When was the Smithsonian Institute founded?
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution (/smɪθˈsoʊniən/ smith-SOH-nee-ən), established on August 10, 1846 "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge," is a group of museums and research centers administered by the Government of the United States.[1] The institution is named after its founding donor, British scientist James Smithson.[2] Originally organized as the "United States National Museum," that name ceased to exist as an administrative entity in 1967.[3]
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution has many categories of displays that can be visited at the museums. In 1912, First Lady Helen Herron Taft donated her inauguration gown to the museum to begin the First Ladies' Gown display,[58] one of the Smithsonian's most popular exhibits.[59] The museum displays treasures such as the Star-Spangled Banner, the stove pipe hat that was worn by President Lincoln, the ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard Of Oz, and the original Teddy Bear that was named after President Theodore Roosevelt.[60] In 2016, the Smithsonian's Air & Space museum curators restored the large model Enterprise from the original Star Trek TV series.[61]