Community Corner
Five Things: The Smithsonian's 165th Birthday
Starting your kindergartener off on the right foot, Federal Reserve talks interest rates, tarantulas need to eat, too
- A high today of 93 with some clouds in the first part of the day, but clear skies by the afternoon. By Friday, we’ll feel a significant cooling of temperatures.
- Governor Bob McDonnell declares August School Readiness Month for preschoolers getting set to enter kindergarten. For all grades, do you know what your child’s summer reading requirements are? Contact your school or check out your school website.
- Today is the Smithsonian’s birthday! On August 10, 1846, President James K. Polk signed the act that established the Smithsonian Institute into law. The money, well over $500,000, was bequeathed by a little-known scientist, James Smithson who died some 20 years earlier. He had never even visited the United States, but his will read decreed that if his only nephew should die without heirs, his estate in total should go to "the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an Establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge." Today, the Smithsonian comprises 19 different museums and John Smithson is interred in a tomb in the Smithsonian Building.
- The Federal Reserve will keep interest rates at near 0 percent for the foreseeable future. According to the NY Times, interest rates have been held near zero since December 2008 so the economy is awash in cheap money. Unfortunately, while the Fed controls the interest rate, it can’t make people or businesses use the money. There is a notable lack of demand from indebted consumers, nervous businesses and a shrinking public sector.
- Today at 11:30 a.m. give your kids something amazing to talk about: live tarantula feedings in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum.
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