English historian Edward Gibbon completed work on his six-volume work, “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.” ...

Dennis Rader, the so-called "BTK" (bind, torture, kill) killer, pleaded guilty to 10 slayings in the Wichita, Kan., area. He ...

The unaudited net asset value (calculated on the AIC basis) of Smithson Investment Trust plc, as at the close of business on 19 June 2025, was: ...

A “PREDATORY” Met cop who called Des O’Connor’s daughter “amazingly hot” while investigating a mugging should have been ...

The Liberal’s long-dominant moderate faction in the SA federal seat of Sturt is breathing a huge sigh of relief. So is former ...

Smithson willed his estate to his nephew and stated that if his nephew died without an heir, the money—roughly US$15 million in today’s dollars —would be donated to the U.S. to found “an ...

In the end, a group led by congressman and former president John Quincy Adams ensured Smithson’s vision was realized. Adams felt that the country was failing to live up to its early promise.

In 1846, 17 years after Smithson's death, President James K. Polk signed legislation calling for the Institution's formation.

It was conceived in the 19th century by the British scientist, James Smithson, who bequeathed his estate for the purpose of a Washington-based establishment that helps with "the increase and ...