When James Smithson died and left his estate to the U.S. government to build an institution of learning, many in Congress wanted to use the money for other purposes. Adams played a key role ensuring that the money was instead used to build the Smithsonian Institution.
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Henry Ford has been honored by the Smithsonian Institution for changing the aviation industry.
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In March 1909, shortly after the end of his presidency, Roosevelt left New York for the Smithsonian-Roosevelt African Expedition, a safari in east and central Africa.Roosevelt's party landed in Mombasa, British East Africa (now Kenya) and traveled to the Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) before following the Nile to Khartoum in modern Sudan. Financed by Andrew Carnegie and by his own writings, Roosevelt's party hunted for specimens for the Smithsonian Institution.
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A year and two days after it had made its first flight, Lindbergh flew the Spirit plane from St. Louis to Washington, D.C., where it has been on public display at the Smithsonian Institution ever since.
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The Smithsonian Institution has included Marilyn Monroe on their list of "100 Most Significant Americans of All Time".
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