The British Museum opened to the public on 15 January 1759 . It was first housed in a seventeenth-century mansion, Montagu House, in Bloomsbury on the site of today's building. Entry was free and given to all scholarly and inquisitive persons. The beginning collection mainly consisted of books, manuscripts and natural specimens with some antiquities (including coins and medals, prints and drawings) and ethnographic material. With the exception of the two World Wars, the Museum has remained open ever since, steadily rising its opening hours and moving from an audience of 5,000 per year to today's 6 million.

The museum's admission is still free today as it was then, it is open daily from 10:00-17:30 (5:30 pm) and on Fridays is stays open late until 20:30 (8:30 pm). There are free tours and talks daily, no booking required, just meet the volunteer guides at the relevant galleries. There are multimedia guides that can be purchased that will give you insight to over 200 objects in 61 galleries. The British Museum always has special exhibitions that periodically change, currently they have Grayson Perry "The Tomb of the Unknown Crafsman" extended till Feb 26, 2012, Hajj "Journey to the heart of Islam" Jan 26 - April 15 2012, and also Shakespeare: staging the world July 19 - Nov 25 2012. And for the family, they have free family events every weekend, call or visit their website to see what event is planned on the weekend you'll be arriving. They also have what's called Handling Sessions, which is a unique opportunity to handle objects from the Museums's collections, volunteers are at hand to help answer your questions. They have great restaurants and shops to make it an enjoyable and fun filled event.

So the next time your visiting London, do make a stop at the British Museum, actually you'll need most of the day to truly experience what it has to offer. 

The above picture is of Nereid Monument, which is a sculptured tomb from Xanthos in classical period Lycia, close to present-day Kinik in Antalya Province, Turkey, it is thought to have been built in the early fourth century BCE as a tomb for Arbinas, it is located in room 17. And the side pictures of the mummies were taken at the Museum, in the Egyptian Death and Afterlife rooms (rooms 62 and 63).