Smithsonian Institution

"We often say, with great pride, that we are the world's largest museum and research complex," Wayne Clough says of the Smithsonian Institution. "Then I think, 'Well, so what GM?' It used to be the world's greatest carmaker. That doesn't guarantee you anything. We have to be very good at what we do."

An ill museum worker alleged Tuesday that the Smithsonian Institution didn't properly contain asbestos-laden dust from construction at the National Air and Space Museum and penalized him after he complained. The federal complaint said workers weren't informed of the material's presence until March 2008, even though the Smithsonian acknowledged it knew about the asbestos in the building's outer walls since at least 1992.

Bird remains found in both engines of the US Airways jetliner that ditched into New York's Hudson River last month have been identified as Canada geese, federal safety officials said. The National Transportation Safety Board said experts at the Smithsonian Institution who examined 25 samples of bird remains made the determination. They have been unable to determine how many birds were involved in the crash, in which all 155 passengers and crew members survived.

Ben Stiller, star of the recent "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" movie, has the lead in a new video playing at the Smithsonian Castle on the National Mall in Washington. The 12-minute overview of the Smithsonian's 19 museums is meant to get visitors on their way to spending a day, or several days, exploring some of the 136 million objects in the institution's holdings. Stiller injects a dose of his goofball humor into the presentation. In fact, it's probably the silliest orientation video you'll find at a place as storied and august as the Smithsonian.

New centers at the Smithsonian Institution will focus on exploring the universe and climate change on Earth, world cultures and the American experience under a new plan approved Monday. Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough said the four centers around those priorities would be designed to help scientists and curators foster new research. The changes approved by the Smithsonian Board of Regents will bring a new era to the 163-year-old complex, he said, vowing to break down traditional barriers between various scientific and artistic disciplines to encourage more innovation and broader work with schools and colleges.

In July 1835, the United States charge d'affaires in London received a copy of a British will making his young country a highly unusual bequest: some 100,000 pounds for the creation in Washington of an "establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." The donor had been a wealthy aristocrat, born out of wedlock, known for compulsive gambling and dabbling in natural science. He had never been to America and appeared to have no ties there.

When James Smithson, an English chemist who had never visited America, bequeathed half a million dollars in the 19th century for the young United States to found in Washington "the Smithsonian Institution, an Establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among man," Congress was reluctant to accept it. Sen. John C. Calhoun of South Carolina insisted that it was "beneath the dignity of the United States to accept presents of this kind from anyone."

The Smithsonian Institution did a good job inviting thousands to the first weekend of its 150th birthday bash. Too good. People were so enthralled Sunday by the traveling exhibit at the Los Angeles Convention Center that they lingered hours longer than they were supposed to, turning a planned clockwork schedule to accommodate thousands into a wait as long as three hours, even for those with reserved tickets, which were free with a $3.50 handling charge.

In the entrance area for the Smithsonian Institution's 150th Anniversary traveling Exhibition, which opened Friday at the Los Angeles Convention Center, primates get a strawberry Newton in reward for good behavior. No, not you.

First of all, the ruby slippers are fine. But things were touch-and-go for a while Tuesday morning after workers at the Smithsonian's traveling road show discovered a leak in the air-conditioning unit, dripping near priceless artifacts that had been carted across the country for display at the Los Angeles Convention Center.