Description: [edan-image:id=siris_sic_14760,size=200,left] On July 1, 2016, the current National Air and Space Museum (NASM) building, covered with a Tenessee pink marble façade and recessed glass bays, celebrated its 40th anniversary. For this, NASM reopened its central exhibition, the Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall, and hosted various events including greetings from Mars and from
Description: [edan-image:id=siris_arc_383399,size=180,right]Vicarious research is one of the great joys of the reference desk at the Smithsonian Institution Archives. From our front-row (well, only-row) seat outside the reading room, we catch tantalizing glimpses of our patrons’ manifold research topics.The reference team fields around 6,000 queries per year. Ask us what people have been
Description: Note: This blog post borrows heavily from the article, “Shooting Fireworks: Capture the Spectacle,” from former Smithsonian employee, Jim Wallace (originally published on the Smithsonian staff photographer’s website in 1995), with valuable additions from Ken Rahaim. The 4th of July is coming up next week, promising picnics, gatherings, and of course, fireworks. You may have
Description: [edan-image:id=siris_sic_9592,size=200,left]Did you know the Smithsonian was an early adopter of the telephone? In June of 1878, a system of electronic bells and telephones was installed throughout the Smithsonian Castle. The system connected several workrooms and offices to provide instant communications within the building. At that time, there were only 187 telephone lines
Description: The 1846 legislation that established the Smithsonian Institution provided for a Secretary, appointed by the Board of Regents, who would run the day-to-day affairs of the Institution. When David Skorton became Secretary last year, he was the thirteenth person to take on that responsibility. In our last blog, we discussed the first six and now we’ll look at seven through
Description: Today is officially the first day of winter (though that may be hard to believe with all of the chilly weather we’ve been having across the U.S.), and so we thought it would be a wonderful time to highlight our most recent addition to the Flickr Commons: a “Winter Wonderland” set.
Description: You don’t have to go to the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia to learn about ice dancing. Check out the Smithsonian ice dancers who used the sport as a great way to unwind and stay warm in the winter.