Wrapping our Nerd Trip to the Florence Nightingale museum, we explore some of Florence’s innovations in nursing, another strong nursing figure and the perfect Nightingale gift shop item.

Florence Nightingale is credited as the founder of modern nursing, an innovative and head strong woman, ahead of her time in the use of the media and public relations to advance her cause and, in the process, she changed health care around the world. The museum describes Nightingale as the most influential Victorian woman after Queen Victoria herself! Find out what we discovered at the Florence Nightingale Museum.

Composer George Fredric Handel (1685-1759) created one of the most famous choral works ever – the Messiah, with its well known “Hallelujah Chorus.” But a trip to the Handel House in London revealed an interesting connection to a famous 20th century musician. It’s a connection that appears to have grown stronger since our 2013 visit.

Benjamin Franklin’s London lodgings may have truly been the first American embassy. In this Nerd Trip, you’ll learn about Franklin’s life in London, including the instrument he invented while living at 36 Craven Street.

There are many things to discover at the Ben Franklin house in London. First, many people may not realize that one of the Founding Fathers of the United States lived in London for a more than decade-and-a-half. And, he lived in a house where hundreds of human bones were found underneath the building. Yes, human bones, and you can see them for yourself.

While Congressional Cemetery is the final resting place for more than 55,000 people, it was the temporary resting place for thousands of others, including two of our original first ladies and three presidents, interred in the public vault until other arrangements could be made.

The gallery at the Theodore Roosevelt birthplace has “hundreds of original items from Roosevelt’s colorful life.” You’ll see campaign buttons and handwritten notes, including a short diary entry on the day in 1884 when TR lost both his mother and his first wife. He wrote simply, “The light has gone out of my life.”