British Museum

The British Museum was founded in 1753, established by an Act of Parliament built around the personal collection of the physician and naturalist Sir Hans Sloane, who bequeathed his vast holdings of books, manuscripts, natural specimens and antiquities to the nation. It opened to the public in 1759 at Montagu House in London, making it the world's first national public museum, and it was conceived from the outset on the principle of free admission for all visitors, a commitment the museum has maintained ever since. Over the following two and a half centuries the museum built one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of human history, art and culture in existence, now numbering roughly eight million objects spanning virtually every era and region of the world, including the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon sculptures removed from Athens by Lord Elgin in the early nineteenth century, and an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities including numerous mummies. The museum has long been at the centre of international debate over the restitution of contested items in its collection, most prominently the Parthenon sculptures claimed by Greece and Benin Bronzes claimed by Nigeria, disputes that remain unresolved as of the museum's own most recent public statements.