Past Exhibits

Please note: This is not a comprehensive tour of all past exhibits at the National Museum of Natural History. This is a tour of only a selection of past exhibits at NMNH.

For the best touring experience, please read the complete set of virtual tour tips below. [PDF]

Against All Odds: Rescue at the Chilean Mine

• Mine Rescue

Birds of DC

• D.C. Birds 1
• D.C. Birds 2

Cyprus: Crossroads of Civilization

• Early Villages
• An Island of Prospectors and Farmers
• Cyprus Opens to the World
• Cyprus in the Age of Empires
• Byzantine Cyprus / Cyprus Since 1571

Dig It! Secrets of the Soil

• All-American Soils
• Dig It! Secrets of the Soil

Evolving Universe

• Our Solar System / Our Galaxy: The Milky Way
• Galaxies Far, Far Away

Genome

• Discoveries of a World of Genomes
• The Human Genome
• The Human Genome and Medicine

Iceland Revealed

• Life Finds Its Way: Transformation
• Contrasting Companions: Ice and Volcanoes

Last American Dinosaurs

• What Are Fossils? What Makes a Dinosaur a Dinosaur?
• What Do Fossils Reveal About Tyrannosaurus?
• From Death to Discovery / How to Become a Fossil / Fresh from the Field
• Are We in Another Mass Extinction?

Mud Masons of Mali

• Mud Masons of Mali

Narwhal: Revealing an Arctic Legend

• Where Do Narwhals Live? / Narwhal and Unicorn
• Life with the Narwhal

National Geographic: Into Africa

• Franz Lanting
• The Gift of Water / Twilight of the Giants
• Gondwana's Ark / Faces in the Forest / Camera Traps
• Sands of Time / Primeval Plains / Life Triumphant

Nature's Best Photography Exhibits

• 2012 Photography
• 2012 Photography: Grand Prize
• 2013 Photography: Grand Prize
• 2013 Photography: Conservation Photographer of the Year
• 2013 Photography: Other Winners
• 2019 Photography: Audubon Birds / People, Passion, Purpose
• 2019 Photography: Grand Prize / Asia

Objects of Wonder

• Where Do We Get Our Collections?
• Tsimshian Painted House Front / What Do Collections Tell Us? / Dazzling Diversity of Bird Eggs
• Linking Natura and Culture
• Tsimshian Painted House Front / Celebrating Creativity
• Dazzling Diversity of Insects
• Dazzling Diversity of Insects / For the Record
• Our Collections are Vast and Growing

Orchid Exhibits

• 2008 Orchids
• 2008 Orchids: The Orchid Family Tree
• 2011 Orchids: A Scholar's Room
• 2011 Orchids: Orchids in Chinese Art
• 2011 Orchids: Taiwan international Orchid Show

Outbreak: Epidemics in a Connected World

• Outbreak Entrance / One World, One Health
• The International Spread of Disease
• Spillovers & Outbreaks: Nipah, Hanta, HIV/AIDS, SARS
• Responding to Outbreaks: Ebola / Global Pandemics: 1918 Influenzas Pandemic and HIV/AIDS
• Working Together
• Searching for Solutions: Smallpox
• Those Who Survive, Those Left Behind: HIV/AIDS and Ebola
• What's Now, What's Next: Do Humans cause Epidemics?

Q?rius Jr.

• Discovery Room

Sea Monsters Unearthed: Life in Angola’s Ancient Seas

• Sea Monsters Unearthed Entrance
• Wind, water, and Forces deep inside the Earth shaped Angola's ancient ocean…
• Discovering a 72-Million-Year-Old Ecosystem

Western Culture

• Origins of Western Culture: Toolmaking, Cave Painting, Plant and Animal Domestication
• Ali Kosh: An Early Farming Community
• From Village to City: Metallurgy
• Metallurgy / Ötzi: Frozen in Time: The Iceman
• The State: Ancient Egypt (Mummies) and Mesopotamia
• The State: Ancient Egypt (continued)
• Trade and Empire: The Levant, the Mediterranean, Greece, and Rome

Wilderness 50

• Wilderness Forever: Scenic Landscape / People in Wilderness
• Most Inspirational Moment / Wildlife