Did you know? The only Da Vinci in the Western Hemisphere, Ginevra de' Benci is also one of the artist’s early experiments with oil paint. Wrinkles indicate that he was still learning the new medium. Read more.
Did you know? The museum has 126 million specimens and artifacts, including 30 million insects, 4½ million plants, 7 million fish and 2 million cultural artifacts.
Did you know? The Center is a "living memorial" to John F. Kennedy. At the groundbreaking, President Lyndon Johnson used the same spade as was used in ceremonies for the Lincoln & Jefferson memorials. Read more.
Did you know? Some of the animals that make their home in Rock Creek Park include fox, coyotes, white-tailed deer, and 3 species of owl. Its also a resting area for many species of migratory birds. Read more.
Did you know? The arboretum has a National State Tree Grove, where all 50 official state trees are represented - each acquired from the state it represents. The oak is the official tree of the U.S. Read more.
Did you know? The look of the ballpark was inspired by the East Wing of The National Gallery of Art, designed by architect I.M. Pei. Read more.
Did you know? President Theodore Roosevelt was a life-long supporter of the Smithsonian Institute and was instrumental in the founding of the Freer Gallery of Art. Read more.
Did you know? Carousels evolved from a game played in the 1100s by Arab horsemen. Crusaders nicknamed the game “carosella” or “little war.” Be sure to visit the Dentzel carousel in the park! Read more.
Did you know? Famous for penning "The Star Spangled Banner," Francis Scott Key was an attorney by trade. He was the prosecutor in the court case following the assassination attempt on Andrew Jackson. Read more.
Did you know? James Smithson, who left his estate to the United States for the foundation of the Smithsonian Institute, had never set foot on American soil. Read more.
Did you know? History was made on this spot in 1861, when Thaddeus Lowe demonstrated the value of aerial reconnaissance. His balloon unit made thousands of reconnaissance flights during the Civil War. Read more.
Did you know? An Act of Congress created the National Zoo in 1889. It was intended in part to serve as a refuge for native wildlife, such as bison and beaver, that were vanishing from North America. Read more.
Did you know? The Gallery building (formerly the U.S. Patent Office) served as a hospital during the Civil War. Among the nurses who tended the wounded soldiers there was the poet Walt Whitman.
Did you know? Architect I.M. Pei’s 1978 addition to the gallery has an unusual layout – two isosceles triangles – in order to work with the gallery site’s irregular trapezoidal shape. Read more.
Did you know? The gardens were founded in part to house plants acquired by the Wilkes Expedition to the South and Central Pacific. It was on this voyage that Antarctica was confirmed to be a continent Read more.
Did you know? Several gardens here highlight the diversity of Virginia’s native flora, from the native plants and animals of the wetlands, to the state's many native trees.
Did you know? In 1937 the Redskins became the first team in the NFL to have an official marching band and the first with a team fight song, “Hail to the Redskins.” Read more.
Did you know? The original name for the Enterprise shuttle was to be Constitution; however passionate Star Trek viewers held a write-in campaign asking the White House to instead name it Enterprise. Read more.
Did you know? Roller coasters have no engines or other means of acceleration – they are powered entirely by the conversion of potential energy into kinetic energy, basic principles of physics. Read more.
Did you know? Slides at the Water Mine at Lake Fairfax are named for Pete the Prospector who according to local legend, staked a claim there in 1849, hoping to find gold, but found only water. Read more.
Did you know? Arrowheads found nearby indicate that Native Americans lived in the area 12,000 years before the arrival of Europeans. The points were likely used to hunt mastodon, caribou, and bison. Read more.
