On this day, August 9, in 1846, the Smithsonian Institution was founded. Twenty years earlier, a British scientist named James Smithson drew up his last will and testament with his nephew as beneficiary. Smithson made clear that if the nephew should die without an heir (as he did in 1835), the estate should go to the United States of America to found, in Washington, "an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge." Smithson never visited the U.S., and did not correspond with anyone living there. Why he gave his estate to the U.S. is a mystery. Right, fucking odd don't you think?
garykoelling
an angry optimist
