The Aquarium actually "began" in the mid-1970s when Baltimore Mayor William Donald Schaefer and Commissioner of Housing and Community Development Robert C. Embry conceived and championed the idea of an aquarium as a vital component of Baltimore's overall Inner Harbor redevelopment.
In 1976, Baltimore City residents voted for the Aquarium on a bond referendum, and groundbreaking took place on August 8, 1978.
In November of 1979, the United States Congress voted it a "National" Aquarium.
The grand opening was on August 8, 1981.
