James Smithson, an ENGLISH scientist bequeathed today's equivalent of half a million dollars in 1829 to the U.S. "for the advancement and diffusion of knowledge." Congress, as is their custom, promptly invested in some bad financial deals in Arkansas (of all places) and lost the whole wad. John Quincy Adams insisted that the money be paid back so the American people bailed out the Congress who pissed away a fortune and has been paying for the "gift of the Smithsonian" ever since-usually to...

Suppressed Archaeological Finds