This Day in Smithsonian History: National Air and Space Museum Authorized
On this day in Smithsonian history in 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed Public Law 85-935 authorizing the preparation of plans for the construction of a building for a National Air Museum to be located on the site bounded by Fourth and Seventh Streets, Independence Avenue, and Jefferson Drive, Southwest in Washington, DC.
Today, it would be hard to imagine our nation's capital without what is now known as the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, which is one of the world’s most popular museums with more than 8 million visitors a year.
Read more about the history of Air and Space in our history section, or check out some historic photos relating to the museum in our collections.
Related Resources
National Air and Space Museum Archives
Comments (3) – Leave a comment
I love the National Air and Space Museum I can't imagine the mall with out it. Really neat how things change over time.
The National Air and Space Museum is great. So many great things: Apollo capsule, moon rock, rockets, imax,.. One bad thing: Astronaut Ice Cream - that stuff is horrible.
I remember going to the National Air and Space Museum as a kid and being amazed at how cool it was. I would love to go back sometime! Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed looking at the historic photos.
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