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The Field Museum…

…was founded in 1893 with a $1 million contribution from Marshall Field. He later contributed another million dollars and left the museum $8 million in his will.

Shedd Aquarium Facts

- the complete name of the aquarium is John G. Shedd Aquarium;

- it is located in the Museum Campus, together with the Field Museum and Adler Planetarium;

- the Shedd Aquarium opened with its first exhibits on May 30, 1930 and was the first inland aquarium with a permanent saltwater fish collection; 1,000,000 US gallons of seawater were transported in 1930 by 20 railroad tank cars that made 8 round trips between Chicago and Key West;

- the aquarium was a gift to the City of Chicago by John G. Shedd, a retailer and protege of Marshall Field (Field himself was a benefactor of the Field Museum located in the same Museum Campus); unfortunately Shedd only lived to see the architect’s first drawings ; his widow, Mary R. Shedd was the one to cut the ribbon at the official opening ceremony;

- construction of the aquarium started on November 2, 1927 and lasted until December 19, 1929;

- with an annual average of 2 million visitors, the Shedd Aquarium was the most visited aquarium in the US in 2005 and the most popular cultural attraction in Chicago in 2007.

Sue, the largest, most complete and…

…best preserved Tyrannosaurus Rex ever discovered was purchased by The Field Museum in 1997.