Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History was info overload

The Field Museum of Natural History is named in honor of its first major benefactor, the department-store magnate Marshall Field; the museum and its collections originated from the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and the artifacts displayed at the fair

In 2000, the Field Museum unveiled Sue, the largest T. rex specimen ever discovered; estimated to be 67 million years old, Sue has a length of 40.5 ft, stands 13 ft tall at the hips, and has been estimated at between 8.4–14 metric tons

During a 9 month reign of terror in 1898, these two male lions (known as the Lions of Tsavo) preyed on railroad construction workers in Kenya; the lions killed 28 workers before they were captured

In September, 1938 a meteorite crashed through a garage roof in Benld, Illinois and ended up lodged in the seat cushion of a Pontiac after bouncing off the muffler

For decades, scientists thought the coelacanth had gone extinct millions of years ago because they had only seen it in fossils; in 1938 one was captured in South Africa and another in 1999 in Indonesia making it one of the rarest fish in the world

The Chicago skyline from the exit of the Field Museum; the museum has 150+ scientists and researchers that travel to the far corners of the world in search of new discoveries and clues to what life was like hundreds, thousands, and millions of years ago

The mammals and birds (like this gorgeous hyacinth macaw) were all once alive and have been taxidermied; most of the museum (which costs $40!) seemed to consist of dead animals

The kora is a musical instrument made by attaching a long, wooden neck to a calabash; there was a temporary exhibit on Senegal where the kora is traditionally played

The gemsbok is much more appealing when it's alive and bounding across the Karoo in South Africa; with the advent of the Internet, the museum today is probably more relevant as a leading research institution

Ceramic jar, Arizona, 750 AD; the professional staff maintains collections of 24+ million specimens and objects that provide the basis for the museum’s scientific-research programs

These were the first two elephants to ever be taxidermied and have been the focal point of the Field Museum's main hall since 1909; some sections of the museum just seemed naturally dull such as botany, gems and anthropology

Can you imagine people lining up today to visit a natural history museum?; when the Field Museum opened this was the only place people could see exotic species and learn about what life was like in other parts of the world

Much of the Field Museum seemed very dry and dated; there was tons of information to read and much of it was too sophisticated for kids and too boring for adults