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8/10/2006, 05:48 AM
August 10, 1846: Smithsonian Institution created
After a decade of debate about how best to spend a bequest left to America from an obscure English scientist named John Smithson, President James K. Polk signs the Smithsonian Institution Act into law.
http://img295.echo.cx/img295/9647/smithson0fs.jpg
John Smithson
Ten years earlier in Genoa, Italy, the English scientist Smithson died after a long illness, leaving behind a will with a peculiar footnote. In the event that his only nephew died without any heirs, Smithson decreed that the whole of his estate would go to "the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an "Establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge." Smithson's curious bequest to a country that he had never visited aroused significant attention on both sides of the Atlantic.
Smithson had been a fellow of the venerable Royal Society of London from the age of 22, publishing numerous scientific papers on mineral composition, geology, and chemistry. In 1802, he overturned popular scientific opinion by proving that zinc carbonates were true carbonate minerals, and one type of zinc carbonate was later named smithsonite in his honor.
http://img295.echo.cx/img295/5074/rush13et.gif
Richard Rush
Six years after Smithson's death, his nephew, Henry James Hungerford (widely rumored to have been ghey) indeed died without children. On July 1, 1836, the U.S. Congress authorized acceptance of Smithson's gift.
President Andrew Jackson sent diplomat Richard Rush to England to negotiate for transfer of the funds, and two years later Rush set sail for home aboard USS Mediator with 11 boxes containing a total of 104,960 gold sovereigns, eight shillings, and seven pence, as well as Smithson's mineral collection, library, scientific notes, and personal effects. After the gold was melted down, it amounted to a fortune worth well over $500,000 -- which was a massive sum in 1836.
http://img295.echo.cx/img295/6319/mediato27jw.gif
USS Mediator
After considering a series of recommendations, including the creation of a national university, a public library, or an astronomical observatory, Congress agreed that the bequest would support the creation of a museum, a library, and a program of research, publication, and collection in the sciences, arts, and history.
On August 10, 1846, the act establishing the Smithsonian Institution was signed into law by President James K. Polk.
http://img295.echo.cx/img295/2633/polk7es.jpg
President James K. Polk
Today, the Smithsonian is composed of 18 museums and galleries and many research facilities throughout the United States and the world. Besides the original Smithsonian Institution Building, popularly known as the "Castle," visitors to Washington, D.C., tour the National Museum of Natural History, which houses the natural science collections, the National Zoological Park, and the National Portrait Gallery.
http://img295.echo.cx/img295/9525/smithsonianin19005mt.jpg
The Smithsonian Institution Building in 1900
The National Museum of American History houses the original Star-Spangled Banner and other artifacts of U.S. history. The National Air and Space Museum has the distinction of being the most visited museum in the world, exhibiting marvels of aviation and space history such as the Wright brothers' 1903 plane and Freedom 7, the space capsule that took the first American into space.
http://img36.echo.cx/img36/9055/98150054fq.jpg
1903 Wright Flyer on display at the National Air & Space Museum
John Smithson, the Smithsonian Institution's great benefactor, is interred in a tomb in the Smithsonian Building.
http://img295.echo.cx/img295/8906/smithsoniantoday0kc.gif
The Smithsonian Institution Building today.
http://img142.echo.cx/img142/2623/insane7zo.jpg
After a decade of debate about how best to spend a bequest left to America from an obscure English scientist named John Smithson, President James K. Polk signs the Smithsonian Institution Act into law.
http://img295.echo.cx/img295/9647/smithson0fs.jpg
John Smithson
Ten years earlier in Genoa, Italy, the English scientist Smithson died after a long illness, leaving behind a will with a peculiar footnote. In the event that his only nephew died without any heirs, Smithson decreed that the whole of his estate would go to "the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an "Establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge." Smithson's curious bequest to a country that he had never visited aroused significant attention on both sides of the Atlantic.
Smithson had been a fellow of the venerable Royal Society of London from the age of 22, publishing numerous scientific papers on mineral composition, geology, and chemistry. In 1802, he overturned popular scientific opinion by proving that zinc carbonates were true carbonate minerals, and one type of zinc carbonate was later named smithsonite in his honor.
http://img295.echo.cx/img295/5074/rush13et.gif
Richard Rush
Six years after Smithson's death, his nephew, Henry James Hungerford (widely rumored to have been ghey) indeed died without children. On July 1, 1836, the U.S. Congress authorized acceptance of Smithson's gift.
President Andrew Jackson sent diplomat Richard Rush to England to negotiate for transfer of the funds, and two years later Rush set sail for home aboard USS Mediator with 11 boxes containing a total of 104,960 gold sovereigns, eight shillings, and seven pence, as well as Smithson's mineral collection, library, scientific notes, and personal effects. After the gold was melted down, it amounted to a fortune worth well over $500,000 -- which was a massive sum in 1836.
http://img295.echo.cx/img295/6319/mediato27jw.gif
USS Mediator
After considering a series of recommendations, including the creation of a national university, a public library, or an astronomical observatory, Congress agreed that the bequest would support the creation of a museum, a library, and a program of research, publication, and collection in the sciences, arts, and history.
On August 10, 1846, the act establishing the Smithsonian Institution was signed into law by President James K. Polk.
http://img295.echo.cx/img295/2633/polk7es.jpg
President James K. Polk
Today, the Smithsonian is composed of 18 museums and galleries and many research facilities throughout the United States and the world. Besides the original Smithsonian Institution Building, popularly known as the "Castle," visitors to Washington, D.C., tour the National Museum of Natural History, which houses the natural science collections, the National Zoological Park, and the National Portrait Gallery.
http://img295.echo.cx/img295/9525/smithsonianin19005mt.jpg
The Smithsonian Institution Building in 1900
The National Museum of American History houses the original Star-Spangled Banner and other artifacts of U.S. history. The National Air and Space Museum has the distinction of being the most visited museum in the world, exhibiting marvels of aviation and space history such as the Wright brothers' 1903 plane and Freedom 7, the space capsule that took the first American into space.
http://img36.echo.cx/img36/9055/98150054fq.jpg
1903 Wright Flyer on display at the National Air & Space Museum
John Smithson, the Smithsonian Institution's great benefactor, is interred in a tomb in the Smithsonian Building.
http://img295.echo.cx/img295/8906/smithsoniantoday0kc.gif
The Smithsonian Institution Building today.
http://img142.echo.cx/img142/2623/insane7zo.jpg