Today in History

January 27, 1888

Founding of the National Geographic Society

On January 13, 1888, a small group of explorer and scientists, 33 in all, gathered at the Cosmos Club in Washington, DC. They proposed to organize a society "to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge while promoting the conservation of the world's cultural, historical, and natural resources." Two weeks later, they incorporated the National Geographic Society. Alexander Graham Bell, the Society's second president, proposed a magazine, sales of which would help fund the Society's activities.

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