1.
United States Congress
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The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States consisting of two chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the Capitol in Washington, D. C, both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election, though vacancies in the Senate may be filled by a gubernatorial appointment. Members are usually affiliated to the Republican Party or to the Democratic Party, Congress has 535 voting members,435 Representatives and 100 Senators. The House of Representatives has six non-voting members in addition to its 435 voting members and these members can, however, sit on congressional committees and introduce legislation. Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the members of the House of Representatives serve two-year terms representing the people of a single constituency, known as a district. Congressional districts are apportioned to states by using the United States Census results. Each state, regardless of population or size, has two senators, currently, there are 100 senators representing the 50 states. Each senator is elected at-large in their state for a term, with terms staggered. The House and Senate are equal partners in the legislative process—legislation cannot be enacted without the consent of both chambers, however, the Constitution grants each chamber some unique powers. The Senate ratifies treaties and approves presidential appointments while the House initiates revenue-raising bills, the House initiates impeachment cases, while the Senate decides impeachment cases. A two-thirds vote of the Senate is required before a person can be forcibly removed from office. The term Congress can also refer to a meeting of the legislature. A Congress covers two years, the current one, the 115th Congress, began on January 3,2017, the Congress starts and ends on the third day of January of every odd-numbered year. Members of the Senate are referred to as senators, members of the House of Representatives are referred to as representatives, congressmen, or congresswomen. One analyst argues that it is not a solely reactive institution but has played a role in shaping government policy and is extraordinarily sensitive to public pressure. Several academics described Congress, Congress reflects us in all our strengths, Congress is the governments most representative body. Congress is essentially charged with reconciling our many points of view on the public policy issues of the day. —Smith, Roberts, and Wielen Congress is constantly changing and is constantly in flux, most incumbents seek re-election, and their historical likelihood of winning subsequent elections exceeds 90 percent
2.
Anthony Wayne
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Anthony Wayne was a United States Army officer, statesman, and member of the United States House of Representatives. He later served as General in Chief of the Army and commanded the Legion of the United States, Wayne was one of four children born to Isaac Wayne and Elizabeth Iddings Wayne in Easttown Township, near present-day Paoli, Chester County, Pennsylvania. His father had immigrated from Ireland, and was part of a Protestant Anglo-Irish family, Wayne was born on January 1,1745, on his familys Waynesborough estate. He was educated as a surveyor at his uncles private academy in Philadelphia, as well as at the College of Philadelphia, in 1767 he returned to work in his fathers tannery, while continuing work as a surveyor. He became a prominent figure in Chester County and served in the Pennsylvania legislature from 1774–80 and he married Mary Penrose in 1766 and they had two children. Their daughter Margretta was born in 1770 and their son Isaac Wayne, representative from Pennsylvania, was born in 1772. At the onset of the war in 1775, Wayne raised a unit and, in 1776. His service resulted in a promotion to general on February 21,1777. On September 11,1777, Wayne commanded the Pennsylvania Line at Brandywine, the two forces fought for three hours until the American line withdrew, and Wayne was ordered to retreat. Later, Wayne was ordered to harass the British rear in order to slow General Howes advance towards Pennsylvania, Waynes camp was attacked on the night of September 20–21, in the Battle of Paoli. General Charles Grey ordered his men to remove their flints and attack with bayonets in order to keep their assault secret, the attack earned General Grey the nickname No Flint, but the Americans used the tactics and casualties as propaganda regarding British brutality. General Waynes own reputation was tarnished by the American losses, only days later, on October 4,1777, Wayne again led his forces against the British in the Battle of Germantown. Waynes soldiers pushed ahead of other American units, and, according to his report, generals Wayne and Sullivan advanced too quickly, however, and became entrapped when they reached two miles ahead of other American units. As General Howe arrived and reformed the British line, American forces retreated, General Wayne was again ordered to hold off the British and cover the rear of the retreating body. After winter quarters at Valley Forge, Wayne led the American attack at the 1778 Battle of Monmouth, during this battle, Waynes forces were abandoned by General Charles Lee and pinned down by a numerically superior British force. Wayne held out until relieved by reinforcements sent by Washington, Wayne reformed his troops and continued to fight. Because the body of Lt. Colonel Henry Monckton was discovered by the 1st Pennsylvania Regiment, in July 1779 Washington named Wayne to command the Corps of Light Infantry, a temporary unit of four regiments of light infantry companies drawn from all the regiments in the Main Army. Waynes successful attack on British positions at Stony Point, New York in the Battle of Stony Point was the point of his revolutionary war service
3.
