The British Museum is the biggest museum in the world. Inside, you feel smaller than usual. There are many things to see.
The story of the British Museum goes back three hundred years to one unusual man, Sir Hans Sloane, doctor of King George II. The doctor collected books, drawings, clothes, money, animals, flowers, things from all over the world. The doctor wanted everything to stay together when he died, so that people could come and have a look. The British Museum began. King George II gave his library, and the museum started to grow.
The British Museum opened in 1759, six years after Sir Hans Sloane died. At first the museum was only open three days a week and only ten people could enter in an hour. There wasn't much time to see things. Visitors had to run through the rooms.
By about 1800, things began to get better. Wonderful statues, three thousand years old, arrived from Egypt. King George IV sold all his books to the museum secretly. A hundred years ago not only old books but also new ones arrived at the museum, and more people came to read them. Since then many famous men have written and studied there, like Karl Marx. And the library is growing faster and faster. There are four kilometers of new shelves every year and there are about two million visitors every year.
