British Museum: Quick Facts

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Last updated

Nov. 1, 2026

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Facts

Date	1753 - present
Related People	Sir Hans Sloane, Baronet • Sir Anthony Panizzi • Richard Garnett • Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks • Sir Wallis Budge

Photos and Videos

The British Museum's grand neoclassical facade in London, featuring tall columns, a sculpted pediment, and visitors gathered on the steps.

British Museum: Reading Room

Norman Foster: Great Court

detail of a the Parthenon frieze with the Panathenaic procession

The Rosetta Stone on display, showing three distinct bands of script: Egyptian hieroglyphics at the top, demotic script in the middle, and ancient Greek at the bottom.

Visitors walk in front of the British Museum's grand neoclassical facade in London, featuring tall columns and a triangular pediment.

The British Museum, London, a Greek Revival building designed by Sir Robert Smirke, 1823–47.

Carved stone panels from the Northwest Palace of Ashurnasirpal II at what is now Nimrūd, Iraq; in the British Museum, London.

British Museum: Reading Room

Explore Bloomsbury's British Museum, home to the Elgin Marbles and the Rosetta Stone, in London

Study London's history through sites such as Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, and the River Thames

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