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Museums

The growth plates, known as specimens UAMN3760 and UAMN3724, were discovered near Fairbanks in the early 1950s.

Mysteriously Young ‘Mammoth’ Fossils Discovered in Alaska Turned Out to Be Whale Bones

When researchers learned the fossils were merely 1,900 to 2,700 years old—which would be the youngest woolly mammoth fossils ever found—they suspected something was amiss

An exterior view of the famous window and balcony that robbers entered in October

Louvre Robbers Escaped With Less Than a Minute to Spare Due to Major Security Fumbles

An investigation ordered by France’s culture ministry highlighted a number of security failures that made October’s brazen heist possible

The statue, created for Rocky III, has been moved around to various locations throughout the city in recent decades. Since 2006, it has been located at the base of the steps leading to the Philadelphia Art Museum.

The Iconic ‘Rocky’ Statue at the Philadelphia Art Museum Steps Is Still Stirring Up Strong Feelings

Actor Sylvester Stallone initially told officials he wanted the sculpture back—but after public outcry, he changed his mind and agreed to let the city keep it

The vessel was transporting intricately carved gravestones and grinding mortars when it sank.

You Can Now See 750-Year-Old Artifacts Recovered From England’s Oldest Shipwreck

Gravestone slabs, cauldrons and other items recovered from the “Mortar Wreck” are now on display at the newly reopened Poole Museum in southern England

Sales of the MetroCard will end December 31.

The Era of the New York City MetroCard Is Almost Over. Say Goodbye to the Iconic Yellow Passes With a New Exhibition

As the Metropolitan Transit Authority moves to a contactless, tap-and-go payment system, “FAREwell, MetroCard” allows visitors to learn more about the history of the long-running fare card

Brazilian police presence in front of the Mário de Andrade Library, where several engravings were stolen in downtown São Paulo on Sunday

Two Armed Thieves Stole Eight Matisse Prints From a São Paulo Library

A robbery at Brazil’s Mário de Andrade Library is the latest daytime heist to shake the art world

Smithsonian magazine's picks for the best books about travel of 2025 include Adventures in the Louvre, On the Hippie Trail and Things Become Other Things.

The Best Books of 2025

The Ten Best Books About Travel of 2025

These top titles of the year conveniently bring the world and its many perspectives to us

Jane Austen's second novel, Pride and Prejudice, was published on January 28, 1813.

Jane Austen’s ‘Pride and Prejudice’ Was Initially Rejected by a Publisher. It Later Became One of the World’s Most Beloved Novels

The British author wrote six novels, but it’s her second published book that has resonated the most in the 250 years since her birth in 1775

Tourists take pictures of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa during the Louvre's reopening following a daylight jewel heist in October.

Weeks After a Brazen Heist, the Louvre Increases Ticket Prices for Non-E.U. Visitors by 45 Percent

Officials say the fee hike will help fund a much-needed overhaul of the museum’s security systems and infrastructure

The Winter Egg was designed by Alma Pihl, one of the few female designers at the House of Fabergé. Czar Nicholas II gifted it to his mother, Maria Feodorovna, in 1913.

Fabergé Egg Gifted by Russia’s Last Czar Breaks World Record, Selling for $30.2 Million at Auction

For the third time in its history, the Winter Egg is now the most valuable Fabergé item ever sold

Claude lived at the California Academy of Sciences for 17 years and became a beloved celebrity.

Claude, San Francisco’s Beloved Albino Alligator and ‘Unofficial Mascot,’ Dies at Age 30

Veterinarians will conduct a full exam and necropsy to determine the cause of death, but Claude had been undergoing treatment for a suspected infection in recent weeks

Bringing in the Maple Sugar from 1940 or earlier. 

A New Exhibition Places Grandma Moses Right Where She Belongs: In the Highest Echelons of American Art

Coming soon to the Smithsonian American Art Museum is a show that highlights the work of the famous late bloomer

The museum is located on an 11-acre campus in Los Angeles' Exposition Park.

George Lucas’ Sprawling Museum Dedicated to the ‘Universal Language’ of Illustrated Storytelling Finally Gets an Opening Date

Located in Los Angeles, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art will feature a permanent collection of more than 40,000 illustrations, movie posters, murals, film artifacts and other artworks

The Garden of Les Mathurins, property of the Deraismes Sisters, Pontoise, Camille Pissarro, 1876

The Paintings of Camille Pissarro, the ‘First Impressionist,’ Are Finally Getting the Attention They Deserve

“The Honest Eye: Camille Pissarro’s Impressionism,” the first major U.S. exhibition of the artist in 40 years, is now open at the Denver Art Museum

Wales' National Museum in Cardiff, where an artist quietly hung an A.I.-generated work on a gallery wall in October

Artist Sneaks Framed A.I. Portrait and Accompanying Label Onto a Museum’s Gallery Wall

The artificial-intelligence-generated image hung in Wales’ National Museum in Cardiff for a few hours before staffers and museumgoers noticed its presence

Hyper-realistic reconstructions of Australopithecus afarensis (Lucy foreground, Selam background) by Élisabeth Daynès in the National Museum’s “People and Their Ancestors” exhibition, Prague

Meeting Lucy: How a World-First European Exhibition Brought Visitors Face to Face With the Fossil That ‘Shrinks Time’

Two Australopithecus fossils named Lucy and Selam made a rare trip out of Ethiopia for a 60-day display at the National Museum in Prague

Photographs of an elderly Holocaust survivor from an album documenting the Jewish Relief Unit's activities in Germany after World War II

Elderly Jews Were Among the Most Likely to Die in the Holocaust. Why Has History Forgotten About the Genocide’s Oldest Victims?

A new exhibition at London’s Wiener Holocaust Library spotlights the unique challenges faced by European Jews who were over the age of 55 during World War II

Dutch officials will return the 7.5-inch-tall stone bust to Egypt by the end of the year.

The Netherlands Will Return a Looted 3,500-Year-Old Stone Bust to Egypt

The repatriation coincided with the lavish opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, which is finally welcoming visitors after years of delays

The Edmund Fitzgerald measured 729 feet long and had a gross tonnage of 13,632.

Nobody Knows What Sank the ‘Edmund Fitzgerald.’ But Its Doomed Final Voyage Will Always Be America’s Defining Shipwreck

Fifty years after the freighter disappeared into the depths of Lake Superior, the mystery of its demise—and the mournful ballad it inspired—still haunt the popular imagination

Pauline Baker, Daisy Whitner, John Williams and Priscilla Williams Carolina are all descendants of potter David Drake.

An Enslaved Man Made Thousands of Ceramic Pots. Now, a Boston Museum Has Returned Two of Them to His Descendants

Many of David Drake’s large vessels featured his signature and inscriptions, even though he created them during a time when literacy among enslaved laborers was illegal

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