Daniel Morgan
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Daniel Morgan was an American pioneer, soldier, and United States Representative from Virginia. One of the most gifted battlefield tacticians of the American Revolutionary War, Morgan is believed to have been born in the village of New Hampton, New Jersey in Lebanon Township. All four of his grandparents were Welsh immigrants who lived in Pennsylvania, Morgan was the fifth of seven children of James Morgan and Eleanor Lloyd. When Morgan was 17, he left following a fight with his father. After working at odd jobs in Pennsylvania, he moved to the Shenandoah Valley and he finally settled on the Virginia frontier, near what is now Winchester, Virginia. He worked clearing land, in a sawmill, and as a teamster, in just a year, he saved enough to buy his own team. Morgan had served as a teamster during the French and Indian War. After returning from the advance on Fort Duquesne by General Braddocks command, Morgan thus acquired a hatred for the British Army. He then fell in love with Abigail Curry, they married and had two daughters, Nancy and Betsy, Morgan later served as a rifleman in the provincial forces assigned to protect the western settlements from French-backed Indian raids. Some time after the war, he purchased a farm between Winchester and Battletown, by 1774, he was so prosperous that he owned ten slaves. That year, he served in Dunmores War, taking part in raids on Shawnee villages in the Ohio Country. After the American Revolutionary War began at the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19,1775 and they called for the formation of 10 rifle companies from the middle colonies to support the Siege of Boston, and late in June 1775 Virginia agreed to send two. The Virginia House of Burgesses chose Daniel Morgan to form one of these companies and he had already been an officer in the Virginia militia since the French and Indian War. Morgan recruited 96 men in just 10 days and assembled them at Winchester on July 14 and he then marched them 600 miles to Boston, Massachusetts in 21 days, arriving on Aug.6,1775. His company of marksmen was nicknamed Morgans Riflemen, Morgans company had a significant advantage over the others. Instead of the weapons used of most British and most American companies. They were lighter and easier to fire, and they were more accurate. Morgans company used guerrilla tactics, first shooting the Indian guides who led the British forces through the rugged terrain, the British Army considered these guerrilla tactics to be dishonorable, however, they created chaos within the British ranks
4.
