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Pop Culture

A collection of Nokia mobile handsets, including unseen prototypes

If You’re Nostalgic for Nokia, See the Devices That Defined ’90s Cellphone Design in a New Online Archive

The iconic brand’s mobile phones were pop culture mainstays. Soon, a new online archive will bring together thousands of documents, early models and design concepts

Ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz on view at Heritage Auctions London

Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers From ‘The Wizard of Oz’ Sell for a Record-Breaking $28 Million

The iconic shoes, which went missing for more than a decade, are now the most valuable piece of movie memorabilia ever auctioned

Merriam-Webster has been printing English dictionaries since 1831.

‘Polarization’ Is Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year for 2024

The winning word beat out finalists such as “demure,” “pander,” “totality,” “fortnight,” “allision” and “democracy”

Pantone is betting that Mocha Mousse will reflect next year's trends.

Trending Today

What Is Mocha Mousse, the First-Ever Shade of Brown Chosen as Pantone’s Color of the Year?

The 2025 hue is an “evocative soft brown” that was selected to suggest the rich flavor of a piece of chocolate or a cup of hot coffee

The stone marked with the name "Ebenezer Scrooge" is located in a graveyard at St. Chad’s Church in Shrewsbury, England.

Vandals Destroy Ebenezer Scrooge’s Fictional Tombstone Featured in a Film Adaptation of ‘A Christmas Carol’

Located in an English churchyard, the stone was inscribed with the name “Ebenezer Scrooge” for the 1984 movie. Police are investigating the vandalism, which occurred earlier this month

A nuclear-powered car lined with lead and other materials to protect its passengers from radiation would weigh at least 50 tons—more than 25 times as heavy as the average vehicle.

Visions of Nuclear-Powered Cars Captivated Cold War America, but the Technology Never Really Worked

From the Ford Nucleon to the Studebaker-Packard Astral, these vehicles failed to progress past the prototype stage in the 1950s and 1960s

Surrounded (1996) is one of the early Burton artworks featured in the exhibition.

What Makes the Dark, Whimsical World of Tim Burton So Compelling?

An exhibition in London is showcasing more than 600 artworks and artifacts—including costumes, props and sketches—from the famous filmmaker’s career

Quincy Jones at an awards ceremony in 2014

Quincy Jones Was a ‘Musician’s Musician’ Who Was Uniquely Beloved in the Cutthroat Music Industry

A Smithsonian curator reflects back on the artistic legend, a “Renaissance man” with 28 Grammys to his name, who died Sunday at 91 years old

All four Beatles at Abbey Road Studios in London, where they tracked music with the EMI TG12345 console

You Can Buy the Recording Console the Beatles Used to Make Their Iconic Album ‘Abbey Road’

After a years-long restoration, the unique device that recorded hits like “Come Together” and “Here Comes the Sun” is now fully functional

The theme of this year's creepy doll contest at the History Center of Olmsted County is "Circus After Dark."

The Creepy Doll Contest Is Back—and It’s Time to Cast Your Vote for the Most Terrifying Toy

Step right up and see the spooky circus dolls—from creepy clowns to frightening fortune-tellers—in a Minnesota museum’s vintage toy collection

A colorized photo of superhero rodent Mighty Mouse’s exuberant turn in the 1951 parade.

How the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Went From Its Modest Start to an American Tradition Rivaling Stuffing and Pumpkin Pie

A century on, the country’s most beloved Thursday spectacle reaches new heights

Shrunken Head Bob from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice claimed the top spot on this year's rankings.

The Top 25 Trending Halloween Costumes of 2024, According to Google

This year, celebrants will likely be channeling characters from hit franchises like “Beetlejuice,” “Inside Out” and “Deadpool”

Muhammad Ali

These 17 Pictures Tell the Stories of Black Athletes in America

A new book from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture shows the images and impacts of athletes on and off the playing field

L to R: Kim Matula as Jane Curtin, Emily Fairn as Laraine Newman, Gabriel LaBelle as Lorne Michaels, Rachel Sennott as Rosie Shuster and Matt Wood as John Belushi in Saturday Night, a new film about the making of “Saturday Night Live”

Based on a True Story

The Real Story Behind ‘Saturday Night,’ the Movie About the Television Show That Changed Comedy Forever

A new film revisits the 90 minutes before the first episode of “Saturday Night Live” premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975

Julia Child in her kitchen with husband Paul behind her

See the Tools and Gadgets From Julia Child’s Kitchen That Reveal How the Beloved Chef Cooked

From the microwave to the food processor, the book author and television personality tried many appliances and devices to figure out the best ways to use them for her audience

Guests play a throwback "Donkey Kong" game with an oversized controller at the Nintendo Museum.

Nintendo Switches Things Up With a New Museum That Embraces Nostalgia and Celebrates Gaming History

The Kyoto museum will feature interactive exhibits, gaming artifacts, workshop spaces and oversized controllers inspired by iconic video games

An aerial view of Disneyland in Anaheim, California, circa 1955

Inside Disney’s Controversial Plan to Open a Theme Park Inspired by American History

In the early 1990s, historians and the public alike questioned how Disney’s America would accurately and sensitively document the nation’s thorny past

1980, OSGEMEOS, mixed media with sequins on MDF, 2020

The Colorful World of These Brazilian Identical Twins Bridges Dreams and Reality

The artists known as OSGEMEOS showcase the largest exhibition of their work in the United States at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

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The Madcap History of Mad Magazine Will Unleash Your Inner Class Clown

In a twist befitting its pages, the satirical, anti-establishment publication that delivered laughs and hijinks to generations of young readers gets the respect it always deserved with a new museum exhibition

James Earl Jones famously lent his deep, sonorous voice to Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise and Mufasa in The Lion King.

Darth Vader Didn’t Come Alive Until James Earl Jones Gave Him a Voice

The prolific American actor, who died on September 9, recorded his dialogue for the first “Star Wars” film in less than three hours

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