Description: A twentieth century Renaissance man, Louis R. Purnell lived a remarkable life. His career began in the skies above Italy and Germany, where he flew 88 combat missions as an original member of the Tuskegee Airmen. After the war, while working at the National Museum of Natural History, he traveled the world’s oceans collecting marine specimens, taught himself geology and
Description: [edan-image:id=siris_sic_7497,size=350,left][caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="402" caption="On August 20, 1957, a coelacanth, Latimeria chalumnae Smitha, living fossil fish, is put on exhibit in the foyer of United States National Museum, now known as the National Museum of Natural History, 1957, by Unidentified photographer, Photographic print, Smithsonian Institution