This is Throwback Thursday #331. In these, we look back into the past at ESCONI specifically and Earth Science in general. If you have any contributions, (science, pictures, stories, etc …), please send them to esconi.info@gmail.com. Thanks!

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Last Wednesday was SUE’s Unearth Day! SUE was found by Sue Hendrickson on August 12th, 1990. Sue hung back at camp, while the rest of the team from the Black Hills Institute went to town to fix a flat tire on one of their trucks. Sue decided to explore some area around the camp. She noticed some bone bits at the base of a hill and the rest is history…

The Field Museum did a post on Facebook last week, as did All Things Chicago.

The History of SUE the T. rex

Once upon a time, about 67 million years ago, a legendary T. rex roamed the land that is now known as South Dakota.

For around 28 years, they reigned supreme as one of the most fearsome predators of their time.

After a long life, their story came to an end and their body was buried under layers of sediment, where they rested and fossilized over the course of millions of years.

Until 1990, when Sue Hendrickson spotted a few large vertebrae poking out of an eroded hillside.

It took six people 17 days to carefully excavate the bones and rocky matrix that would one day be named SUE.

Fast forward to the big move to Chicago: our favorite fossil needed a facelift, and our team of preparators was happy to provide it.

Twelve staff members spent more than 30,000 hours meticulously preparing SUE’s bones for display, followed by another 20,000 hours to build the exhibit itself.

On May 17, 2000, SUE finally made their grand debut in the Field Museum’s Stanley Field Hall.

Since then, SUE has met millions of fans from all over the world, giving our visitors a close-up look at a long-extinct lifeform.

Scientists have continued to study this remarkable fossil for decades, learning more about growth, movement, behavior, and biology.

SUE is one of the largest and most complete T. rex specimens ever discovered—and they live on as one of the most famous dinosaurs on the planet.

Happy Unearth Day, SUE!