Months? Try 179 years. The Smithsonian was officially created on this day in 1846. One of the first things on the to-do list? Construct a building! The 1850 glass lantern slide at the end of this video is the earliest-known photo of our Smithsonian Institution Building, known as the Castle, and the only image we have of it under construction. 📷: Smithsonian Libraries and Archives | Smithsonian

Smithsonian on Reels

It’s our birthday! To celebrate 177 years of art, music, science, and discovery enjoy these 177 collection items (we counted). All of these are part of our #SmithsonianOpenAccess collections—you can use, transform, and share these assets without asking permission from the Smithsonian. Did you know we have about 155 million artifacts, works of art, and natural science specimens in our collection? About 2.8 million of them are open access. Music: Maple Leaf Rag by James P. Johnson, Pops Foster, an