The Best Books About the Apollo Program and Landing on the Moon | Science
Failure Is Not an Option: Mission Control From Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond While the astronauts flew in space, Mission Control closely monitored from
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When Ancient DNA Gets Politicized | History
With a string of three tweets, ten ancient skeletons became geopolitical pawns. Last weekend, Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, or whoever in his administration
Apollo Engineers Discuss What It Took to Land on the Moon | Science
After the 1972 conclusion of the Apollo program, a group of about 30 NASA thoughtleaders sequestered themselves for a few days on Caltech’s sunny campus.
While NASA Was Landing on the Moon, Many African-Americans Sought Economic Justice Instead | History
In anticipation of astronaut Neil Armstrong’s first step on the moon, an estimated 8,000 New Yorkers gathered in Central Park, eager to celebrate the moment.
Why Don’t People Smile in Old Photographs? And More Questions From Our Readers | At the Smithsonian
Q: Why don’t people smile in old photographs? — Art Ross | Kingwood, Texas Although we tend to think the subjects had to hold their
The Great Game and the Boundaries of Afghanistan
Letts’s bird’s eye view of the approaches to India. Map by W.H. Payne, Published by Letts, Son & Co. 19–. Geography and Map Division. Letts’s
The Delicious, Ancient History of Chocolate and Vanilla | History
Of all the great debates—Coke versus Pepsi, boxers versus briefs, shaken versus stirred—few have been more polarizing than chocolate versus vanilla. Those of us aligned
Two Tour Guides—One Israeli, One Palestinian—Offer a New Way to See the Holy Land | History
In the fierce morning light of Caesarea, we hike down the beach, following the line of a ruined aqueduct that dates from the era of
How a Voyage to French Polynesia Set Herman Melville on the Course to Write ‘Moby-Dick’ | Arts & Culture
1 This is the tale of a man who fled from desperate confinement, whirled into Polynesian dreamlands on a plank, sailed back to “civilization,” and
When 6-Year-Olds Chose Jury Candidates | History
Following the advent of the American court system and continuing into the 20th century, many jurisdictions needed a way to select candidates for a jury
In Case You Missed It: Spring 2019 Event Webcasts
Authors Tananarive Due, N.K. Jemisin, and poet Airea D. Matthews discuss the origins and extensions of Afrofuturism in a discussion moderated by Sheree Renée Thomas,
When Twister Was Too Risqué for America | Innovation
The original box for the game Twister was jarring in its conservatism. Although the game was marketed mostly to kids and teens, emblazoned across the
A Brief History of Smokey Bear, the Forest Service’s Legendary Mascot | History
Last year, the deadliest wildfire season in history swept across the western United States and parts of western Canada. In California alone, more than 8,000
Danny Thompson’s Blazing Nitromethane-Fueled Pursuit of Racing Glory | History
In the middle of the course, over that flying mile, Mickey Thompson’s speed was about equal to the muzzle velocity of a bullet fired from
From the Family Station Wagon to the Apollo Lunar Rover, My Dad’s Engineering Talent Had No Limits | Innovation
The lunar rover may not have roamed the moon’s surface on the day Apollo 11 made history, but its design had already crystallized by the
A Lost Work by Langston Hughes Examines the Harsh Life on the Chain Gang | Arts & Culture
It’s not every day that you come across an extraordinary unknown work by one of the nation’s greatest writers. But buried in an unrelated archive
How the Camera Introduced Americans to Their Heroines | At the Smithsonian
SMITHSONIAN.COM | July 9, 2019, 9 a.m. Prior to the advent of photography, the main method of preserving one’s likeness was posing for a painting
Two Tour Guides—One Israeli, One Palestinian—Offer a New Way to See the Holy Land | Travel
In the fierce morning light of Caesarea, we hike down the beach, following the line of a ruined aqueduct that dates from the era of
Is It Possible to Fry an Egg on the Sidewalk? | Science
Every Fourth of July, Americans release fireworks across the night sky—and, to a lesser extent, eggs across the nation’s sidewalks. National Fry an Egg on
Ancient DNA Sheds New Light on the Biblical Philistines | Science
Sometime in the 12th century B.C., a family in the ancient port city of Ashkelon, in what is today Israel, mourned the loss of a