| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| March 1, 1890 |  The Astrophysical Observatory is established in a wooden edifice built at
the cost of the Smithsonian on the grounds south of the Smithsonian Institution Building.
It will subsequently be enlarged, and three other smaller structures will be added between
1893 and 1898, all enclosed by a fence. |
| March 2, 1889 |  Following debate in its 1888 and 1889 sessions, the United States Congress
passes a bill for the acquisition of land for a National Zoological Park in the District
of Columbia. A commission is appointed to establish the location of the park, composed of
the Secretary of the Interior, president of the Board of Commissioners of D.C., and the
Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. The commission is authorized to choose a tract
of land not less than 100 acres along Rock Creek deemed suitable and appropriate for a
zoological park, appraise its value, and return this value to the Congress who will pay
the owners thus establishing a valid title to the land. |
| March 3, 1879 | United States Congress appropriates $20,000 for the publication of contributions to North American Ethnology, provided that "all the archives, records, and materials relating to the Indians of North America, collected by the Geographical and Geological Survey of the Rocky Mountain Region, shall be turned over to the Smithsonian Institution, that the work may be completed and prepared for publication under its direction." The Secretary of the Interior, on February 28, requested that this appropriation be placed under the direction of the Smithsonian Institution, instead of the Department of Interior. The Bureau of Ethnology, with Major John Wesley Powell as its head, is established to perform this work. |
| March 3, 1979 | "Einstein: A Centenary Exhibition," paying tribute to the scientist's life and work, opens at the National Museum of History and Technology, now the National Museum of American History. The exhibition includes original manuscripts, photographs, personal memorabilia, and scientific apparatus. |
| March 4, 1881 |  The reception and ball to celebrate the inauguration of President James
Abram Garfield is held in the as yet unfinished National Museum building. The Board of
Regents authorized use of the building with the stipulation that no precedent is to be
given for the use of the building for other purposes. Under the direction of a citizens'
committee, a temporary wooden floor is laid in each of the ground-level rooms, ten
thousand bins for hats, coats, and wraps are erected, and some three thousand gas burners
are introduced. For the occasion, two electric lights are suspended in the rotunda and
several are erected outside along with calcium lights in different parts of the grounds.
About seven thousand people attend the celebration. |
| March 4, 1977 | United States Congresswoman Corinne C. (Lindy) Boggs of Louisiana is appointed to the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. She is the first woman to hold this position. |
| March 5, 1987 | The Anacostia Neighborhood Museum is renamed the Anacostia Museum. The Smithsonian staff newspaper, "The Torch," attributes the change to the fact that the "museum serves a public beyond its immediate environment and has obtained a national and international reputation through the circulation of its traveling exhibitions and the distribution of its publications." |
| March 6, 1959 |  A male rogue African bush elephant, a gift from Josef J. Fenykovi,
Hungarian-born engineer and big game hunter, and prepared by the museum's taxidermy staff,
is unveiled in the place of honor in the center rotunda of the National Museum of Natural
History. At the time of its unveiling, it is the largest land mammal on display in a
museum. Fenykovi tracked down and shot the elephant in the Cuando River region of
southeastern Angola on November 13, 1955. |
| March 7, 1966 | The Office of International Activities (OIA) is established with William W. Warner, who had served as consultant to the Secretary for international matters since 1964, as Director. OIA's role is to establish cooperative research programs with institutions of higher learning in other countries and to serve as the Smithsonian's point of liaison with United States government agencies and international organizations dealing with matters of interest to the Smithsonian. |
| March 8, 1978 |  The Old Woman Mountains meteorite arrives at the National Museum of
Natural History from Barstow, California, where it had been under the jurisdiction of the
Bureau of Land Management. At 6,070 lbs., it is the second largest meteorite ever to be
found in the U.S., and "will be the subject of research by the Smithsonian for
approximately a year before being sent to an appropriate California museum on a long-term
