In his lifetime, chemist and mineralogist James Smithson never set foot in the United States.

He was an Englishman, born in France to widow Elizabeth Macie. His father was the Duke of Northumberland, Hugh Smithson.

When he died, James Smithson mysteriously bequeathed his entire estate to the United States for the establishment of an institution "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men."

After eight years of congressional argument, the Smithsonian Institution was established.

More than 20 million people visit its buildings every year. And Smithson, who never visited the nation in his life, now resides in death in a tomb in one of the Smithsonian buildings.

A white zinc carbonate was also named in his honor. It is called smithsonite.