Ten random things: October 16

Ten recipients of the James Smithson Society's Founders Medal:

1. Marvin Breckinridge Patterson
2. James A. and Barbara H. Block
3. Edward Ward Bitter
4. Professor Ikuo Hirayama
5. Mr. Mercer Ellington
6. Dr. Herbert R. Axelrod
7. Enid A. Haupt
8. William S. Anderson
9. Gaylord and Dorothy R. Donnelley
10. John H. Phipps

The James Smithson Society is for people who give a lot of money to the Smithsonian Institution. (Or, in their words, "who best understand and support the Institution’s work.") The Founders Medal is for people who give a lot of money to the Smithsonian. And God bless 'em for it.