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SIA Timeline Parent: 
SIA Timeline Event Body: 
The Smithsonian Board of Regents elects Professor Joseph Henry of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) as the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, the Institution’s executive officer. Secretary Henry goes on to serve as Secretary for 32 years from 1846 until his death in 1878. At the time of his election, Secretary Henry was a well-known “natural philosopher” because of his discoveries in electromagnetism. More -https://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_sic_472.
Timeline Event Date: 
Thursday, December 3, 1846
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Timeline Event Image Caption: 
Daguerreotype portrait of Joseph Henry (1797-1878), physicist and first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1850. Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 95, Box 11, Folder 1 (copyright: Chicago Historical Society), Neg. # SIA2011-1451.