THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE
An English scientist named James Smithson died in 1829. He left a lot of money to the United States. This was odd. He had never even visited the nation. His will said the funds must be used to increase knowledge among all people. The U.S. government had to think of a way to do that. It chose to create a research museum. It is the Smithsonian Institute. It is in Washington, D.C.
The first building was called the Castle. But the Institute soon outgrew it. Today it has many buildings. There is a museum of American art, an air and space museum, and a museum of American history. There is a museum of African art, a museum of natural history and a postal museum. The American Indian museum and the national zoo are part of it too. The Smithsonian has one of the largest collections on Earth. It owns more than 137 million items. Some are artwork, some are scientific and others are historic. It displays just two percent of these items at a time. The rest are available for research.
Best of all, it is free to see everything. Each year, more than 25 million people visit the institute. It does just what Smithson had hoped. It increases knowledge.