PHILADELPHIA, PA.- Today The Franklin Institute welcomed their one millionth visitor of 2006. A school group from the Philadelphia charter school, Harambee Institute of Science, was pulled to the side by Franklin Institute administrators, informing them that their group had officially become the one millionth visitor to the Franklin Institute for the calendar year 2006! This milestone was marked by awarding the children and their teacher, Ms. Shariffah Azzaam, a complimentary field trip to The Franklin Institute for 190 students (grades K-4) sometime during 2007.

The overwhelming attendance for the blockbuster exhibition, /Body Worlds: The Anatomical Exhibition of Real Human Bodies/ is partially responsible for reaching the one million mark. During a six month period from October, 2005 through April, 2006, more than 603,000 visitors came through the doors of The Franklin Institute, making it the most well-attended traveling exhibit in the history of the City of Philadelphia.

“We are pleased to have brought two statement traveling exhibits to Philadelphia in 2006. While providing very different experiences, /Body Worlds /and /Darwin/ shared unique common ground. Both connected to real issues on debates in current science. And, in the year in which The Institute opened the doors of the Science Leadership Academy, our high-school partnership with the Philadelphia School District, both exhibits stimulated a sense of discovery and created real opportunities for science learning--whether in formal school group environments or as more casual leisure time activities.

On February 3, 2007, the wildly anticipated blockbuster exhibition, /Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs/ will make its final stop on the current North American tour at The Franklin Institute. King Tut will run through September 30, 2007 and is expected to draw at least one million visitors during its nine month stay in Philadelphia.