“Promote then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened.”

The English scientist James Smithson likely took some inspiration from these words and the ideals behind them when choosing to bequeath his fortune to the young USA, a place he’d never seen, to create “an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men” to be called the Smithsonian.

http://siarchives.si.edu/history/james-smithson