#museums & libraries

[triviaproofing]

#722: “The Smithsonian Institution has over 30 million fossils in its paleontology collection and more than 24 million insect specimens.”

Times have changed.

I contacted someone at the Smithsonian, who told me that their entomology collection contained 35 million insect specimens.

The Smithsonian’s website says that the paleobiology collection now has over 40 million fossils.

And that’s the end of the Museums and Libraries category! I hope you enjoyed it, since it’s the last time it’ll appear.

[triviaproofing]

#721: “Old Lyme, Connecticut has the world's only museum dedicated to nuts. The world's largest nutcracker, 8 feet long, hangs outside on a tree.”

Times have unfortunately changed.

From 1972 to 2002, Elizabeth Tashjian ran the Nut Museum. After she fell into a coma, the museum closed and the state seized her estate to pay her debts. A professor at Connecticut College convinced the town to donate the museum to them. Tashjian spent her remaining years helping the college's students sort through the museum items, which contained mostly art pieces and comparatively few nuts.

Tashjian sounded like a wonderful woman. She embraced nuts, because she liked the association with both the literal nut and the slang word meaning insane. Tashjian thought that society should accept nuts too and her museum tried to prove that.

[triviaproofing]

#720: “The Library of Congress has 327 miles of bookshelves.”

Times have changed.

Today, the Library of Congress has about 838 miles (1,349 kilometers) of bookshelves. They also hold 147 million items and 33 million books.

[triviaproofing]

#719: “James Smithson, English scientist and founder of the Smithsonian Institution, never once set foot in America. The institution was established in 1846 with funds from his estate which he left for “the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.””

True.

James Smithson was an English chemist. Having no children, he bequeathed his estate to his nephew. If his nephew died and couldn’t claim it, then he stipulated that the estate be given “to the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an Establishment for the increase & diffusion of knowledge among men.”

Smithson died in 1829, but the United States didn’t find out until 1835, after Smithson’s nephew had died without heirs. His estate, which included his library and various minerals, arrived in the United States not long after.

The Smithsonian Institution was officially founded in 1847. Today, only Smithson’s books survive, since his notes and minerals were destroyed in an 1865 fire.

[triviaproofing]

#718: “The work of an artist cannot be exhibited in the Louvre until he has been dead for at least sixty years. The only exception ever made to this rule was Georges Braque.”

Times have changed.

In 1961, Georges Braque was the first living artist to have his work exhibited at the Louvre. Note that: first.

I also found this article about how the Louvre is planning to set up an exhibit with contemporary artists. The exhibit will feature a joining of past and new works.

[triviaproofing]

#717: “Wonalancet, New Hampshire, boasts the world's only Antarctic dog museum, the Byrd Antarctic Dog Memorial Museum.”

False.

As far as I know, I haven’t found any verifiable proof of an Antarctic dog museum. I did find a comment talking about one museum in Christchurch, New Zealand, but I haven’t found any other information on that.

The New Hampshire Historical Society has an exhibit on Antarctic sled dogs, featuring Byrd’s team, but the page says nothing about a museum.

I also contacted the Historical Society, and they said they saw no such record of a museum in New Hampshire. But Chinook sled dogs did originate from there and they have a lot of source material about the original Chinook and its participation in a 1929 Antarctic expedition.