basis for exhibition." The Smithsonian plans to retain one or more thinly sliced
sections of the interior portion for public display. |
| March 9, 1994 | A tethered-satellite experiment conceived and designed at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory is successfully launched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The experiment confirmed that a 20 kilometer long, 0.8 centimeter thick plastic cable could suspend a payload in space with a minimum of oscillation and swing. |
| March 10, 1960 | "The United States Census 1790-1960" opens in the Rotunda of the Arts and Industries Building. The exhibition illustrate the history of the census by documents and machinery, including the first mechanical tabulating apparatus devised by Herman Hollerith for the 1890 census. The exhibition is sponsored by the Division of Physical Sciences and the Division of Political History. |
| March 11, 1912 |  Marking the beginning of the First Ladies Gowns Collection, the gown worn
by Mrs. Helen Herron Taft at the Inaugural Ball of President William H. Taft on March 4, 1909, is
accessioned by the United States National Museum. Mrs. Taft then solicited additional dresses from the descendants of earlier First Ladies. |
| March 11, 1957 | Secretary Leonard Carmichael and Dr. Melville Bell Grosvenor, president of the National Geographic Society and grandson of Alexander Graham Bell, inaugurate the recently completed exhibition illustrating the invention and development of the modern telephone system. |
| March 12, 1853 | Alteration is ordered in the east wing of the Smithsonian Institution Building to convert it into a residence for Secretary Henry and his family. |
| March 12, 1976 |  "A Nation of Nations" opens at the National Museum of History
and Technology, now the National Museum of American History. The exhibition explores the
peopling of America, which resulted in the formation of a new society incorporating the
different cultures and experiences brought from all over the world. |
| March 13, 1994 | "A Mughal Hunt" exhibition opens at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. The exhibition explains how a scholar deduces the origin and provenance of a work of art. The centerpiece of the exhibition is a recently acquired 17th-century painting of India's Mughal court. A symposium, "Artists and Traditions: New Studies of Indian Paintings," was held in connection with the exhibit. |
| March 14, 1980 | "Florafest," an Office of Horticulture Flower Show exhibit, opens at the United States Botanical Garden. |
| March 15, 1984 | "Drawings: 1974-1984," one of the first of a series of exhibitions celebrating the tenth anniversary of the opening of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, opens at the Museum with 148 drawings by 30 artists. |
| March 15, 1991 | The controversial exhibit "The West as America: Reinterpreting Images of the Frontier, 1820-1920" opens at the National Museum of American Art under the direction of curator William Truettner. The exhibition explores westward expansion in America by looking at the subject of paintings, the intentions of the artists and their patrons, and the history of westward expansion to show the changing perceptions of the west and how American society views it. |
| March 16, 1888 | Smithsonian photographer Thomas William Smillie purchases the first item in the history of photography collection, a daguerrotype apparatus used by Samuel F. B. Morse, one of America's first photographic enthusiasts. |
| March 16, 1984 | "'Adventurous Pursuits': Americans and the China Trade, 1784-1844," a celebration of the 200th anniversary of the opening of trade between America and China, opens at the National Portrait Gallery. |
| March 17, 1910 |  Although not yet completed, the new United States National Museum Building
(now National Museum of Natural History) is opened to the public. |
| March 17, 1977 | "Rails of the World: Paintings by J. Fenwick Lansdowne" opens at the National Museum of Natural History. The exhibition contains 42 paintings, representing 132 species of rails, combining art and science with meticulous realism in watercolors by artist/ naturalist Lansdowne. A widely distributed family of long-toed marsh birds, rails include coots, gallinules, crakes and soras. The paintings were drawn from both life and skins to illustrate the book "Rails of the World," written by Smithsonian Secretary S. Dillon Ripley. The exhibit is presented by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. |
| March 18, 1961 |  The new hall of Monetary History and Medallic Art opens in the Arts and
Industries Building, illustrating major aspects of the development of money economy. Part
of the Exhibits Modernization Program, the exhibit covers from the
"beginning of primitive barter to the establishment of our modern monetary
