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History / Video

Preview thumbnail for The Books of Thomas Jeffersons Library

The Books of Thomas Jeffersons Library

Jeffersons respect for the enlightenment ideals of memory, reason and imagination shaped how he organized his library (Video: Molly Roberts). Read more at https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/on-the-hunt-for-jeffersons-lost-books-38566672/

Preview thumbnail for Visiting Lafcadio Hearns Japan

Visiting Lafcadio Hearns Japan

The temples and scenery of Japans San-in coast are as captivating now as they were when Lafcadio Hearn wrote about them in the 19th century (Produced by: Brendan McCabe; Narration …

Preview thumbnail for FDR: The Stamp Collector in Chief

FDR: The Stamp Collector in Chief

Read more about FDR at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/From-the-Castle-FDRs-Stamps.html A stamp collector since childhood, Franklin Roosevelt designed postage stamps to help promote his presidential agenda.

Preview thumbnail for Cooking with Julia Child

Cooking with Julia Child

Through her television shows, Julia Child shared her love for culinary arts with the world.

Preview thumbnail for Tour Through Inaugurations Past

Tour Through Inaugurations Past

Read more at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Inauguration-2009.html Two curators from the American History Museum show the highlights of the archives of inauguration relics.

Preview thumbnail for American History Museum Transformed

American History Museum Transformed

A step-by-step tour of the renovation of the National Museum of American History (Narration by Beth Py-Lieberman / Edited by Ryan Reed and Brian Wolly)

Preview thumbnail for You Have V-Mail

You Have V-Mail

Victory Mail allowed servicemen during World War II to transmit letters to their loved ones back home quickly and easily (National Postal Museum). Read more at https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/before-email-there-was-v-mail-1-180949023/

Preview thumbnail for The Hall of Presidents

The Hall of Presidents

Senior historian Sid Hart discusses the highlights of the National Portrait Gallerys Hall of Presidents. (Filmed and Edited by Ryan Reed / Produced by Beth Py-Lieberman, Megan Gambino and Jesse …

Preview thumbnail for Portrait Gallery Exit Poll

Portrait Gallery Exit Poll

Visitors to the National Portrait Gallery share their presidential thoughts on the eve of Election Day (Video by Ryan Reed / Edited by Ryan Reed and Jesse Rhodes / Interviews …

Preview thumbnail for Puerto Rican Propaganda-Dramas

Puerto Rican Propaganda-Dramas

The Puerto Rican governments Division of Community Education (Divedco) enlisted famous artists to make poster art and short films regarding social issues

Preview thumbnail for Counting Down for the Liftoff to the Moon

Counting Down for the Liftoff to the Moon

Photographer David Burnett focused his camera on the many tourists who flocked to Florida in 1969 to watch the launch of Apollo 11 (Produced by Molly Roberts; Photographs by David …

Preview thumbnail for Home Movies of the Patton Family

Home Movies of the Patton Family

The grandson of Gen. George S. Patton shares his family’s home movies

Preview thumbnail for Sea Stallion from Glendalough

Sea Stallion from Glendalough

Watch a video about the Viking ship replicas construction and first voyage

Preview thumbnail for The Mark Test

The Mark Test

The researchers place a white “X” on one side of Happy’s head. When Happy sees the “X” in the mirror, she repeatedly touches the mark with her trunk

Preview thumbnail for In the Footsteps of Lincoln's Assassin

In the Footsteps of Lincoln’s Assassin

Tom Cavanagh, host of Smithsonian Channel’s award winning series “Stories from the Vaults,” joins Civil War historian Ed Bearss to retrace John Wilkes Booth’s steps in the days surrounding his …

Preview thumbnail for Three Years After "We Will Bury You," Nikita Khrushchev Tours America

Three Years After “We Will Bury You,” Nikita Khrushchev Tours America

Read more at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Nikita-in-Hollywood.html As part of a diplomatic mission, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev traveled across the United States, meeting Americans from New York to Iowa to California.

Preview thumbnail for A Navy Plebe Re-Meets His Match

A Navy Plebe Re-Meets His Match

Photojournalist Lucian Perkins reunites Naval Academy graduates Sandee Irwin and Don Holcomb, 30 years after his photo captured the new gender dynamics at the school (Photography Interview and Production by …

Preview thumbnail for Biodiversity Decline

Biodiversity Decline

Fifty years ago, the Amazon comprised 14 percent of the Earth’s surface. Now, it covers just 6 percent.

Preview thumbnail for Charles Babbage's Difference Machine No. 2

Charles Babbage’s Difference Machine No. 2

The first computer is thought to be the invention of a 19th century mathematician

Preview thumbnail for Constructing the Guggenheim

Constructing the Guggenheim

Videos from the 1950s show architect Frank Lloyd Wright at the site of the Guggenheim Museum

Preview thumbnail for The Historic Neighborhoods of Buenos Aires

The Historic Neighborhoods of Buenos Aires

Take in the sights and sounds of the European influences of Argentina’s capital city (Produced by: Brendan McCabe). Read more at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/daniel-politi-on-hola-buenos-aires-138874294/

Preview thumbnail for Restaging the Greensboro Counter Sit-in

Restaging the Greensboro Counter Sit-in

Learn how to stage a sit-in right next to the Greensboro lunch counter, the location of one of the civil rights movement’s most famous protests (Video by: Katy June-Friesen). Read …

Preview thumbnail for Uncovering the Terra Cotta Soldiers

Uncovering the Terra Cotta Soldiers

A curator from the Houston Museum of Natural Science explains how the terra cotta warriors were discovered and what they reveal about China’s Qin dynasty

Preview thumbnail for Underwater Archaeology in Pensacola Bay

Underwater Archaeology in Pensacola Bay

Researchers from the University of West Florida are slowly uncovering the remains of a 16th-century shipwreck of a Spanish galleon in the shallow, murky waters near Pensacola

Preview thumbnail for The John Marshall Ju/'hoan Bushman Film and Video Collection, 1950-2000

The John Marshall Ju/’hoan Bushman Film and Video Collection, 1950-2000

Watch a selection from the Smithsonian Institution’s submission for the UNESCO Memory of the World Register of historic artifacts

Preview thumbnail for Rome Reborn

Rome Reborn

Fly through, and over, ancient Rome’s winding streets, broad plazas, forums—even its most famous monuments

Preview thumbnail for Recovering the Hunley

Recovering the Hunley

New technologies helped marine archaeologists recover the H.L. Hunley, a Civil War submarine

Preview thumbnail for A Final Takeoff

A Final Takeoff

Watch one of Amelia Earhart’s final takeoffs, July 2, 1937

Preview thumbnail for Presidential Shocker

Presidential Shocker

See President Johnson withdraw from the 1968 race

Preview thumbnail for Cat and Mouse

Cat and Mouse

Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets, thought in images, as this clip from his early 1960s piece “Cat and Mouse” exemplifies. Henson’s prolific mind is celebrated in the new Smithsonian …

Preview thumbnail for A Taste of Tradition

A Taste of Tradition

Learn about the history of wild rice and the Ojibwa

Preview thumbnail for About Face

About Face

Anna Coleman Ladd fits soldiers for masks in her studio

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