January
May 15 Organizers Plan National Institution for the Promotion of Science
Year:
1840
Month:
may
Day:
15
Date:
Fri, 1840-05-15
SIA Image reference:
The National Institution for the Promotion of Science is organized "to promote science and the useful arts, and to establish a national museum of natural history. . ." Its organizers, including Joel R. Poinsett, hope to secure control of the James Smithson bequest. The National Institution later changes its name to the National Institute. Their collections are transferred to the Smithsonian Institution in the 1850s.