Smithsonian Institution Timeline of Events

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Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...

Timeline of Events

1846

8.10.1846

The Smithsonian Institution is chartered by the United States Congress after James Smithson donates $500,000.

1909

3.23.1909

Theodore Roosevelt leaves New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa. The trip is sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society.

1958

11.10.1958

The Hope Diamond is donated to the Smithsonian Institution by New York diamond merchant Harry Winston.

1981

9.15.1981

The John Bull becomes the oldest operable steam locomotive in the world when the Smithsonian Institution operates it under its own power outside Washington, D.C.

1989

7.20.1989

Photographer Robert Mapplethorpe's show opens at Washington, D.C.'s Project for the Arts after the Smithsonian Institution's Corcoran Gallery cancels it.

1990

4.12.1990

Jim Gary's "Twentieth Century Dinosaurs" exhibition opens at the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.