Bei Bei vs. ball: National Zoo panda plays around (Video)

By Rick Massimo
April 26, 2017 | 5:29 PM

WASHINGTON — The easy reaction to this video of Bei Bei, the young giant panda at the National Zoo, is to buckle under the weight of the cuteness.

But there’s a bit of an edge to the way Bei Bei takes on his “jolly ball” (the zoo’s term for it) in this video shot over the weekend. Being on the wrong side of Bei Bei doesn’t look like it would be that much fun.

Still — the cuteness …

🐼 Bear attack! The panda cams caught #BeiBei wrestling his jolly ball this weekend. #PandaStory pic.twitter.com/NOCkQvPh1K

— National Zoo (@NationalZoo) April 26, 2017

National Museum of the American Latino to be housed in historic Smithsonian building

By Neal Augenstein
September 1, 2026 | 10:36 AM

The Smithsonian Institution has decided to put the National Museum of the American Latino into an existing, historic building, rather than constructing a new one. The Smithsonian Board of Regents on Monday designated the Arts and Industries Building, a 145-year-old redbrick Victorian structure located between the Smithsonian Castle and the Hirshhorn Museum, as the permanent site of the National Museum of the American Latino, which Congress authorized in 2020. In 2022, the Smithsonian narrowed its survey for permanent locations for the National Museum of the American Latino and the American Women's History Museum to four locations near the National Mall on land owned by the National Park Service. The Arts and Industries Building, located at 900 Jefferson St. SW, was one of the four sites. New construction on National Park Service land would require congressional approval. However, since the Smithsonian already owns the Arts and Industries Building, the institution can place the National Museum of the American Latino in the existing building without additional legislation.

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