Word: smithson
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Dates: during 1927-1927
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...very happy James Smithson of England sat down to write his will. He had half a million dollars but only a nephew to enjoy them. He was 61 and infirm. His father, the Duke of Northumberland, had never married his mother, a Tudor lady. He had spent his life less among men than in the pursuit of knowledge- mixing chemicals, examining minerals, pondering the earth's origin, improving oil lamps. He had never been in the U. S. but it occurred to him that in such a young country on such a rich continent at such an epochal moment...
...James Smithson died. The clipper Mediator brought $104,960 in gold sovereigns to Philadelphia, where they were recoined into $508,318.46. Five U. S. Congresses tried to define "knowledge" and how best to "increase" and "diffuse" it. John Quincy Adams and Richard Rush were among those who contributed the basic ideas of a charter that was finally adopted (1846), making the Smithsonian Institution a private affair under the guardianship of the Federal Government. The President, Vice President, Chief Justice and members of the Cabinet were made the Smithsonian "establishment." Three Senators, three Representatives and six citizens at large constituted, with...