War of 1812
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Historians in the United States and Canada see it as a war in its own right, but the British often see it as a minor theatre of the Napoleonic Wars. By the wars end in early 1815, the key issues had been resolved, the view was shared in much of New England and for that reason the war was widely referred to there as Mr. Madison’s War. As a result, the primary British war goal was to defend their North American colonies, the war was fought in three theatres. Second, land and naval battles were fought on the U. S. –Canadian frontier, Third, large-scale battles were fought in the Southern United States and Gulf Coast. With the majority of its land and naval forces tied down in Europe fighting the Napoleonic Wars, early victories over poorly-led U. S. armies demonstrated that the conquest of the Canadas would prove more difficult than anticipated. Despite this, the U. S. was able to inflict serious defeats on Britains Native American allies, both governments were eager for a return to normality and peace negotiations began in Ghent in August 1814. This brought an Era of Good Feelings in which partisan animosity nearly vanished in the face of strengthened American nationalism, the war was also a major turning point in the development of the U. S. military, with militia being increasingly replaced by a more professional force. The U. S. also acquired permanent ownership of Spains Mobile District, the government of Canada declared a three-year commemoration of the War of 1812 in 2012, intended to offer historical lessons and celebrate 200 years of peace across the border. At the conclusion of the commemorations in 2014, a new national War of 1812 Monument was unveiled in Ottawa. The war is remembered in Britain primarily as a footnote in the much larger Napoleonic Wars occurring in Europe, historians have long debated the relative weight of the multiple reasons underlying the origins of the War of 1812. This section summarizes several contributing factors which resulted in the declaration of war by the United States, as Risjord notes, a powerful motivation for the Americans was the desire to uphold national honour in the face of what they considered to be British insults such as the Chesapeake–Leopard Affair. The approaching conflict was about violations of American rights, but it was also vindication of American identity. Americans at the time and historians since often called it the United States Second War of Independence, in 1807, Britain introduced a series of trade restrictions via a series of Orders in Council to impede neutral trade with France, with which Britain was at war. The United States contested these restrictions as illegal under international law, the American merchant marine had come close to doubling between 1802 and 1810, making it by far the largest neutral fleet. Britain was the largest trading partner, receiving 80% of U. S. cotton, the British public and press were resentful of the growing mercantile and commercial competition. The United States view was that Britains restrictions violated its right to trade with others, during the Napoleonic Wars, the Royal Navy expanded to 176 ships of the line and 600 ships overall, requiring 140,000 sailors to man. The United States believed that British deserters had a right to become U. S. citizens and this meant that in addition to recovering naval deserters, it considered any United States citizens who were born British liable for impressment. Aggravating the situation was the reluctance of the United States to issue formal naturalization papers and it was estimated by the Admiralty that there were 11,000 naturalized sailors on United States ships in 1805
5.
Jeannette Expedition
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The premise was that a temperate current, the Kuro Siwo, flowed northwards into the strait, providing a gateway to an Open Polar Sea and thus to the pole. This theory proved illusory, the ship, USS Jeannette, was trapped by ice. De Long then led his men on a journey by boat. During this journey, and in the subsequent weeks of wandering in the Arctic wastes before rescue, more than half the ships complement died, the chief exponent of the theory of a warm-water gateway to the North Pole was the German cartographer, August Petermann. He encouraged James Gordon Bennett Jr. the proprietor of the New York Herald, Bennett acquired a former Royal Navy gunboat, the Pandora, and changed her name to Jeannette. De Long, whom Bennett chose to lead the expedition, was a naval officer with previous Arctic experience. Although essentially a private venture, in which Bennett paid all the bills, before departure the ship was commissioned into the U. S. Navy, and sailed under navy laws and discipline. Before its demise, the expedition discovered new islands—the Ostrova De-Longa—and collected valuable meteorological and this discovery inspired Fridtjof Nansen to mount his Fram expedition nine years later. A monument to the Jeannette dead was erected at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, european exploration of the Arctic regions began in the 16th century, with searches for new routes to the Pacific via the Northeast and Northwest passages. The possibility of a route, directly across the North Pole, was raised by early geographer Richard Hakluyt. The early explorers had little success in finding these routes, in time, the search for trade routes became secondary to the prestige objective of reaching the North Pole itself, or at least of registering a Farthest North. In 1773 a British naval expedition under Captain Constantine Phipps sought a route to the pole from the Seven Islands, on May 28,1806, the Whitby whaling captain William Scoresby achieved a new record northern latitude of 81°30 to the north of Svalbard before being stopped by ice. The prevalent theory of polar geography throughout this period was that of a temperate Open Polar Sea surrounding the North Pole, the observable southward drift of Arctic ice was thought to result from the pushing effect of this warmer water. According to the historian Hampton Sides, despite the lack of evidence the theory gathered a logic of its own. No amount of evidence could dislodge it from the collective imagination. The initial quest for the North Pole thus became a search for one of these portals, after British naval expeditions in 1818 and 1827–28 had probed north of Spitsbergen and found no sign of the supposed polar sea, the quest was in abeyance for 25 years. In the 1850s, the search for the lost Franklin expedition generated a rash of incursions into the Canadian Arctic. This brought a succession of expeditions to this area, Elisha Kent Kane in 1853–55, Isaac Israel Hayes in 1860–61, Charles Francis Hall in 1872–74, and George Nares in 1875–76
6.
