British scientist James Smithson provided the funding necessary to create the Smithsonian Institution. Born in France and educated at Oxford University in England, Smithson was a wealthy chemist and mineralogist. He never married or had any children.…

In 1793, President George Washington laid the cornerstone for the Capitol, a building which saw more than 200 years of construction, redesigning, expansion, and renovation. By 1800, the building offered enough space for Congress, the Supreme Court,…

Tiber Creek had been known as Goose Creek before 1790 when the city of Washington, DC was laid out and designated the nation's capital. The creek extended from the base of Capitol Hill to its mouth near the present day Washington Monument. In 1815,…