18 April: The Natural History Museum

On this date in 1881 in London - the Natural History Museum opened it doors. Here are ten things you probably didn't know:

1. It was officially known as British Museum (Natural History) until 1992, despite legal separation from the British Museum in 1963.
2. The foundation of the collection was that of the Ulster doctor Sir Hans Sloane (1660–1753) who was also famous for inventing hot chocolate. His collection, included dried plants, animal and human skeletons. It was initially housed in the British Museum.
3. Sadly, the collection didn't fare well within the auspices of the British Museum in those days. The museum staff didn't care much about natural history - much of the collection was sold to the Royal College of Surgeons, or was burned. In 1833 the Annual Report states that, of the 5,500 insects listed in the Sloane catalogue, none remained. Staff were employed not because they were experts, but because of who they knew. In 1862 a nephew of the mistress of a Trustee was appointed Entomological Assistant despite not knowing the difference between a butterfly and a Moth. Later, the museum acquired a huge collection of shells from the conchologist Hugh Cuming and these weren't well cared for, either. Dr. George Shaw (Keeper of Natural History 1806–13) said he'd tread on any shell not in the 12th edition of Linnaeus' Systema Naturae. Many of the labels blew away when another curator's wife carried an open tray of specimens across the yard in a gale; others were removed by an employee simply because the display had been arranged by a colleague he didn't like! Eventually the Treasury refused to entrust the museum with specimens collected at the government's expense.
4. This changed after the palaeontologist Richard Owen was appointed Superintendent of the natural history departments of the British Museum in 1856. He wanted more space for natural history - and since space was limited in the existing building, that meant a new building. Today, the museum’s collection contains over 70 million botanical items, 55 million exhibits of animals, 9 million relics from archaeological digs, and 500,000 rocks and minerals. In 2013 the Museum became the UK's third most popular visitor attraction. 5.4 million people visited that year.
5. In 1864 a competition was held to design the new museum. The winning entry was submitted by the civil engineer Captain Francis Fowke, who died shortly afterwards. The scheme was taken over by Alfred Waterhouse who substantially revised the plans. There were originally going to be wings on either side of the main building, but these were abandoned for budgetary reasons.
6. The central axis of the museum is aligned with the tower of Imperial College London (formerly the Imperial Institute) and the Royal Albert Hall and Albert Memorial.
7. The most iconic exhibit is the Dinosaur skeleton - a 105-foot (32m) long replica of a Diplodocus carnegii skeleton, in the central hall. Dippy, as the model is affectionately known, was given to the museum by the American industrialist Andrew Carnegie. It is a cast of the original skeleton held in Carnegie's own museum. It cost £2,000 to make and was shipped to London in 36 crates. Mr. Carnegie later had more casts made and shipped to other capital cities around the world, making Dippy the most-seen dinosaur skeleton ever.
8. Also on display is the parallel skeleton and model of a blue whale, weighing 10 tons and 25m long. The whale skeleton has been on display since 1938, over 40 years since the whale was beached in Wexford Bay, Ireland. While the model was being built, there was a trapdoor in the stomach which workmen used for sneaky cigarette breaks. Before the trapdoor was sealed forever, they placed coins and a Telephone directory inside.
9. In the grounds of the museum there is a wildlife garden. In 2007 a new species of insect was discovered there.
10. The museum has featured in numerous films and books, including Disney's One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing; a dinosaur skeleton is stolen from the museum; a group of nannies hide inside the mouth of the Blue Whale model - except there is a good deal of artistic license - they are seen looking out through whale's teeth, and blue whales don't have teeth. Additionally, the film is set in the 1920s, before the Blue Whale model was built.