Smithsonian Stories

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

John Coltrane's Saxophone

John Coltrane's Saxophone
“Fireworks at Ike-no-Hata” by Kobayashi Kiyochika (Meiji era, 1881)

Kiyochika
Jimi Hendrix by Linda McCartney

American Cool: Jimi Hendrix, 1967
breakfast table

Our America: "Breakfast Tacos"
Inline skate, 1823

Inline Skate, 1823
“Los Reyes Magos,” attributed to Hipolito Marte Martinez
Smithsonian Snapshot

Happy Three Kings Day!

A festive tradition in Spain, Puerto Rico, and many Latin American countries, Three Kings Day commemorates the arrival of the three kings in Bethlehem.
Rabies vaccine kit with small vials
National Museum of American History

Surviving Rabies 100 Years Ago

Learn how four boys from Newark, New Jersey, became a media sensation and vaccination "heroes."
small furry mammal
Smithsonian Story

Olinguito Discovery

This mysterious creature that has been a victim of mistaken identity for more than 100 years.
Ladybugs on girl's hands

Beneficial Ladybugs

Ladybugs take a detour on their way to help Smithsonian gardens grow
Puli dog sculpture

Puli Dog Sculpture
Microwave Oven, 1976
Smithsonian Snapshot

Microwave Oven

Percy Spencer invented the microwave oven after discovering microwaves generate heat.
Coelacanth

Coelacanth

The first living coelacanth was discovered in 1938 off the coast of South Africa.
X-rayed Spacesuit

X-rayed Spacesuit
postcard
National Museum of American History

You Asked, We Answered: Why Do We Celebrate Memorial Day?

A Civil War military history researcher explains where Memorial Day celebrations came from.
Skylab
Smithsonian Snapshot

Skylab
facial reconstruction of woman
Smithsonian Story

Survival Cannibalism in Historic Jamestown

Findings answer a long-standing questions about the deadly winter of 1609–1610 known as the “starving time.”
Kudzu covered forest
Smithsonian Story

Escape of the Invasives

Learn about six common invasive plants and get suggestions for native stand-ins to plant instead.
A polar bear on an ice floe
Smithsonian Story

Polar Bears in a Warming World

A Smithsonian expert answers a few questions about rising temperatures and the future for polar bears.
Odori Hitori Geiko (Dance Instruction Manual)

Odori Hitori Geiko (Dance Instruction Manual)
red ticket booth

Yankee Stadium Ticket Booth

This 1923 ticket booth was in the original Yankee Stadium.
Postcard from Woman Suffrage Parade, 1913

Postcard From a Woman Suffrage Parade

The parade kept woman suffrage in the newspapers for weeks.
Victorian Parlor Collage

Victorian Parlor Collage

Designing family life.
Greensboro Lunch Counter, 1960

Greensboro Lunch Counter

A watershed event in 1960.
mosquito in amber
Smithsonian Story

Prehistoric Mosquitoes Discovered

Two new mosquito species discovered in Eocene deposits from northwestern Montana.

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