Richard E. Byrd
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Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd, Jr. USN was an American naval officer who specialized in feats of exploration. He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the highest honor for valor given by the United States, and was a pioneering American aviator, polar explorer, and organizer of polar logistics. Aircraft flights in which he served as a navigator and expedition leader crossed the Atlantic Ocean, a segment of the Arctic Ocean, Byrd claimed that his expeditions had been the first to reach both the North Pole and the South Pole by air. However, his claim to have reached the North Pole is disputed, Byrd was born in Winchester, Virginia, the son of Esther Bolling and Richard Evelyn Byrd, Sr. He was a descendant of one of the First Families of Virginia and his ancestors include planter John Rolfe and his wife Pocahontas, William Byrd II of Westover Plantation, who established Richmond, and Robert King Carter, a colonial governor. He was the brother of Virginia Governor and U. S, senator Harry F. Byrd, a dominant figure in the Virginia Democratic Party from the 1920s until the 1960s, their father served as Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates for a time. On January 20,1915, Richard married Marie Donaldson Ames and he would later name a region of Antarctic land he discovered Marie Byrd Land after her. They had four children – Richard Evelyn Byrd III, Evelyn Bolling Byrd Clarke, Katharine Agnes Byrd Breyer, and Helen Byrd Stabler. By late 1924, the Byrd family moved into a brownstone at 9 Brimmer Street in Bostons fashionable Beacon Hill neighborhood that had been purchased by Maries father. It would be Byrds primary residence for the rest of his life, noted naval historian Samuel Eliot Morison also lived on Brimmer Street. While at the Academy, he injured his right ankle while performing a gymnastics routine. While he was able to graduate from the Academy, the ankle was the reason for his medical retirement from the Navy in 1916. On June 8,1912, Byrd graduated from the Naval Academy and was commissioned an ensign in the United States Navy. On July 14,1912, he was assigned to the battleship USS Wyoming and was assigned to the gunboat USS Dolphin. He was assigned to Dolphin when she was involved in the United States intervention in Veracruz, on March 15,1916, Byrd was medically retired for a foot injury he suffered on board the Dolphin. He was immediately promoted to the rank of lieutenant and assigned as the Inspector and Instructor for the Rhode Island Naval Militia in Providence, on December 14,1916, he was commissioned as a commander in the Rhode Island Naval Militia. On April 25,1928, by act of the Rhode Island General Assembly, although technically retired, Byrd was able to serve as a retired officer on active duty during the First World War. He had the foresight to realize that aviation was going to expand rapidly in the few years
7.
