Washington DC - NMNH: Family Rotunda by wallyg

The iconic 11-ton, 13-foot-tall African Bush Elephant has been on display in the Kenneth E. Behring Family Rotunda of the National Museum of Natural since 1959. Sometimes called the Fénykövi elephant, after the Hungarian game hunter who donated the hide, it’s more often called by its affectionate nickname: Henry. The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), administered by the Smithsonian Institute, was established in 1910 as the United States National Museum. The building, designed in the neoclassical architectural style by Hornblower & Marshall, was the first constructed on the north side of the National Mall, along Constitution Avenue, as part of the 1901 McMillan Commission plan. The museum's collections total over 500 million specimens of plants, animals, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, and human cultural artifacts. With 7.1 million visitors in 2016, it is the most visited of all of the Smithsonian museums and is also home to about 185 professional natural history scientists — the largest group of scientists dedicated to the study of natural and cultural history in the world. The Smithsonian Institution, an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its shops and its magazines, was established in 1846. Although concentrated in Washington DC, its collection of over 136 million items is spread through 19 museums, a zoo, and nine research centers from New York to Panama.