The Voice of Tomorrow Choir on the front porch of the new National Museum of African American History and Culture

Breaking Ground

What You Need to Know About the September 24 NMAAHC Grand Opening

Entry Passes are all gone for today, but there is plenty to see and do on the National Mall

Trending Today

‘Hamilton’ Creator Lin-Manuel Miranda Joins the War Against Bots

Ticket-buying bots are snatching up seats and jacking up the price of concert and theater tickets

Duke Riley's pigeons taking off for a performance of "Fly BY Night."

Cool Finds

A Giant Flock of Pigeons Is Lighting up New York’s Night Sky

The show is meant to illustrate that pigeons aren’t rats with wings

Bristol Old Vic artistic director Tom Morris with the thunder run.

Cool Finds

A New Production of “King Lear” Features 18th-Century Special Effects

The Bristol Old Vic’s thunder run hasn’t been used since 1942

Cool Finds

Watch ‘Swan Lake’ Transform Into a Spectacular Light Show

The classic ballet has never looked so stunning

The Parliament-Funkadelic Mothership is a 1,200-pound aluminum stage prop that once stole the show at funk singer George Clinton's concerts. Now, it's a part of the Smithsonian's permanent collections.

Breaking Ground

Watch George Clinton’s P-Funk Mothership Get Reassembled For Its Museum Debut

A timelapse video shows Smithsonian curators rebuilding one of music’s most iconic stage props—the Parliament-Funkadelic Mothership

Cool Finds

There Are Indeed Side Effects to Sword Swallowing

From “sword throat” to putting a hole in your pharynx, sword swallowing comes with a few risks

Meryl Davis and Charlie White of the U.S. perform during the ice dance free dance at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships in Nice, France, on March 29, 2012.

Winter Olympics

Why Reality TV May Bring Team USA Its First Gold in Ice Dancing

Amy Henderson, curator of the Smithsonian’s “Dancing the Dream” exhibition, chronicles the meteoric rise of a dazzling sport once considered vulgar

Distant view of man standing with Macy’s Day Parade balloons

The Puppeteer Who Brought Balloons to the Thanksgiving Day Parade

A Thursday morning tradition came with strings attached

Have you carved your pumpkin yet?

The Patents Designed to Make Carving Your Pumpkin a Little Less Messy

A group of innovators set out to simplify how we make classic Jack-o-Lanterns and their ghoulish grins

An aerial view of the PepsiCo World Headquarters in Purchase, NY

The Architectural History of Pepsi-Cola, Part 2: Edward Durell Stone and the Corporate Campus

Employee morale rose but architecture critics were repulsed upon the opening of the company’s new campus in Purchase, New York

The seemingly simple coffee cup sleeve represents the genius of design.

How the Coffee Cup Sleeve Was Invented

The cardboard sleeve became the ubiquitous finger-saver for coffee fanatics everywhere

The patent that ignited the dreams of generations of architects

Lego Architecture Studio Brings Modernism to the Play Room

The childhood toy becomes an architect’s dream come true

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Shark Repellent: It’s Not Just For Batman Anymore

It was actually first developed during World War II in an effort to help save the lives of seamen and pilots who had to await rescue in open water

Still from trailer for It movie, an adaption of the Stephen King novel

The History and Psychology of Clowns Being Scary

You aren’t alone in your fear of makeup-clad entertainers; people have been frightened by clowns for centuries

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Would You Like Arches With That? When Famous Architects Design McDonalds

Franchises of the fast food behemoth become roadside art

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The Golden Arches of McModernism

A brief history of the McDonald’s Golden Arches and the influence of Modernist ideals

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The Daily Planet in Film and Television

The real buildings that played the Daily Planet in film and television

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The Architecture of Superman: A Brief History of The Daily Planet

The real-world buildings that may have inspired Superman’s iconic office tower workplace

The score for John Cage’s indeterminate composition “Fontana Mix”

5 1/2 Examples of Experimental Music Notation

In the 1950s progressive composers broke from the 5 line music staff to experiment with new, more expressive forms of graphic music notation

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