Code talker
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Code talkers are people in the 20th century who used obscure languages as a means of secret communication during wartime. The term is now associated with the United States soldiers during the world wars who used their knowledge of Native American languages as a basis to transmit coded messages. In particular, there were approximately 400–500 Native Americans in the United States Marine Corps whose primary job was the transmission of secret tactical messages, Code talkers transmitted these messages over military telephone or radio communications nets using formal or informally developed codes built upon their native languages. Their service improved the speed of encryption of communications at both ends in front line operations during World War II, Code talking, however, was pioneered by Cherokee and Choctaw Indians during World War I. Other Native American code talkers were deployed by the United States Army during World War II, including Lakota, Meskwaki, soldiers of Basque ancestry were also used for code talking by the U. S. Marines during World War II in areas where other Basque speakers were not expected to be operating, members of the Assiniboine served as code talkers during World War II, utilizing the Assiniboine language to encrypt communications. The code talkers included Gilbert Horn Sr. who grew up in the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation of Montana and later became a tribal judge, according to the Division Signal Officer, this took place in September 1918. Their unit was under British command at the time, during World War I, company commander Captain Lawrence of the U. S. Army overheard Solomon Louis and Mitchell Bobb conversing in the Choctaw language. He found eight Choctaw men in the battalion, eventually, fourteen Choctaw men in the Armys 36th Infantry Division trained to use their language in code. They helped the American Expeditionary Forces win several key battles in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in France, within 24 hours of the Choctaw language being pressed into service, the tide of the battle had turned. In less than 72 hours, the Germans were retreating and the Allies were in full attack and these soldiers are now known as the Choctaw code talkers. Adolf Hitler knew about the use of code talkers during World War I. He sent a team of some thirty anthropologists to the United States to learn Native American languages before the outbreak of World War II and it proved too difficult for them to learn the many languages and dialects that existed. Because of Nazi German anthropologists efforts to learn the languages, the U. S. Army did not implement a code talker program in the European Theater of the war. Fourteen Comanche code talkers did take part in the Invasion of Normandy, Comanche of the 4th Signal Company compiled a vocabulary of over 100 code terms using words or phrases in their own language. Two Comanche code-talkers were assigned to each regiment, the rest to 4th Infantry Division headquarters, shortly after landing on Utah Beach on June 6,1944, the Comanche began transmitting messages. Some were wounded but none killed, in 1989, the French government awarded the Comanche code-talkers the Chevalier of the National Order of Merit. On November 30,1999, the United States Department of Defense presented Charles Chibitty with the Knowlton Award, Meskwaki men used their language against the Germans while fighting in the US Army in North Africa
8.
Chuck Yeager
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Charles Elwood Chuck Yeager is a former United States Air Force general officer and record-setting test pilot. In 1947, he became the first pilot confirmed to have exceeded the speed of sound in level flight, Yeagers career began in World War II as a private in the United States Army Air Forces. After serving as a mechanic, in September 1942 he entered enlisted pilot training and upon graduation was promoted to the rank of flight officer. After the war, Yeager became a test pilot of many types of aircraft, as the first human to officially break the sound barrier, on October 14,1947, he flew the experimental Bell X-1 at Mach 1 at an altitude of 45,000 ft. Although Scott Crossfield was the first to fly faster than Mach 2 in 1953, Yeagers flying career spans more than 60 years and has taken him to every corner of the globe, including the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War. Yeager was born February 13,1923, to farming parents Susie Mae and Albert Hal Yeager in Myra, West Virginia and he had two brothers, Roy and Hal, Jr. and two sisters, Doris Ann and Pansy Lee. His first experience with the military was as a teen at the Citizens Military Training Camp at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indianapolis, Indiana, on February 26,1945, Yeager married Glennis Dickhouse, and the couple had four children. The name Yeager is an Anglicized form of the German name Jäger or Jaeger and he is the cousin of former baseball catcher Steve Yeager. Yeager enlisted as a private in the U. S. Army Air Forces on September 12,1941, having unusually sharp vision, which once enabled him to shoot a deer at 600 yards, Yeager displayed natural talent as a pilot and was accepted for flight training. He received his wings and a promotion to officer at Luke Field, Arizona. Assigned to the 357th Fighter Group at Tonopah, Nevada, he trained as a fighter pilot, flying Bell P-39 Airacobras. Stationed in the United Kingdom at RAF Leiston, Yeager flew P-51 Mustangs in combat with the 363d Fighter Squadron and he named his aircraft Glamorous Glen after his girlfriend, Glennis Faye Dickhouse, who became his wife in February 1945. Yeager had gained one victory before he was shot down over France in his 1st aircraft on March 5,1944 during his eighth mission and he escaped to Spain on March 30 with the help of the Maquis and returned to England on May 15,1944. He was awarded the Bronze Star for helping another airman, who had lost part of his leg during the escape attempt, to cross the Pyrenees. He had joined another evader, fellow P-51 pilot 1st Lt Fred Glover, in speaking directly to the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Eisenhower, after gaining permission from the War Department to decide the requests, concurred with Yeager and Glover. In part, because of his background, he also frequently served as a maintenance officer in his flying units. Yeager demonstrated outstanding flying skills and combat leadership, on October 12,1944, he became the first pilot in his group to make ace in a day, downing five enemy aircraft in a single mission. Yeager later reported both pilots bailed out and he finished the war with 11.5 official victories, including one of the first air-to-air victories over a jet fighter
9.
