Dec
21

Today in Smithsonian History: December 21, 1846

Photograph of a daguerreotype of Joseph Henry taken in the 1840s.

Photograph of a daguerreotype of Joseph Henry (1797 – 1878), physicist and first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution (1846 – 1878)   taken in the 1840s. (Copyright: Chicago Historical Society)

December 21, 1846 Joseph Henry, a physicist from Princeton University, enters upon his duties of office as the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution (1846-1878).  He meets with the Board of Regents to plan the programs of the new Institution.

Courtesy Smithsonian Institution Archives

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Posted: 21 December 2019
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