Celebrating the British Museum’s Birthday: Now You Can Participate with a Virtual Visit

January 15, 1759

On this day, the British Museum opened.

The British Museum was founded in 1753 when Sir Hans Sloane left his entire collection to the country of England.

At first glance, a personal collection doesn't sound worthy of starting a museum.

But over his lifetime, Sloane became a one-man repository for all things relating to the natural world.

Hans outlived many of the explorers and collectors of his day, and as they would die, they would bequeath him their herbariums and collections.

So when Hans passed away, he essentially had become the caretaker of the world’s Natural History, aka the British Museum.

Today, the British Museum is the largest indoor space captured by Google Street View.

Google mapped the museum in November of 2015, and so it's now available online to all of us.

When your friends ask you what you're doing, you can say,

I'm going to tour the British Museum. What are you up to?