Did you know our greatest museum was funded by and named for an Englishman who never set foot in the United States? Read up on the origins of the Smithsonian and how it was born in our nation's capital.

In 1958, President Eisenhower approved plans for a National Air Museum. See some of the fascinating and beautiful designs that didn't make it.

This great old photo shows the Arts and Industries Building on the Mall under construction in 1879. And below we found an interesting 1878 rendering of what the building should look like. And finally, here’s a photo of the building after being completed.

What a lovely old photo of the Smithsonian Castle in 1856. Click on it for incredible details.

What a fascinating old drawing from 1846. This is the proposed design for the Smithsonian Castle, Source: Smithsonian Archives

What an awesome photo from the Civil War era. You’re looking up what is Independence Ave. today. Source: Smithsonian Archives

What a beautiful view of the Mall from the Smithsonian. This was taken in the early 20th century. Source: Library of Congress

What an incredible 360-degree panorama of Washington from 1886. This image was taken from the top of the Smithsonian Castle. Don't miss it!

Now this is a really super old photo of Washington from around 1857. Click on it for a much larger version to study it. I believe this is a view looking southeast, and the Washington Monument would be just out of the frame on the right. Correct me if I’m mistaken. Also, you should be […]

This is a beautiful painting done by Jex Garnet Garnet Jex in 1936. Source: Smithsonian

We are loving the Smithsonian Archives! This is a great one from 1874.

This is a view from the top of the Washington Monument, sometime late in 1940s. You’ll see old temporary buildings occupying the current site of the Museum of American History.

This is an old photograph we dug up on the Smithsonian’s Flickr feed. It shows a crowd of people near the entrance to the Arts and Industries Building, around 1905.

Thank you Shorpy for an amazing photograph. This appears to be a photo we haven’t yet seen.

Wow, check out this amazing view. We dug up this gem on the Library of Congress site. The full caption is below. West-southwest view with Maryland Ave. SW and B Street SW (i.e., Independence Ave. SW) to the left, Maine Ave., 3rd, 4 1/2, and 6th streets SW to the center; view includes The Mall, […]

Workers were digging a sewer trench beneath a Capitol Hill street in 1898.  They came upon a few fossil fragments — among them, a 6-inch bone that now represents the largest piece of the District’s controversial “official dinosaur,” the Capitalsaurus. The contractor on that sewer project, J. K. Murphy, presented his workers’ discovery to Smithsonian scientists on […]

Here’s a photograph from 1890 which shows Dr. Daniel H. Riggs of Howard University posing next to his carriage near the Smithsonian. In 1893, the doctor was the defendant in a malpractice lawsuit. The Post reported on the suit on October 13th. A case of interest to physicians and surgeons is that of Harry B. […]

We are a great nation and Americans in the 1880s were proud of their rapidly growing and dominant country. But how can you truly be a great nation without a national zoo to show off all the wonderful creatures that roam your lands, as well as those of foreign lands? Not only that, how will […]

This is a guest post by Aaron. Art fans will focus Thursday night on the outer walls of the Hirshhorn Museum.  Eleven video projectors will paint the Smithsonian’s modern and contemporary ring with 360 degrees of a looping film called, “SONG 1.”  The Hirshhorn’s exterior will become exhibition space as artist Doug Aitken transforms the circumference […]

Can you imagine a more terrifying death? This woman met her end by climbing into the lion enclosure at the National Zoo. True story.