Date: Jan 15, 2014
Location: United Kingdom
Tags: Art, Great Court, Museum, Sciences, Current Event, Architecture, Sculpture, History
History:
Google has celebrated the 255th anniversary of the British Museum with a Doodle on its search page.
Established in 1753 after the physician and scientist Sir Hans Sloane died and bequeathed his enviable collection of curiosities to King George II, the first exhibition galleries and reading room for scholars opened on 15 January 1759 at Montagu House in London.
In its inception, the museum contained Sloane's collection of around 71,000 objects, including 40,000 printed books, 7,000 manuscripts, and a large group of natural history specimens from across the world.
The British Museum was the first of its kind in Britain, as it belonged not to the church or king, but was freely open to the public and aimed to collect everything. IOt is now a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and remains free to visit.
In 2013, the British Museum had its most successful year to date with 6.7 million visits – up 20 per cent on 2012 and beating 2008's previous record of 6 million.
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