Smithsonian Institution

🎶 Bidi bidi bom bom 🎶 Known as the Queen of Tejano music, Selena Quintanilla-Pérez and her band, Los Dinos, introduced the South Texas sounds of Tejano music, fused with cumbia and pop, to new audiences across the United States. With her signature bold red lip and rhinestone-studded bustiers, Selena’s charm and fashion-forward style solidified the singer as a pop culture icon in the 1990s. She released hits in English and Spanish, appealing to fans on both sides of the border. Selena won her first career GRAMMY for Best Mexican American Album in 1994 for “Selena Live!.” Swipe to see a rare interview with the singer on “Tejano USA,” which aired on San Antonio's KWEX-TV, Channel 41. The tape was discovered in a TV camera donated to our Smithsonian's National Museum of American History by Univision, the station's parent company. -- 🎶 Bidi bidi bom bom 🎶 Conocida como la Reina de la música tejana, Selena Quintanilla-Pérez y su banda, Los Dinos, introdujeron los sonidos del sur de Tejas, fusionados con cumbia y pop, a nuevas audiencias en todo Estados Unidos. Con sus característicos labios rojos intensos y sus corpiños con pedrería, el encanto y el estilo vanguardista de Selena la consolidaron como una figura icónica de la cultura pop en la década de 1990. La cantante lanzó éxitos tanto en inglés como en español, conquistando fans en ambos lados de la frontera. Selena ganó el primer GRAMMY de su carrera en 1994, en la categoría de Mejor Álbum Mexicano-Estadounidense, por “Selena Live!”. Desliza para ver una entrevista exclusiva con la cantante en “Tejano USA”, que se transmitió por KWEX-TV, Canal 41 de San Antonio. La cinta fue encontrada en una cámara de televisión donada a nuestro Museo Nacional de Historia Americana por Univision, la empresa matriz de la cadena. 

We have some positively purr-fect news—the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute's conservation facility in Front Royal, Virginia, welcomed four cheetah cubs in mid-Oct. Get to know them by tuning in to the Cheetah Cub Cam! 🐆 Keepers say the litter is doing well and first-time mom Amabala is doing a great job caring for her babies. The births mark the 20th litter of cheetahs born at the conservation facility since 2010, a huge milestone for this vulnerable species. And to make it even more special, Amabala herself was one of the first cubs to be shown on the Cheetah Cub Cam in 2020!  Watch Amabala and her four cubs as they spend their days growing, playing, and, of course, cuddling. https://lnkd.in/ec-enDP

Updated: On Monday, Nov. 17, all Smithsonian museums, research centers, and the National Zoo will open at their regularly scheduled times. We look forward to seeing you! ✨ Reopened on Friday, Nov. 14 Smithsonian's National Museum of American History National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution and the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center ✨Reopened on Saturday, Nov. 15 Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture Smithsonian National Museum of African Art Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History ✨Reopened on Sunday, Nov. 16 National Portrait Gallery Smithsonian American Art Museum, with the exception of the Renwick Gallery *Archives of American Art’s Lawrence A. Fleischman Gallery (in the same building as National Portrait Gallery and Smithsonian American Art Museum) Smithsonian Gardens Please note, museums will have limited food service offerings. For the latest updates and reopening information, visit si.edu/visit.

The Smithsonian will reopen the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, the National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, and the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center on Friday, Nov. 14. All other museums, research centers, and the National Zoo will reopen on a rolling basis by Monday, Nov. 17. For the latest updates, please see si.edu/visit.

