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James Smithson
Table of Contents
Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Videos
View a short history of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
Related Questions
Read Next
Blackboard inscribed with scientific formulas and calculations in physics and mathematics
The World Science Festival’s Pioneers in Science
Laboratory glassware (beakers)
5 Quizzes That Will Tell You Whether You Should Have Been a Scientist
Above the clouds 130 nautical miles below, astronaut Mark C. Lee floats freely without tethers as he tests the new Simplified Aid for Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Spacewalk Rescue (SAFER) system, Sept. 16, 1994. Space Shuttle Discovery, STS-64
Gravity: From Apples to the Universe
Discover
Small, white rat (genus Rattus) on a glass table. (rodent, laboratory, experiment)
Cruel and Unusual Punishments: 15 Types of Torture
African Americans demonstrating for voting rights in front of the White House as police and others watch, March 12, 1965. One sign reads, "We demand the right to vote everywhere." Voting Rights Act, civil rights.
Timeline of the American Civil Rights Movement
Two chicks near an egg with a white background (poultry, chick, chickens, birds).
What Do Eggs Have to Do with Easter?
Rural Irish landscape, Sligo, Ireland.
Why Is Ireland Two Countries?
Hemp (Cannabis sativa).
9 Mind-Altering Plants
Fish. Lionfish. Lion-fish. Turkey fish. Fire-fish. Red lionfish. Pterois volitans. Venomous fin spines. Coral reefs. Underwater. Ocean. Red lionfish swims by seaweed.
10 of the World’s Most Dangerous Fish
New Zealand. Political/Physical map. Includes locator.
Where Is “Old Zealand”?

James Smithson: Facts & Related Content

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News •

What is the Smithsonian, and why is President Trump unhappy with it? • Mar. 28, 2025, 6:32 PM ET (AP)

Facts

Born 1765 • Paris • France
Died June 27, 1829 (aged 64) • Genoa • Italy

Videos

View a short history of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
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prime minister of Cape Colony
John Ruskin
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Lord Rayleigh, engraving by R. Cottot.
Lord Rayleigh
British scientist
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn
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Anna Wintour
Anna Wintour
British editor
Sir Sigmund Sternberg
British philanthropist and entrepreneur
Mo Ibrahim
Sudanese-British entrepreneur
William Richard Morris, Viscount Nuffield
British industrialist
Sir Moses Montefiore.
Sir Moses Montefiore, Baronet
British philanthropist
William Legge, 2nd earl of Dartmouth
British statesman
Kahn, Otto Hermann
Otto Hermann Kahn
American businessman
Annenberg, Walter H.,
Walter H. Annenberg
American publisher and philanthropist
Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, detail from a sketch by Sir John Watson Gordon
Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, Baronet
British astronomer
Frederic David Mocatta
British philanthropist and historian
Caroline Chisholm
Australian philanthropist
Sir Wilfred Grenfell
Sir Wilfred Grenfell
British missionary
Thomas Brattle
North American entrepreneur
Raikes, detail of an oil painting by George Romney; in the National Portrait Gallery, London
Robert Raikes
British philanthropist
Calouste Gulbenkian
British financier, industrialist, and philanthropist