British Museum Founded by Act of Parliament
June 7, 1753
Sir Hans Sloane bequeathed his 71,000 curiosities to the nation on condition they be shown free. Parliament organized a lottery to pay for them and opened the world's first free public national museum in a Bloomsbury mansion. The British began to believe culture belonged to everyone - including things taken from elsewhere.
In context
Also in 1753 (3 other events on record)
- Linnaeus Publishes Species Plantarum · Europe · Science
- Washington's Mission to the French · North America · Politics
- Ethiopia's Era of the Princes · Africa · Politics
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Culture
Era
Enlightenment (1651–1800), one of 696 events from that era on Saeculum.
Sources