Due to the government shutdown, Smithsonian museums are temporarily closed beginning on Sunday, Oct. 12, along with our research centers and the National Zoo. We will update our operating status as soon as the situation is resolved. We do not plan to update social media other than to inform you of changes to our operating status. While our doors are closed, Smithsonian digital resources continue to be available at si.edu 📷: National Museum of the American Indian

The next time you see a whirlwind of tiny birds overhead, they could be chimney swifts. These small, “cigar-shaped” birds almost exclusively nest inside chimneys across the eastern U.S. Chimney swifts substitute chimneys for the old-growth trees they once relied upon. Each year, they migrate thousands of miles between North and South America, a remarkable journey for such small birds. While a single pair will nest per chimney, hundreds and even thousands of birds gather in communal roosts as they prepare to migrate. In the past 50 years, chimney swift populations have declined by more than 50%, largely due to the lack of suitable nesting habitat. As more chimneys are capped or lined with metal flues, these birds are losing their nesting spaces. Chimney swifts are also valuable members of our ecosystems, helping to keep insect populations in check by eating thousands of flying insects each day. Researchers from Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute’s Virginia Working Landscapes program are studying chimney swift in collaboration with local chimney sweeps to better understand how homeowners and communities can help protect these birds. Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute Videos by Katy Perrault Video Description: Four scenes of birds including close up clips of small brown birds, a whirlwind of small brown birds flying above a building, a small brown bird emerging from a red brick chimney, and an illustration of the interior of a brick chimney. The illustration shows where a bird’s nest would be located within a chimney. Text on screen: Swift nest with eggs, Illustration by Nick Garnhart.

Dare you not to smile! Joy is palpable in these 1940s photographs of Washington, D.C. kids by photographer Frank Jackson. A boy and his pup wear matching soft smiles, a Navy soldier stands proudly with his little brothers, and two besties giggle as they share one pair of roller skates. Jackson was a Rennaissance man. In addition to co-owning a photography studio, he had a 40-year career in the bindery section of the Government Printing Office. Upon retiring from government service, Jackson volunteered to teach photography at D.C.’s Kingman Boys and Girls Club. With all his spare time, Jackson also created crossword puzzles for the Washington Post for 25 years. Jackson was born and raised in the nation’s capital, where he attended Dunbar High School and Miner Teachers College. A resident of Anacostia for nearly seven decades, his work in the collections of our Smithsonian's Anacostia Community Museum offers a glimpse into a bustling, close-knit neighborhood. #AmericanArchivesMonth #DCHistory

John Lennon: Beatles superstar, award-winning songwriter, burgeoning philatelist. 📬 As a boy in Liverpool, England, Lennon was gifted this stamp album by his older cousin. Already showing an aptitude for the arts, he sketched a beard, mustache, and a pipe on the likenesses of a couple of famous monarchs on the album's title page. Lennon, who was born #OnThisDay in 1940, continued to collect and trade stamps for several years. Head to the link in our bio to flip through each page of the musician’s childhood stamp album in the collections of our National Postal Museum. Collections Acquisition Fund purchase

From the desk of Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III: The Smithsonian's collections, programs, and exhibitions help capture, preserve, and share the story of America through its brilliant mosaic of communities. Recently published in USA TODAY, "Our Shared Community: Capturing America's Stories with the Smithsonian" is an activity guide created by our talented educators and colleagues across the nation through our Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service | Smithsonian Affiliations. Now, the guide is available online. https://lnkd.in/epicWaMX With this Smithsonian Education guide, you can explore your own community and many others through games, videos, or virtual exhibition tours. I hope this activity guide helps you better understand your neighborhood, your hometown, and our shared community.

Clear eyes (plus a cute nose), full engine, can't lose. SpaceShipOne sparked a new era of spaceflight when it became the first privately built and piloted vehicle to reach space in 2004. It made its final landing at our National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution 20 years ago this month. Launched from its White Knight mothership, the reusable rocket-powered SpaceShipOne made three record-setting spaceflights. On its final flight—which lasted 24 minutes—test pilot Brian Binnie ascended just beyond the atmosphere, arced through space (but not into orbit), then glided safely back to Earth. Binnie recalled that “the reentry was smooth as butter.” The success of SpaceShipOne inspired the creation of Virgin Galactic, a company founded to add private tourist flights to the existing world of commercial space. See it on view in the newly reopened Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall at our National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. #WorldSpaceWeek ✈️: 1-4: National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution 5-2: Smithsonian Libraries and Archives (SLA)