There are over 20,000 trees on the National Mall

The National Mall hosts one of the country's largest July Fourth fireworks shows

Each Independence Day, the National Mall hosts a massive fireworks display coordinated by the National Park Service, drawing hundreds of thousands of spectators to the nation's capital.

Eliza Scidmore advocated for planting cherry trees in Washington, DC, in the early 1900s

The first female writer for National Geographic, Scidmore championed planting Japanese cherry trees around the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC. Her idea succeeded in 1912, after years of lobbying, creating one of the National Mall's most enduring traditions and tourist draws.

The National Mall once had canals and rail lines

In the 1800s, the National Mall looked nothing like it does today. Canals, rail lines, markets, and industrial uses crisscrossed the Mall before later redesigns cleared it into a unified civic landscape.

Take an architectural walking tour of the National Mall.

Take a tour of the Museum of Natural History

Opened in 1910 on the Mall, the National Museum of Natural History is among the Smithsonian's oldest museums. Its scientists steward more than 148 million objects and specimens—making it the largest natural history collection on Earth.

See Pierre L'Enfant's original plan and vision for DC and the National Mall

The National Mall's oldest building is the Lockkeeper's House

Built in 1837, the Lockkeeper's House is the oldest structure on the National Mall. It once served the lockkeeper of the Washington City Canal and of an extension of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, part of early plans to bring commercial waterways into the capital.

The entire National Park System is located on public lands, but not all public lands are national parks.

An inventory of ancient trees in the United Kingdom

The world is filled with trees that are hundreds—if not thousands—of years old, and the UK's Woodland Trust believes each one deserves the same protections great cathedrals and castles receive. This active database invites users to peruse...

The National Parks System is a popular attraction in the US

More than 16 billion people have visited the US National Park System since 1904. Curious about how something like World War II affected park visitation? This table of annual recreational visits spans the early 20th century through 2023, demonstrating the slow-but-steady rise in visitors over the decades.

The National Parks System includes 63 parks and 400 smaller preserved sites

Want to see how close you are to one of the major preserves or lesser-known historic sites? Explore this interactive map from the National Park Service to plan your next adventure to protected, historic land.

People spent more than a billion hours visiting National Park System sites in 2025, which include national parks, monuments, seashores, and more.

The Smithsonian is the world's largest museum complex

With 21 museums and the National Zoo, the Smithsonian Institution is the world's largest museum complex. Eleven of those museums sit directly on the National Mall, and all offer free admission to the public.

The 1902 McMillan Plan reimagined the National Mall as a formal, open civic space

Drafted by the Senate Park Commission, the McMillan Plan called for the removal of railroads, markets, and industrial uses from the Mall; revived key elements of Pierre L'Enfant's original layout; and established the framework for the Mall's long lawns, museum placement, and monumental core.

Christmas trees are a $6B global industry

In the US, the real tree industry is valued at $2B, the reflection of nearly 30 million trees sold annually at an average profit of about $10 per tree. While each tree takes about 8 years to mature, their artificial counterparts can be made much more quickly, mostly in China, valued at over $1B as of 2020.

National parks, explained

Roughly 83 million acres of the United States are set aside as federal National Parks land, an area large as Germany. From the original Yellowstone Park to small monuments and memorials, learn the essentials on this portion of America dedicated to public enjoyment and recreation with our quick explainer video.

Fig trees are considered keystone species because they provide year-round habitat and fruit, which are eaten by an estimated 1,300 species of birds and mammals worldwide.

Microforests in urban environments may help combat climate change

Areas of densely packed native trees and drought-tolerant plants within cities can pull carbon dioxide from the air, cool surrounding neighborhoods, and support local wildlife. The idea behind microforests traces back over 50 years to Japanese ecologist Dr. Akira Miyawaki, who promoted planting whole ecosystems to restore degraded land.

See Rockefeller Center's Christmas trees since 1931

In 1931, with construction still underway, Rockefeller Center's very first Christmas tree was erected out front. John D. Rockefeller himself greeted the construction workers who put up the first 20-foot tree and decorated it with cranberries and paper garland.

Sheep once grazed on the National Mall and White House grounds

In the late 1910s, sheep grazed near the Lincoln Memorial and on the White House lawn. Under Woodrow Wilson, their wool was auctioned for charity, briefly making the grazing animals the subject of a federal cost-saving experiment.

The National Park Service responded to the postwar influx of visitors with a massive project

Thirty weird facts about Christmas trees

From its fascinating origin to how yours is grown today, these incredible Christmas tree facts will add a little bit more wonder to your holiday season.

Artificial Christmas trees can range from about $85 to $1K or more

In 2022, 22.34 million real Christmas trees were purchased and sold at a median price of $80. Even so, from a price standpoint, a fake tree is usually the less expensive option in the long run, as they're reusable and can save time and maintenance.

The title of 'World’s Largest Christmas Tree' is disputed

Cities in the US, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands all claim they have the world’s largest Christmas tree—ranging from massive evergreens, TV and communication towers, and hillside light displays.

Keystone species with average lifespans exceeding a century, oak trees support more organisms than any other North American tree genus by providing ecosystems with pollen, shelter, and nutrient-rich acorns.

As of 2023, there are about 1.1 billion objects stored in 73 of the world's largest natural history museums, but only about 16% of specimens are available in digital archives.

Many legends about George Washington, including his supposed wooden teeth and the story of cutting down the cherry tree, lack evidence.

The famous cherry tree story—where a young Washington admits, "I cannot tell a lie"—was created by biographer Mason Locke Weems. Washington's "wooden teeth" were also a myth: His dentures were made of ivory, metal, and animal teeth.

