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Breakfast at the Zoo and 25 Other Things to Do at the Smithsonian in September

Breakfast at the Zoo and 25 Other Things to Do at the Smithsonian in September

A vintage illustration of a wide-eyed housewife with a waffle in a waffle iron, 1946.

A Brief History of the Waffle Iron

Cornelius Swartwout’s invention, patented more than 150 years ago, helped feed America’s passion for waffles

At the height of the book scare, news outlets reported that dust from library books could spread infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, smallpox and scarlet fever.

When the Public Feared That Library Books Could Spread Deadly Diseases

"The great book scare" created a panic that you could catch an infection just by lending from the library

The Valley of the Names is located in an isolated patch of desert in Southern California.

This Desert Is Covered in Rock Graffiti

Just remember: You can look but don’t touch, and here’s why

The sculptor Edmonia Lewis (above: by Henry Rocher, c. 1870), “really broke through every obstacle," says the Smithsonian's Karen Lemmey.

Women Who Shaped History

Sculptor Edmonia Lewis Shattered Gender and Race Expectations in 19th-Century America

As the orphaned child of a black father and a Native-American mother, Lewis rewrote the 19th-century definition of sculptor

Twain, pictured in 1902, was an eager reader of fiction, verse and non-fiction alike.

How to Read Like Mark Twain

Step one: Pretend you don't like books

19th-century engraving depicting the Santa María, the ship used by Christopher Columbus.

Why Spain Is Seeking to Catalog All of Its Historic Shipwrecks

A deep dive into the archives yields hundreds of long-forgotten journeys

Samples of trinitite from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

A Chunk of Trinitite Reminds Us of the Sheer, Devastating Power of the Atomic Bomb

Within the Smithsonian's collections exists a telltale trace of the weapon that would change the world forever

The mysterious skeleton emerged from Lake Mungo, a dry lakebed in Australia marked by sand drifts.

A 42,000-Year-Old Man Finally Goes Home

At long last, the remains of Mungo Man are at rest after an agonizing clash between modern science and an ancient spirituality

"The paint went all over, and of course some of it went off the canvas," the photographer says of Pollock's technique, re-enacted here in his studio.

Dramatic New Photographs Recreate Scenes of Artists at Work

Adrien Broom's series brings vitality to how we think about the likes of Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner or Mark Twain

The jumping that you see in cute goat videos online is a natural behavior.

Ask Smithsonian

Do Goats Really Love to Jump? And More Questions From Our Readers

You've got questions, we've got experts

Americans who distrusted their Catholic, French-speaking neighbors burned the Old South Church in Bath, Maine.

When an Influx of French-Canadian Immigrants Struck Fear Into Americans

In the late 19th century, they came to work in New England cotton mills, but the <i>New York Times</i>, among others, saw something more sinister

Brain donation is of critical importance for scientists' understanding of brain disorders.

Inside a Brain Bank, Where Humans' Most Precious Organ Is Dissected and Studied

Unlike organ transplants, brains are used primarily to support research of some of the most widespread and debilitating diseases in the world

Stephanie Kwolek's initial ambition was not to be chemist at all.

You Can Thank Chemist Stephanie Kwolek for Bulletproof Vests and Yoga Pants

The long-serving researcher at DuPont invented kevlar and contributed to spandex

The phrase "American as apple pie" came to fruition for a reason.

Why Americans Love Their Apple Pie

How did a humble dessert become a recipe for democracy?

Over the past 13 years, The Great Salt Lick Contest in Oregon has raised more than $150,000 for charity.

Who Says Horses and Cows Can't Be Artists?

The sculptures on display at the Great Salt Lick Contest in Oregon are the work of cattle, horses, sheep and deer

A view of the Sea of Cortez from an unnamed barrier island in Baja California.

John Steinbeck's Epic Ocean Voyage Rewrote the Rules of Ecology

A legendary writer, a quirky biologist and their jolly adventure in the Sea of Cortez

In a fit of pique, according to one of Aesop's fables, the god Hermes made the animal carry its house forever on its back.

How the Turtle Got Its Shell, With Apologies to Aesop

Smithsonian paleontologist Hans Sues unpacks the complicated evolution of how this creature grew a home upon its back

A natural color view of Titan and Saturn taken by NASA's Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on May 6, 2012, at a distance of approximately 483,000 miles (778,000 kilometers) from Titan.

Dragonfly Spacecraft to Scour the Sands of Titan for the Chemistry of Life

The NASA rotorcraft, resembling a large quadcopter drone, will fly through the orange clouds of the ocean moon in the outer solar system

In the image captured by Cassini, the rings are illuminated both by direct sunlight and by light reflected off Saturn's cloud tops.

Saturn Could Lose Its Rings in Less Than 100 Million Years

Recent discoveries suggest that the planet's distinctive feature may be gone in the cosmic blink of an eye

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