The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations was held in Hyde Park, London, from May to October 1851. It was the brainchild of Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, and brought together more than 100,000 exhibits from across the British Empire and the world. Six million people visited — equivalent to a third of the British population at the time.
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The building itself was extraordinary: a vast iron-and-glass hall designed by Joseph Paxton and quickly nicknamed the Crystal Palace. After the exhibition closed, the building was moved to south London and gave its name to the area before being destroyed by fire in 1936. Profits funded the museums of South Kensington — the V&A, the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum.
You may be asked who organised the Great Exhibition (Prince Albert), what building hosted it (the Crystal Palace), or which museums were funded with its proceeds.
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