U.S. History

Scientists have for the first time identified the four people buried in Jamestown's first church. They are (from left) minister Robert Hunt, Sir Ferdinando Wainman, Captain Gabriel Archer and Captain William West.

New Jamestown Discovery Reveals the Identities of Four Prominent Settlers

The findings by Smithsonian scientists dig up the dynamics of daily life in the first permanent British settlement in the colonies

Visit D.C.'s Best Off-the-Beaten-Path Historic Homes and Gardens

History, nature and culture combine at these fascinating estates and gardens in our nation's capital

The National Museum of American History in its new exhibition "American Enterprise," displays a prime example of Stephen Burrough's art—a $1 certificate on the Union Bank of Boston, dated 1807, signed by Burroughs as cashier, and later stamped COUNTERFEIT.

The Entertaining Saga of the Worst Crook in Colonial America

Stephen Burroughs was a thief, a counterfeiter and a convicted criminal. A rare piece of his fake currency is in the collections

Smithsonian Takes a Giant Step with Its First Kickstarter Campaign to Fund the Conservation of Neil Armstrong's Spacesuit

On the 46th anniversary of the historic moonwalk, the spacesuit that made it possible is headed to the conservation lab

The Evolution of Money, From Feathers to Credit Cards

Coin collectors, and trinket lovers welcome back the National Numismatic Collections to its splendid new gallery at the American History Museum

Today, where the concept of “disruption” has become so popular in business, those developing apps and new startups can look to the Singer Sewing Machine as one of the original disruptive technologies.

How Singer Won the Sewing Machine War

The Singer Sewing Machine changed the way America manufactured textiles, but the invention itself was less important than the company’s innovative business

One series of photographs in particular is exciting for the unique perspective. It was taken from an angle no one had seen before. “In his camera lens you can see the back of Clarence Darrow, and you can see the face of William Jennings Bryan,” historian Marcel Chotkowski LaFollette says.

The Scopes Trial Redefined Science Journalism and Shaped It to What It Is Today

Ninety years ago a Tennessee man stood trial for teaching evolution, a Smithsonian archives collection offers a glimpse into the rich backstory

Entrance to the new "American Enterprise" exhibition at the National Museum of American History.

How Curators Wrestled With the Complex Story of American Business

The broad and sometimes difficult history of business in the U.S., its rogues, heros, successes and failures, is the dynamic story in a new exhibition

Ornamental weathervanes once adorned the cupolas of the stand-alone Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants, hinting at a bygone folk era and forecasting the multi-directional dominance of its corporate future.

How Colonel Sanders Made Kentucky Fried Chicken an American Success Story

A weathervane from the Smithsonian collections is emblematic of Harland Sanders’s decades-long pursuit to make his chicken finger-lickin' good

The Thomas Jefferson original granite base and obelisk is now complete with a Smithsonian-made reproduction of the marble plaque and on view at the University of Missouri.

Urban Explorations

Bringing Thomas Jefferson's Battered Tombstone Back to Life

The founding father's fragile grave marker has survived for centuries, enduring souveniring, a fire and errant repairs

From the Italian version of The Great Moon Hoax. Leopoldo Galluzzo, Altre scoverte fatte nella luna dal Sigr. Herschel (Other lunar discoveries from Signor Herschel), Napoli, 1836

Urban Explorations

The Great Moon Hoax Was Simply a Sign of Its Time

Scientific discoveries and faraway voyages inspired fantastic tales—and a new Smithsonian exhibition

Past and Presence: The Power of Photographs

The shattering nature of violence. The resilience of the human spirit. The power of photographs. A Smithsonian special project

Harper's Ferry, West Virginia (top) and Chickamauga, Georgia (bottom) were the sites of two Civil War battles.

Past and Presence

A Photographic Requiem for America's Civil War Battlefields

Walking far-flung battlefields to picture the nation's defining tragedy in a modern light

Lee's Maycomb, indelibly evoked in the novel that sells a million copies annually, endures in the small-town reality of Monroeville.

What's Changed, and What Hasn't, in the Town That Inspired 'To Kill a Mockingbird'

Traveling back in time to visit Harper Lee's hometown, the setting of her 1960 masterpiece and the controversial sequel hitting bookstores soon

In Ferguson, Missouri, a protester holds a rose during an August demonstration on W. Florissant Avenue, which intersects with Canfield Drive—the street where Michael Brown was killed.

Past and Presence

Photos From the Heart of the Ferguson Protests

The events sparked by the killing of young Michael Brown gave rise to a new civil rights movement that's still growing

Introduced in 1946, frozen orange juice concentrate was quickly adopted by consumers who welcomed its time-saving convenience.

What Makes the Orange Juice Can Worthy of Display in a Museum

A new exhibition explains why the everyday objects of today and the recent past are so important to understanding who we are

Smithsonian Channel

The Roller Coaster Was Invented to Save America From Satan

In the 1880s, LaMarcus Thompson was troubled by America's slide into hedonism and immorality. Out of that concern, we got the roller coaster

How to Avoid Your Neighbors

J.S. Lovering Wharton built this house on a rock off the coast of Rhode Island because, as legend has it, he wanted a place where no one could bother him

A ward in Carver Hospital in Washington, D.C., during the Civil War. One key innovation during this period was the division of hospitals into wards based on disease.

Six Ways the Civil War Changed American Medicine

150 years ago, the historic conflict forced doctors to get creative and to reframe the way they thought about medicine

A Horrific Tragedy at Frank Lloyd Wright's Home

One of Frank Lloyd Wright's most beloved properties, Taliesin, was inspired by Wisconsin's natural beauty. But its history is mired in tragedy

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