Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

The National Museum of Natural History is located on the north side of the National Mall. It is one of the 16 museums in the Smithsonian museum system. Since its opening in 1910, it has collected more than 120 million exhibits, ranging from primitive dinosaur fossils to early human origins. Cultural relics, rare animal specimens and precious mineral gems around the world have well preserved the heritage of natural science and human culture. 1. The symbol of the museum - The African Wild Elephant Museum collects and exhibits various and precious animal specimens. The layout is so careful that even the living environment of the animals is truly reproduced, trying to restore the lifelike natural biological chain. Among them, the African wild elephant specimen in the center of the hall on the first floor is very large. This specimen vividly restores its original appearance on the African grassland, and is regarded as the symbol of the National Museum of Natural History. There are also separate themed pavilions for mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, insects and marine life. 2. The treasure of the town hall - the blue diamond "Hope Star" is located in the mine and gemstone exhibition hall on the second floor. It is famous for the blue diamond "Hope Star", which flashed by in the movie "Titanic" But left an indelible impression on the world. Rough diamonds that once weighed more than 112 carats were cut into blue diamonds that now weigh 45 carats. Once this so-called "cursed diamond" has been around the world for nearly 300 years, now it brings more than 100 million visits to the museum every year.