Smithsonian Stories

Stories that spark curiosity from the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex.

Painting of a line of trees with orange leaves behind a grassy slope
Smithsonian Story

Why Do Leaves Change Color in the Fall?

The start of fall brings cooler temperatures and shorter days that transform trees.
Custom uniforms display cultural pride and signal Latino presence and excellence in baseball,
National Museum of American History

Suit up! Honoring Latino Heritage on the Field

For some teams, uniforms offer a chance to proudly proclaim their cultural heritage and represent their community.
Cell Phone from Sept. 11
Smithsonian Snapshot

9/11 Cell Phone

This cell phone helped save a life.
Elkhorn coral sits in vivid blue ocean water.
Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

Spawning Hope

Smithsonian scientists and partners invented the processes and tools for cryopreserving corals. Now, more than 37 species are conserved.
Painting of a farm with a large white house and barns. There is a group of people on the grass near a road.
Smithsonian Story

Grandma Moses Started Painting at Age 77

Born September 7, 1860, the self-taught artist painted nostalgic scenes inspired by her rural past.
Man leaning over to look at a clear cube
Smithsonian Story

How Do You Take Care of an Artwork That’s Full of Water?

Hirshhorn conservators keep the fungus out of Hans Haacke's "Condensation Cube."
A group stands at a large balloon. A couple is in the basket, with another man standing above them.
Smithsonian Story

19th-century Balloon Weddings

When flight was a novelty, these “destination weddings” became quite the spectacle.
Steinberg Dog
Smithsonian Snapshot

A Whimsical, Thinking Pup

Possibly thinking about the Smithsonian’s birthday…?
agouti on a road
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Roadkill: Understanding Wildlife Vulnerability to Road Networks

During three years, scientist Dumas Gálvez drove along a road parallel to a rainforest looking out for dead vertebrates.
Arts and Industries Building
Smithsonian Story

How the Arts and Industries Building Shaped the Smithsonian’s Future

Many museums started in a place built to explore big ideas.
Three giraffe sculptures in many bright colors
Smithsonian Story

Art Made from Ocean Debris

These giraffes are made from flip-flops washed up on the Kenyan coast.
Captain Video Game
Smithsonian Snapshot

A Game Takes Spaceflight

“Captain Video” was based on the first TV show to feature spaceflight.
Poster with the Olympic rings and text: "Montreal 1976"
Smithsonian Story

Go for the Gold

While you watch the Tokyo Games, explore Olympic history collections from across the Smithsonian.
Megalodon with its moth open, showing many sharp teeth
Smithsonian Story

Shark Week

Take a bite out of these species from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.
Red jellyfish
Smithsonian Snapshot

Seeing Red

This jellyfish hides in plain sight.
Two outfits of red, white and blue clothes featuring the word Vote.
Smithsonian Story

These Groovy Duds Encouraged Young People To Vote

The 26th Amendment lowered the voting age to 18 on July 1, 1971.
A black-and-white photograph of Frederick Douglass wearing a jacket, waistcoat, and bowtie.
National Museum of African American History and Culture

"What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?"

On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass asked this question in a keynote address at an Independence Day celebration.
3 pictures of sleeping cats saying going going gone
Smithsonian Snapshot

A 19th-Century Cat Nap

People have enjoyed cute cat photos long before the advent of the internet.
Glass sculpture of a blue hermit crab emerging from a brown and white striped shell.
Smithsonian Story

It Would Be Shellfish Not to Share These Hermit Crab Facts

This glass hermit crab is blue, which might mean it’s freshly molted.
Group of people holding a rainbow-striped banner across a city street. There is a parade behind them.
Smithsonian Story

Marsha Johnson, Sylvia Rivera, and the History of Pride Month

The first Pride parades marked the anniversary of the Stonewall uprising.
Miscellaneous objects from the museum’s collection that feature rainbows
National Museum of American History

Reading the Rainbow: The Origins of the Pride Symbol

Where did the “pride” flag come from? Learn about this colorful, often-changing symbol.
A 1919 penny. Its face is partially melted.
Smithsonian Story

A Penny Charred in the Tulsa Race Massacre

This object is from the deadliest racial massacre in U.S. history. For nearly a century, the story was rarely told.
Anderson's camera captured moments large and small within Tulsa's African American community.
National Museum of American History

Black Wall Street on Film: A Story of Revival and Renewal

Reverend Harold Anderson's film documents everyday life in the Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, Oklahoma, during the late 1940s and early 1950s. 
cicada on a leaf
Smithsonian's National Zoo

17-year Cicadas: Bird Buffet or Big Disturbance?

Animal keepers are gearing up to keep an extra close eye on their charges.

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