system." |
| March 18, 1977 | "Paint on Wood: Decorated American Furniture Since the 17th Century" opens at the Renwick Gallery. |
| March 18, 1994 | "Thomas Cole: Landscape Into History" exhibition opens at the National Museum of American Art (now the Smithsonian American Art Museum) on March 18, 1994 and will last through August 7. The exhibition is a retrospective of Cole's work which includes his well known works and works that are lesser known. |
| March 19, 1847 | The contract for construction of the Smithsonian Institution Building is awarded to James Dixon and Gilbert Cameron. The contract stipulates that work be completed in five years. The building is not completed until 1855. |
| March 20, 1980 | "Masterworks of Korean Art" opens at the Freer Gallery of Art. |
| March 20, 1980 | "Miro: Selected Paintings" opens at the Hirshhorn Museum. |
| March 21, 1983 | The National Museum of Natural History launches a pioneering international collaborative study of Aldabra, one of the world's most scientifically interesting coral atolls. The five-year study focuses on the marine ecosystems of the island, especially those of the lagoon and its fringes. |
| March 22, 1956 |  The new Bird Hall of the National Museum of Natural History opens to the public. It
was designed by bird curator Herbert Friedmann, and is the first in a series of new exhibitions that are part of the Exhibits Modernization
Program. |
| March 23, 1987 | "Isaac Newton and the Principia: Three Hundred Years" opens at the National Museum of American History. The exhibition marks the 1687 publication of Newton's "Principia Mathematica," cornerstone of modern physics and an important influence in the study of chemistry, electricity, and magnetism. |
| March 24, 1995 | "The Human Figure Interpreted: Modern Sculpture from the Hirshhorn Museum" opens at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum in Taiwan. This begins a museum tour that will include Otsu, Tokyo, Iwaki, and Takamatsu, Japan. This is the largest exhibition ever sent overseas by the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden with some 60 works featuring Edgar Degas, Henry Matisse, Henry Moore, and Auguste Rodin |
| March 25, 1969 |  The Renwick Gallery is added to the National Register of Historic Places. The Gallery building, designed by architect James Renwick, originally housed the Corcoran Gallery of Art and later the U.S. Court of Claims. |
| March 26, 1980 | Early Flight Gallery, a major new exhibition at the National Air and Space Museum, opens. It recreates a 1913 indoor aeronautical trade show. |
| March 27, 1990 |  The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) formally dedicates the
new Earl Silas Tupper Research and Conference Center. Secretary Adams, Panamanian
President Guillermo Endara, and members of the Smithsonian Board of Regents attend the
dedication ceremonies. STRI's first professionally designed exhibition, "Parting the
Green Curtain: The Evolution of Tropical Biology in Panama," opens to the public at
the Tupper Conference Center. On March 28, STRI officially inaugurates its new living,
dining, and conference facilities on Barro Colorado Island. |
| March 27, 1957 | Dr. Leonard Carmichael and Dr. Robert P. Multhauf formally open the Hall of Power Machinery, another part of the Exhibits Modernization Program. In this hall, moving engines and models, murals, diagrams, and schematic mechanisms are displayed to show technological development. |
| March 28, 1994 | The Center for Folklife Programs and Cultural Studies conducts a 12-week training program among scholars from African-born communities of metropolitan Washington, D.C., as part of the African Immigrant Folklife Study. |
| March 29, 1924 |  The Barro Colorado Island Biological Laboratory in Panama officially opens. More
than thirty scientists from the United States work at the island laboratory during its
first year of operation. The laboratory will later come under Smithsonian Institution
aegis as the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. |
| March 29, 1992 | "First Ladies: Political Role and Public Image" opens at the National Museum of American History. The exhibition includes First Ladies' gowns and dresses, historic photographs and illustrations, campaign memorabilia, furniture, silver, china, jewelry, and accessories. |
| March 30, 1979 |  The re-installation of the Grand Salon of the Renwick Gallery of the
National Collection of Fine Arts, now the Smithsonian American Art Museum, is completed,
displaying nineteenth-century works from the collection. |
| March 31, 1857 | Personal effects of James Smithson are removed from the Patent Office Building and deposited in the Regents' Room at the Smithsonian Institution Building. |
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