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Rituals and Traditions

The Randall Park Mall in Ohio, photographed here in 2014, was opened in 1971 and abandoned in 2009. Amazon has built a new distribution center on the site.

The Rise of the Zombie Mall

Hundreds of big retail centers have gone under, but the shop-til-you drop lifestyle isn’t dead yet

A copper band found at the McQueen shell ring is similar to ceremonial objects seen at sites in the Great Lakes region

Cool Finds

Grave Hints at Interaction Between Early Humans Living in Great Lakes, American Southeast

Parallels between burial sites in the two regions suggest long-distance networks emerged earlier than previously believed

Cool Finds

1,000-Year-Old Pouch From Bolivia Contains Traces of Five Mind-Altering Drugs

The ingredients include coca leaves and two compounds used in modern ayahuasca rituals

During Holi, people crowd the streets and splash brilliantly colored dyes on anyone walking by.

The Meaning Behind the Many Colors of India’s Holi Festival

From red to green to indigo, each color provides festival-goers with a sense of beauty, ritual and tradition

An Appreciation of Küchle, My Family’s Deep-Fried Dough Tradition for Fat Tuesday

Avoid a grease fire. Support a local bakery.

Paella, a national favorite in Spain, is a hearty dish prominently featuring two of Linford's Seven Wonders—rice and tomato. It may be seasoned with salt and chili flakes as well.

The Mouthwatering History of Seven Fundamental Foodstuffs

A new Smithsonian book whisks readers on a culinary odyssey, tracing the history of salt, pork, honey, chili, tomato, rice and chocolate

At Gobbler’s Knob, Punxsutawney Phil is proudly lifted like Simba high overhead by his top-hatted Groundhog Club handler. Will it be six more weeks of winter or an early spring? Only the groundhog knows.

Play a Groundhog Day Song on a Continuous Loop

Like Bill Murray, wake up to Groundhog Day everyday with the Smithsonian Folkways’ groundhog playlist

When the sun sets on the fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year celebrations, hundreds brave the freezing February temperatures to see the display.

To Celebrate the Lunar New Year, Chinese Blacksmiths Turn Molten Metal Into Fireworks

Dubbed the “poor man’s fireworks,” the spectacular pyrotechnic display is a 500-year ritual in Nuanquan, China

Woman arranging bric-a-brac in her Arizona home circa 1940

Pop History

How America Tidied Up Before Marie Kondo

From the Progressive Era’s social hygiene movement to Netflix self-help reality television

The Key Marco Cat was unearthed at Marco Island off Florida’s southwestern shore in the late 19th century.

This Hand-Carved Panther Statuette Embodies a Lost Civilization’s Harmony With Nature

Calusa Indians harnessed the bounty of Florida’s estuaries with respect and grace

In this 2018 photo provided by Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History, INAH, a skull-like stone carving and a stone trunk depicting the Flayed Lord, a pre-Hispanic fertility god depicted as a skinned human corpse, are stored after being excavated from the Ndachjian–Tehuacan archaeological site in Tehuacan, Puebla state, where archaeologists have discovered the first temple dedicated to the deity.

Archaeologists Find First-Known Temple of ‘Flayed Lord’ in Mexico

While the rituals associated with the site may not be entirely clear, identifying the ruins of a temple to the deity Xipe Tóte is an important discovery

Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, is shown throwing three balls of gold through a window, providing the dowry of three poverty-stricken maidens in an altarpiece painted between 1433 and 1435 for a monastery in Florence. The design was based on an altarpiece by Gentile da Fabriano of 1425.

Why We Should Bring Back the Tradition of the Christmas Orange

The appeal of a last-minute stocking stuffer

The Patents Behind Christmas Lights

This Christmas, take a moment to appreciate the many innovations that make holiday light displays and the strand of bulbs on your tree possible

About 65 percent of Americans will send Christmas letters or cards this holiday season.

The History of Our Love-Hate Relationship With the Christmas Letter

How the “Dear Friends” missive started and how it has survived the Facebook age

Of Gods and Heroes by Jeffrey Veregge, 2018 (detail featuring Colleen Wing and Misty Knight)

This Artist Reenvisioned Marvel Superheroes in a Traditional Native American Style

Jeffrey Veregge uses formline, more typical of paintings and totem poles, to create a heroic mural

For Mariachi Arcoiris de Los Ángeles, their dual mission of being a respected musical group and advocating for social equality for the LGBTQ community has won the hearts and minds of many.

How the First LGBTQ Mariachi Became an Outlet for Advocacy

LA musicians Carlos Samaniego and Natalia Melendez do traditional Mexican music their way

A brave soul walks on Legos at the U.K. Firewalk

Why Walking on Legos Hurts More Than Walking on Fire or Ice

Everything you wanted to know about the science and history of stomping on the toy blocks

Soldiers supporting the coup led by Gen. Augusto Pinochet take cover as bombs are dropped on the Presidential Palace of La Moneda in Sept. 11, 1973.

An Eyewitness Account of Pinochet’s Coup 45 Years Ago

Smithsonian ethnomusicologist Dan Sheehy poignantly recalls the brutal outcome of a nation divided

This stretchable electronic device's design is inspired by the cut-paper art called kirigami.

How Ancient Arts Are Inspiring Modern Electronics

Engineers are finding a connection between paper snowflakes and wearable devices that stretch and bend with your body

The Gilbert Stuart painting “Portrait of George Washington’s Cook” may depict Hercules, the first president’s famous chef.

How Enslaved Chefs Helped Shape American Cuisine

Black cooks created the feasts that gave the South its reputation for hospitality

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