A little know fact about the founding of the Smithsonian…
It all started in 1826 when James Smithson, a British scientist, drew up his last will and testament, naming his nephew as beneficiary. Smithson stipulated that, should the nephew die without heirs (as he would in 1835), the estate should 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 among men.”
It took another 20 years (until 1846) for the Smithsonian to become a reality.
