Whose bequest supplied the funds used to establish the Smithsonian Institution?
James Smithson
The answer was James Smithson. Here's the why, the decoys, and the source trail.
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British scientist James Smithson left his estate to the United States to create an institution for the "increase and diffusion of knowledge."
This answer is checked against Smithsonian Institution - Our History.
A good question makes the wrong answers feel close. Here is the clean read on the set.
- Andrew Carnegie - a decoy; it may live near the same topic, but it does not answer this exact clue.
- James Smithson - correct answer.
- John D. Rockefeller - a decoy; it may live near the same topic, but it does not answer this exact clue.
- Joseph Henry - a decoy; it may live near the same topic, but it does not answer this exact clue.
James Smithson is the one to remember. British scientist James Smithson left his estate to the United States to create an institution for the "increase and diffusion of knowledge." Smithson never visited the United States, yet his bequest became the foundation of the Smithsonian.
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