Medal of Honor
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The medal is normally awarded by the President of the United States in the name of the U. S. Congress. There are three versions of the medal, one for the Army, one for the Navy, personnel of the Marine Corps and Coast Guard receive the Navy version. U. S. awards including the Medal of Honor do not have titles and while there is no official abbreviation. The Medal of Honor is the oldest continuously issued combat decoration of the United States armed forces, because the medal is presented in the name of Congress, it is often referred to as the Congressional Medal of Honor. However, the name is Medal of Honor, which began with the U. S. Armys version. Within United States Code the medal is referred to as the Medal of Honor, in 1990, Congress designated March 25 annually as National Medal of Honor Day. The capture saved the fort of West Point from the British Army, although the Badge of Military Merit fell into disuse after the American Revolutionary War, the concept of a military award for individual gallantry by members of the U. S. 539 Certificates were approved for this period and this medal was later replaced by the Army Distinguished Service Medal which was established on January 2,1918. Those Army members who held the Distinguished Service Medal in place of the Certificate of Merit could apply for the Army Distinguished Service Cross effective March 5,1934. There were no awards or medals at the beginning of the Civil War except for the Certificate of Merit which was awarded for the Mexican-American War. Scott however, was strictly against medals being awarded which was the European tradition, after Scott retired in October 1861, the Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, adopted the idea of a decoration to recognize and honor distinguished naval service. Senator James W. Secretary Wells directed the Philadelphia Mint to design the new military decoration, on May 15,1862, the United States Navy Department ordered 175 medals with the words Personal Valor on the back from the U. S. Mint in Philadelphia. Senator Henry Wilson, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Military Affairs, the resolution was approved by Congress and signed into law on July 12,1862. During the war, Townsend would have some medals delivered to recipients with a letter requesting acknowledgement of the Medal of Honor. By mid-November the War Department contracted with Philadelphia silversmith William Wilson and Son, the Army version had The Congress to written on the back of the medal. Both versions were made of copper and coated with bronze, which gave them a reddish tint,1863, Congress made the Medal of Honor a permanent decoration. On March 3, Medals of Honor were authorized for officers of the Army, the Secretary of War first presented the Medal of Honor to six Union Army volunteers on March 25,1863 in his office. 1890, On April 23, the Medal of Honor Legion is established in Washington,1896, The ribbon of the Army version Medal of Honor was redesigned with all stripes being vertical
10.
