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National Museum of Natural History
The National Museum of Natural
History is taken care of by the Smithsonian Institution that sits on
the National Mall in Washington, D. C. and admission is free to the
museum that is open every day of the year. In its magnificent
collections, there are more than 500 million specimens of rocks,
plants, meteorites, minerals, fossils, animals and human cultural
relics. It is the second most popular of the Smithsonian museums and
home to 185 professional natural history scientists, the biggest
group of scientists devoted to the study of the natural and cultural
history in the world. It started out as the United States National
Museum, opening in 1910, so that the Smithsonian could have more
space for its collections and research. The structure wasn't
completely finished until 1911, and was designed by Hornblower &
Marshall. It is designed in the neoclassical style, and the first
building to be built on the north side of the mall, on Constitution
Avenue, and part of the McMillan Commission plan. In 2000, Kenneth
E. Behring gave the museum $80 million and in 1997 had given $20
million to modernize it. Besides the exhibits, it maintains huge
reference collections and research facilities, and in 2005, the
Butterfly of Peace gem was exhibited in the United States, and in
2008, another display of 5000 square feet opened that is dedicated
to soil and its life-sustaining abilities. Some of the features
include the Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals, the Korea Gallery,
Hall of Human Origins, Insect Zoo, Dinosaurs/Hall of Paleobiology,
Western Cultures Hall, Hall of Mammals, Butterflies + Plants:
Partners in Evolution, Ocean Hall, African Voices and Osteology:
Hall of Bones. Temporary exhibits happening now include; Discovering
Rastafari, Farmers, Warriors, Builders: The Hidden Life of Ants, Dig
It! The Secrets of the Soil and Written in Bone: Forensic Files of
the 17th Century Chesapeake. The museum contains an IMAX theater for
feature length films and the Discovery Room, which is a family and
student friendly hands-on activities room that sits on the first
floor. A bird display is located on the lower level with all the
migratory and native birds to the region. The Hall of Geology,
Gems and Minerals contains one of the most magnificent and important
collections of its kind in the world, including some of the most
famous pieces of gems and minerals, including the Hope Diamond and
the Star of Asia Sapphire, which is one of the biggest sapphires in
the world. There are more than 15,000 separate gems in the
collection, 350,000 minerals, and 300,000 samples of ore and rock
specimens. This collection also contains about 35,000 meteorites,
that is thought to be the most complete collection of its kind in
the world. It is shown in the Janet Annenburg Hooker Hall of
Geology, Gems and Minerals, one of the numerous galleries in the
museum. The David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins opened in 2010, on
the museum's 100th anniversary and named after Koch, who gave $15
million to the $20.7 million exhibit. It is devoted to the discovery
and understanding of human origins and sits on 15,000 square feet of
space. Specimens include 75 replicated skulls, an interactive family
tree that follows six million years of evolution and a Changing the
World gallery that highlights issues encompassing the global warming
problem and human impact on the world.
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