The Secrets of 10 Pittsburgh Landmarks
Here is a look at some of the surprising, behind-the-scenes details of how the Steel City gained some of its unique features.
June 9, 2021
Carnegie’s Namesake Dinosaur
Dinosaurs were a public fascination in the late 1800s. Andrew Carnegie wanted a specimen for his new Carnegie Institute in Oakland, so, in 1899, he sent a team to Wyoming to find one.
American scientists in the 1870s first classified the long-necked dinosaurs diplodocus and apatosaurus, using fossils discovered during construction of the transcontinental railroad. Carnegie’s team found a specimen so enormous that the museum was expanded to fit it; the great dino’s bones sat in storage until enough room was made. Meanwhile, a framed print of the Diplodocus carnegii hung on the wall at the steel baron’s summer castle in Scotland, where it caught the eye of King Edward VII. Carnegie agreed to give the monarch a copy of the colossal fossil for the British Museum.
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