The unbuilt monuments of Washington, DC

The capital city of the United States famously was built in a swampy area, with dozens of memorials, monuments, and more spanning its vast and complex design. This video explores five monuments that were either built or were rejected as alternatives in the sprawling District of Columbia on the banks of the Potomac River.

The AIDS Memorial Quilt turned the National Mall into a public memorial in 1987

First displayed on the National Mall, the AIDS Memorial Quilt comprised thousands of handmade panels honoring individuals who had died of AIDS. Its placement on the Mall was intended to force public recognition of the human cost of AIDS amid widespread government inaction.

Nearly 99% of the Smithsonian's specimens are hidden in high-security

At the National Museum of Natural History, nearly 99% of its 147 million specimens are stored in secure research collections rather than on display, where they are actively used for scientific work ranging from tracking invasive species to improving aviation safety.

Hear the story of the early American environmentalists who shaped the public lands we enjoy today.

The National Archives protects billions of historical documents, including the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution.

This "60 Minutes" segment takes viewers behind the scenes at the National Archives, showcasing how experts use conservation science, security, and technology to preserve cornerstone records—such as the original Declaration of Independence—for future generations.

The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree was first erected in 1931 by construction workers

The tradition of erecting a tree in Rockefeller Center officially began two years later, when the company continued what the Depression-impacted workers had started. Today, its lighting and nearby ice skating draw millions annually, making it one of America’s most famous holiday traditions.

The real stories behind America's national parks

The history and impact of national parks is complex. The authors of "Olmsted and Yosemite: Civil War, Abolition, and The National Park Idea" curated this list of nonfiction books examining American national parks from a variety of perspectives.

The ‘humongous fungus’ may be the largest organism on Earth at more than 2,300 acres

Discovered in 1988, when it was only covering 400 acres, this massive colony of Armillaria ostoyae, based in Oregon, has taken hold among the tree roots of the Malheur National Forest. It consists of a vast network of unique long black filaments of fungal tissue called rhizomorphs that grow under the soil and infect tree roots, nourishing the fungus but killing the trees. Researchers believe this fungal growth dates back more than 8,000 years and currently weighs approximately 35,000 tons.

The 2017 Women's March was one of the largest protests in the Mall's history

Held the day after Donald Trump's inauguration, the 2017 Women's March drew an estimated 470,000 to 500,000 people to Washington, DC, and 3 million to 5 million nationwide. It is widely regarded as the largest single-day protest in US history.

Permanent staff at National Park Service dropped nearly a quarter in 2025, impacting various aspects of park life.

Completed in 2017, Apple's headquarters cost $5 billion dollars

Apple Park features a ring-shaped main building that accommodates over 12,000 employees, situated above a two-story underground parking garage equipped with its own traffic light system. Inspired by Stanford University's foliage, Steve Jobs hired one of their arborists to oversee the planting of over 9,000 indigenous trees.

The best day to buy a Christmas tree, with data

Using data from 200,000 tree sales in 2018, the authors found that some weekends are more expensive than others. Learn when it's optimal to buy a tree here.

Washington DC's first public library, built in 1903, now operates as an Apple store

The Carnegie Library served as DC's central library until 1972, when overcrowding forced a move to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. After sitting unused for five years, the building changed hands several times before Apple agreed to restore it and open a store there in 2016.

Go inside the Washington Monument

This video tour of the Washington Monument explores its interior, construction delays, political battles, memorial stones, earthquake damage, and later modernization—showing how symbolism, engineering, and 19th-century politics shaped the nation's tallest monument.

Every type of US national park, explained

Ever wonder what kinds of sites comprise the US National Park System? Using the recent re-designation of New River Gorge as a national park as a jumping-off point, this engaging video breaks down the 19 different designations within the National Park System. This includes parks, reserves, monuments, and scenic trails.

The Vietnam Women's Memorial was the first monument to American military women on the Mall

Dedicated in 1993, the Vietnam Women's Memorial became the first monument on the National Mall honoring American military women and recognizing the estimated 11,000 women who served in Vietnam.

Explore a collection of galleries of pollinators found in national parks

Many of the photographs were taken during pollinator inventories in national parks across the US. Although these inventories often focus on bees and butterflies, the collection also features beetles, moths, spiders, and birds that transfer pollen as they move from bloom to bloom.

Lightning may kill as many as 320 million trees each year

Ignoring the effects of tree loss resulting from lightning-induced wildfires, researchers at the Technical University of Munich developed a quantitative model to estimate the loss of these organisms due to cloud-to-ground strikes, based on global lightning data and forest structure. They expect the estimate to rise due to increased strikes resulting from climate change.

The expedition documented 240 plant species, 178 new to western science

Lewis and Clark’s botanical records introduced species to Americans like bitterroot, ponderosa pine, and Oregon grape—plants unknown to western science at the time. See a selection of these species in this image gallery.

Some invasive plants, such as English ivy, maiden grass, and Norway maple, can swiftly take over gardens and damage yard structures if left unchecked.

National parks require numerous items of interest

To be designated a national park, an area must have various scenic, inspirational, educational, and recreational items of interest. A national monument designation requires only one item of interest and is usually reserved for smaller areas with particular historical, cultural, and/or scientific relevance.

More than 5,000 marchers joined the 1913 Woman Suffrage Parade on the National Mall

On March 3, 1913—the day before Woodrow Wilson's inauguration—suffragists marched through Washington, DC. The parade drew large crowds, exposed violent opposition to women's suffrage, and helped galvanize support for the 19th Amendment.

Many trees lose their leaves in the fall to conserve resources for future blooming rather than spending them on keeping leaves alive in the wind and cold of winter.