arab world

None

Why Does Dracula Wear a Tuxedo? The Origins of Bram Stoker’s Timeless Vampire

The evolution of Dracula, from the mind of a sickly youth to an iconic portrayal on the silver screen

None

The Haunted and the Haunting: Best Places to Visit on Halloween

This Halloween, indulge in the the electric, nerve-zapping thrill of fear, and consider visiting real destinations of creepy history and ghostly legends

None

The Halloween Tradition Best Left Dead: Kale as Matchmaker

Be happy this Scottish tradition is passé, your future marriage may have depended on it

Fossil teeth, found by Ferdinand Hayden in Montana, which Joseph Leidy attributed to the dinosaur “Trachodon.”

Finding Hayden’s Dinosaurs

Thanks to some historical detectivework, a pair of researchers has relocated one of the earliest recognized dinosaur sites in the American west

A mount of Cetiosaurus at the New Walk Museum in Leicester. While the neck of this sauropod is almost completely known, no skull has ever been described.

C is for Cetiosaurus

Sauropods are iconic dinosaurs, but the first of their kind ever found was initially thought to be a huge crocodile

None

The Witches of Halloween Past

Sexy or scary, the outfit has cast a spell on costume wearers going back many years

Page 93 of 127