Today’s photo–taken in 1953–depicts the dedication required to keep the Smithsonian Institution going and growing. This national treasure is made up of 19 museums and galleries and the National Zoo, as well as several research facilities. Admission to all Smithsonian museums in Washington is free, so that anyone can visit to learn about the US, and the world beyond it. It was this day in 1846 that President James K. Polk signed the legislation establishing the Smithsonian. Getting there took some doing, as Englishman James Smithson had donated the funds for an educational institution to the US in his will 20 years earlier. After the deaths of Smithson and his last surviving relative, Congress inherited 104,960 gold sovereigns as start-up money for the museum that would later bear Smithson’s name.
Assembling the Smithsonian
Today in History
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Ice and Snow Sailing World Championships
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J.R.R. Tolkien Day
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An island in the Highlands
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Navajo Bridge in Marble Canyon
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Napping away New Year s Day
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Celebrate International Women’s Day
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Just a couple of yellow-billed hornbills
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Sunny day, sweepin the clouds away
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Honoring our fallen heroes
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We stand with Ukraine
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Longs Peak, Rocky Mountain National Park
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Why, aloe there
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Stari Most in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
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The roots of invention
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Is there a bug-egg emoji for this?
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On the rebirth of the Olympic Games
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Cumberland Island National Seashore
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Finding a balance between wetlands and water treatment
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European hedgehog in Sussex, England
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Pining for spring
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Fiordland National Park, New Zealand
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The moon rises for Mid-Autumn Festival
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Cherry blossoms spring to life
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Do spirits haunt the Gardens of Versailles?
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Blue linckia sea stars in Papua New Guinea
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Corn maze in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania
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Pollinators: not to be sneezed at
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‘Hello’ from zero degrees longitude
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Portland celebrates its bounty
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In orbit for Yuri s Night