Description: When James Smithson claimed in his will that “the best blood of England” ran through his veins, he was referring primarily to his family connection to the medieval Hungerfords.1 The Hungerfords were royal companions and powerful politicians in their heyday, and this good fortune managed to endure for centuries before dwindling away. Their family estates, passed down in some
Description: Halloween is over, but you can prepare for next year’s festivities with these costume ideas from the Archives of American Art. [via Smithsonian Magazine]The National Zoo’s naked mole-rat colony is still in anarchy! [via DCist]See sixty of this year’s top wildlife photographs submitted to the Windland Smith Rice Awards either online or in person at the National Museum of
Description: Smokey Bear, the character, was created by the Forest Service in August 1944 as the lead symbol in its Wildfire Prevention Campaign. However, there was also a real, living Smokey Bear, himself the victim of a forest fire as a young cub. Smokey was born in 1950 in the Lincoln National Forest in New Mexico, where he was found badly burned. Despite the odds for survival, he was