Congressional Gold Medal
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A Congressional Gold Medal is an award bestowed by the United States Congress, the Congressional Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom are the highest civilian awards in the United States. However, There are no permanent statutory provisions relating to the creation of Congressional Gold Medals. When a Congressional Gold Medal has been deemed appropriate, Congress has, by legislative action, American citizenship is not a requirement. Since the American Revolution, Congress has commissioned gold medals as its highest expression of appreciation for distinguished achievements. The medal was first awarded in 1776 by the Second Continental Congress to General George Washington, the medal normally is awarded to persons, but in 1979 the American Red Cross became the first organization to be honored with a gold medal. In 2014 the Civil Air Patrol was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal for the service in World War II. As of 2013 four people had been awarded more than one medal, Winfield Scott, Zachary Taylor, Lincoln Ellsworth. The Gold Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom are generally considered to carry the same level of prestige. The chief difference between the two is that the Freedom Medal is personally awarded by the President of the United States, a Congressional Gold Medal is designed by the United States Mint to specifically commemorate the person and achievement for which the medal is awarded. Medals are therefore different in appearance, and there is no standard design, Congressional Gold Medals are considered non-portable, meaning that they are not meant to be worn on a uniform or other clothing, but rather displayed. This was authorized in 1935 by Pub. L, 74–43 allowing the Secretary of the Navy to authorize—at his discretion—the wearing of commemorative or other special awards on Navy or Marine Corps uniforms, in military sized form. The rules have broadened since its beginning and now includes different people groups such as actors, authors, entertainers, often, bronze versions of the medals are struck for sale by the U. S. Mint, and may be available in both larger and smaller sizes. In at least one case, the John Wayne medal, private dealers bought large numbers of the bronze version and they were then gold plated and resold to the public for a significant profit. List of Congressional Gold Medal recipients Awards and decorations of the United States government Congressional Silver Medal Congressional Bronze Medal Thanks of Congress Snowden, a Description of the Medals of Washington, and of Other Objects of Interest in the Museum of the Mint. Illustrated, to Which Are Added Biographical Notices of the Directors of the Mint from 1792 to the year 1851, list of recipients Loubat, J. F. and Jacquemart, Jules, Illustrator, The Medallic History of the United States of America 1776–1876
11.
Smithsonian Institution
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The Smithsonian Institution, established in 1846 for the increase and diffusion of knowledge, is a group of museums and research centers administered by the Government of the United States. Originally organized as the United States National Museum, that ceased to exist as an administrative entity in 1967. Additional facilities are located in Arizona, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York City, Texas, Virginia, more than 200 institutions and museums in 45 states, Puerto Rico, and Panama are Smithsonian Affiliates. The Institutions thirty million annual visitors are admitted without charge and its annual budget is around $1.2 billion with 2/3 coming from annual federal appropriations. Other funding comes from the Institutions endowment, private and corporate contributions, membership dues, and earned retail, concession, Institution publications include Smithsonian and Air & Space magazines. The British scientist James Smithson left most of his wealth to his nephew Henry James Hungerford, Congress officially accepted the legacy bequeathed to the nation, and pledged the faith of the United States to the charitable trust on July 1,1836. The American diplomat Richard Rush was dispatched to England by President Andrew Jackson to collect the bequest, Rush returned in August 1838 with 105 sacks containing 104,960 gold sovereigns. Once the money was in hand, eight years of Congressional haggling ensued over how to interpret Smithsons rather vague mandate for the increase, unfortunately, the money was invested by the US Treasury in bonds issued by the state of Arkansas which soon defaulted. The United States Exploring Expedition by the U. S. Navy circumnavigated the globe between 1838 and 1842, in 1846, the regents developed a plan for weather observation, in 1847, money was appropriated for meteorological research. The Institution became a magnet for young scientists from 1857 to 1866, the Smithsonian played a critical role as the U. S. partner institution in early bilateral scientific exchanges with the Academy of Sciences of Cuba. The Smithsonian Institution Building began construction in 1849, designed by architect James Renwick Jr. its interiors were completed by general contract Gilbert Cameron and the building opened in 1855. The Smithsonians first expansion came with construction of the Arts and Industries Building in 1881, Congress had promised to build a new structure for the museum if the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition generated enough income. It did, and the building was designed by architects Adolf Cluss and Paul Schulze, meigs of the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The National Zoological Park opened in 1889 to accommodate the Smithsonians Department of Living Animals and this structure was designed by the D. C. architectural firm of Hornblower & Marshall. More than 40 years would pass before the museum, the Museum of History. It was designed by the firm of McKim, Mead & White. That same year, the Smithsonian signed an agreement to take over the Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration, the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum opened in the Old Patent Office Building on October 7,1968. The first new building to open since the National Museum of Natural History was the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
