The story behind two mysterious signs in the Smithsonian's collection complicates the provenance of the invention.
For nine days only, the National Museum of American History will display objects saved from 9/11 in an intimate and powerful way
More than 2,000 images and several cameras, each with a unique story, were collected for the Smithsonian from 25 photographers
Just as the Civil War was the first big event covered by the new medium of photography, September 11 was shot digitally
The watch case shows signs of wear, an indicator that Dr. O'Farrell wore it and consulted it, perhaps to measure a patient's pulse
While searching for the catalog numbers for mining lamps, a collection manager discovered an impressive photo archive shot in 1884
Using near-IR spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and micro-X-ray fluorescence to learn about the document
What is it about a particular place that excites a creative mind? How do creative people shape the spaces in which they spend their days?
The syndicated public affairs television program helped to create a popular ideology of modern American building and architecture
How the Smithsonian turned a huge collection of squeezes -- the largest outside of Iran and Iraq -- into an easy-to-use Web resource
The Perlov family spent decades traveling the world to collect celluloid before offering all 7,000-plus pieces to the Smithsonian
"Our story begins on the morning of Friday, May 5th, 1961, at 34 minutes past the hour of ten, at Cape Canaveral in the state of Florida"
Magellan T. Bear flew into space as an education specialist aboard Space Shuttle Discovery on the STS-63 mission in February 1995
Magazines and companies relied on the language of science fiction to sell new flowers, many created using methods from the form
Brown's prolific output was enabled by this portable machine on which he dictated five of his books published between 1999 and 2005
While cultural and ethnographic film had been shot using other gauges, Super 8 quickly became the preferred stock after its release
Before Captain Kirk, Han Solo or Buzz Lightyear, there was Buck Rogers in the 25th century with his fluted, flamboyant U-235
To address the rising concerns with cost as the Great Depression loomed, Eastman Kodak introduced 8mm film in 1932
In preparation for an upcoming event, the Smithsonian walks us through saponification, the chemical process of creating soap
It is a measure of the potential and newness of this technology that the public knows of it mainly through science fiction and films
