Smithsonian Stories

Not only are they real, narwhals are central to the Inuit people native to Greenland, Alaska, and Canada.

Parasites are facing major extinctions, and museum natural history collections hold the key to research.

Hirshhorn visitors fill Yoko Ono’s work with intimacy and intensity.

Like mosquitoes, treehoppers and their close relatives, leafhoppers, spread diseases, sometimes deadly, to their hosts.

Pass the syrup and enjoy a slice of history for National Waffle Day.

The dog days of summer would be a bit cooler for puppies if they could be unleashed to fly around the neighborhood.

Mario Moreno, professionally known as Cantinflas, was an iconic Mexican film actor, producer and writer.

Among the hunter-gatherers of sub-Saharan Africa known as the Khoisan, a myth has been passed on for generations.

A tiny invasive insect from Asia might have an effect on Chesapeake Bay waters.

Artists depict the realities of war.

Scientists may now be able to explain why the Sun’s magnetic field reverses every eleven years.

Psychedelic posters capture the essence of an era.

Scientists determine the world’s most indestructible species will survive until the Sun dies.

¡Azúcar! Remembering the Queen of Salsa.

Learn the story of the thousands of unaccompanied children who were sent from Cuba to Miami in the early 1960s.

In 1966, Life magazine sent photographer John Loengard to document a day in the life of artist Georgia O’Keeffe.

An elite team of wool experts, scientists, and conservators ensures the flag is "still there."

Urban landscapes and the possibilities of revitalization.

A very, very rare squirrel.

Learn about creative, alternative approaches to confronting textile waste.

The hand gesture known as devil horns, or rock horns, gained popularity at 1970s heavy-metal concerts as a staple of audience appreciation.

By examining an 800-year-old piece of resin or tree sap, a Smithsonian scientist is helping reconstruct ancient sea trading routes and human uses of plants.

How the Hopewell came by enough near-pure iron to produce a handful of exotic beads, small tools, and other decorations.

At $1,500 per pound, ivory ranks fourth in black-market traded items, behind illegal drugs, weapons, and humans.