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Smithsonian Institution
The <anchor>Smithsonian Institution</anchor> recently made 2.8 million images from its 19 museums, plus research centers, archives, and the National Zoo available online. Check out some of these phones below, starting with Alexander Graham Bell's first 19th-century phone.
Smithsonian Adds Millions of Photos From Collection to Public Domain - Business Insider
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# The Smithsonian just released 2.8 million free digital images of its collection in an 'unprecedented' move. Here are some the most iconic.

2020-02-26T16:57:25Z

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- The Smithsonian Institution is putting 2.8 million images online for anyone to access for the first time ever.
- The online open-access platform has images from all 19 Smithsonian museums, plus research centers, archives, and the National Zoo.
- The Smithsonian says it will add 200,000 more images by the end of 2020, eventually hoping to digitize all 155 million objects in its collection.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

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The Smithsonian is the latest institution to open part of its collection to online visitors. 2.8 million images will now be accessible through an online platform, and enter into the public domain, Smithsonian Magazine reported.

So far, the collection has 2.8 million images from across the Smithsonian's 19 museums, nine research centers, libraries, archives, and even the National Zoo. It also said that it will add 200,000 more images by the end of 2020, with the eventual goal of digitizing its entire 155 million item collection, which also continues to grow.

This story is available exclusively to Business Insider
subscribers.
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The Smithsonian joins other museums around the world in digitizing its collections, like the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Art Institute of Chicago, though digital culture heritage expert Simon Tanner said that the scope of the Smithsonian's project is "unprecedented."

Check out some of the highlights now available online.

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## 1. The Lockheed Vega 5B that Amelia Earhart flew across both the Atlantic and the United States.

![download](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 1 1'%3E%3C/svg%3E)

Amelia Earhart's plane.
National Air and Space Museum

## 2. Muhammad Ali's boxing headgear.

![NMAAHC 2010_19_1_001](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 1 1'%3E%3C/svg%3E)

Muhammad Ali's boxing headgear.
National Museum of African American History and Culture

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## 3. A proof of the 1765 Stamp Act, part of the lead-up to the American Revolution and one of only 32 in the world.

![NPM 0_022044_1a](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 1 1'%3E%3C/svg%3E)

Stamp Act.
Smithsonian National Postal Museum

## 4. The plane the Wright brothers first flew for only 12 seconds in 1903

![NASM A19610048000 NASM2018 10793](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 1 1'%3E%3C/svg%3E)

Wright brothers' planes.
National Air and Space Museum

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## 5. Certainly less well-known than other entries on this list, this "Natural Creeping Baby Doll" was patented in 1871.

![scaryBaby](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 1 1'%3E%3C/svg%3E)

Baby doll.
National Museum of American History

## 6. The Mercury Friendship 7 Capsule, the vehicle John Glenn used to become the first American to orbit the Earth.

![NASM A19670176000 NASM2016 02692](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 1 1'%3E%3C/svg%3E)

John Glenn's capsule.
National Air and Space Museum

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## 7. The Peacock Room from a Victorian London estate can take you back in time.

![FS F1904.61_006](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 1 1'%3E%3C/svg%3E)

Peacock Room.
Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

## 8. The command module from Apollo 11, the mission that led to the first humans on the moon

![NASM A19700102000 NASM2016 04272](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 1 1'%3E%3C/svg%3E)

Apollo 11 command module.
National Air and Space Museum

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## 9. A digital reconstruction of the Cassiopeia A supernova from the Hubble Space Telescope.

![supernova](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 1 1'%3E%3C/svg%3E)

## 10. Photographs from the alcoholic specimen room at the National Museum.

![SIA SIA2009 1808 000001](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 1 1'%3E%3C/svg%3E)

Alcoholic specimen room.
Smithsonian Institution Archives

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