British Museum Opens
The British Museum, officially opened on January 15, 1759, in Bloomsbury, London, is a prominent cultural institution that houses a vast collection of artifacts and antiquities. It was established through the merging of several significant collections, including items from Sir Hans Sloane and the manuscripts of Robert Harley, forming a foundation for its rich holdings. The museum's collections expanded significantly over the years, notably with the acquisition of the Royal Library and the library of George III, necessitating the construction of a larger facility to accommodate the growing number of artifacts.
Today, the British Museum features diverse departments, including those dedicated to antiquities, prints, ethnography, and coins. Among its most famous exhibits are the Rosetta Stone, a key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs, and the Elgin Marbles, which remain a subject of international debate regarding their ownership. The museum also showcases treasures like the Sutton Hoo artifacts, highlighting its role in preserving and presenting historical and cultural narratives. With nearly 1 million square feet of exhibition space, the museum attracts approximately 6 million visitors annually, making it a vital center for education and cultural exchange.
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British Museum Opens
British Museum Opens
Officially opened under its own name on January 15, 1759, the British Museum was originally located in the Montague House in the Bloomsbury section of London. Its initial contents came from three different collections—items from Sir Hans Sloane's Cabinet of Curiosities; the collection of Sir Robert Bruce Cotton, including Hebrew, Greek, and Anglo-Saxon documents; and the extensive manuscript holdings of Robert Harley and his son Edward, which had formed the Harleian Library. These collections were joined together in 1753 under an act of Parliament to form the nucleus of the British Museum.
The acquisition of the Royal Library from George II in 1757 added to the museum's holdings, but it wasn't until the museum acquired George III's library in 1823 that, the original building having proven too small for the growing collection, a new facility of approximately 600,000 square feet of floor space was constructed. Eventually, the British Library and the Natural History Museum were established separately from the British Museum and given their own facilities in London.
Today the British Museum is home to antiquities, prints and drawings, coins and medals, and ethnography departments. Some noteworthy exhibits are the Rosetta Stone, inscribed with identical texts in the hieroglyphic, demotic, and Greek languages, as well as the controversial Elgin Marbles— sculptures taken from the Parthenon in Greece by Thomas Bruce, the seventh earl of Elgin, in 1806 and still claimed by the Greek government. The museum also boasts a large number of clocks and timepieces, ivories, and the Sutton Hoo treasure—gold and silver from the remains of a seventh-century Saxon ship uncovered at an archeological site near Woodbridge, East Suffolk, England. By the end of the 20th century, the British Museum had expanded to nearly 1 million square feet of floor space and was averaging approximately 6 million visitors per year.