Time Will Tell
The Academy of National Sciences in Philadelphia, home to 17 million artifacts, is celebrating it's 200th birthday this year, making it the oldest museum of its kind in the US and witness to the creation of 33 states, the Civil War, Elvis, the internet, Lady Gaga. But what does it see as the most important developments and acquisitions in the 200 years of its existence?
The Adam Seybert Mineral Collection is purchased for $750
1812
The Adam Seybert Mineral Collection is purchased for $750
Made up of more than 2,000 specimens,the Seybert Collection is the oldest intact collection of minerals in the US, containing more than 90 percent of all known minerals.
1827
John James Audubon's masterwork The Birds of America is published
With this monumental work — 435 life-sized hand-colored engravings bound into five volumes — John James Audubon, a contributing member of the Academy of Natural Sciences, helped secure Philadelphia as the birthplace of American ornithology. It's arguably the most influential book on birds ever created and a prized holding in the Academy's extensive rare books collection, as less than half of the 200 original sets survive.
1868
The Hadrosaurus foulkii goes on public display in the Academy's museum, becoming the first articulated dinosaur skeleton to be exhibited in any museum in the world.
In 1858, people had barely even heard the term "dinosaur." Academy member William Parker Foulke had learned about these creatures while attending Academy meetings. He uncovered fossilized dinosaur bones after having dinner with a New Jersey farmer who claimed to have found bone-like structures on his land 20 years earlier. Those bones led to the assemblage of the most complete dinosaur skeleton of the day, named Hadrosaurus foulkii ("Foulke's bulky lizard").
1929
First dioramas at the Academy display specimens in their natural habitats
Today, dioramas are so commonplace that even middle-schoolers have to make them to pass science class. Not so back in 1929, when they were an instant hit.
1996
Dr. Ruth Patrick is awarded the National Medal of Science by President Bill Clinton
Dr. Patrick began working at the Academy of Natural Sciences in 1933 as an unpaid researcher. She unified diverse collections and other holdings into a single Diatom Herbarium while making substantial additions to the collection and introducing new organizational systems, earning her the National Medal of Science.
2006
Tiktaalik roseae, a fish-totetrapod transitional fossil described by Dr. Ted Daeschler and colleagues
Tiktaalik roseae, which was co-discovered by Academy paleontologist Dr. Ted Daeschler, is still the best-known member of the sister group for all tetrapods (limbed animals that include amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, and their common ancestors).
Pillow Talk
Washington, DC vacation pics languishing in a drawer? Remember your trip with a custom Stitchagram pillow (stitchagram.com).
○ It is like completing an art marathon if you visit all 19 Smithsonian facilities.
○ The National monument is a really tall obelisk, like 555 foot 5 and 1/8 inch tall.
○ The capitol building looks pretty regal. Some famous people work there, like Congress.
○ Don't bite my head off! Seriously the dinos at the Natural History Museum are ferocious.
○ Taking a break from reading Go Magazine on an AirTran flight to DC.
○ Waiting for the Metro, it's like Tron down here.
○ 18th Street in Adams Morgan, home to Tryst, best coffee shop with waffles, ever. ○ Someone famous lives there. I'm not sure who but they have a very patriotic lawn.
○ Inside the dome of the Capitol building where all the magic happens, if politics counts as magic.
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