Date of birth: 2 March 1876
Date of death: 9 October 1958
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The Venerable Pope Pius XII, born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli, reigned as the 260th Pope, head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State, from 2 March 1939 until his death in 1958.

Before election to the papacy, Pacelli served as secretary of the Department of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs, papal nuncio and Cardinal Secretary of State, in which capacity he worked to conclude treaties with European and Latin American nations, most notably the Reichskonkordat with Germany. His leadership of the Catholic Church during World War II remains the subject of continued historical controversy.

([Source][1])


[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Pius_XII

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Smithsonian Institution

*"I then bequeath the whole of my property...to the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the **Smithsonian Institution**, an Establishment for the increase & diffusion of knowledge..."*
- [James Smithson][1] (1765-1829)


[1]: http://upstream.openlibrary.org/auth...