TheBritishMuseumisthebiggestintheworld.Inside，youfeelsmallerthanusual.Noticestellyouaboutahundreddifferentthingstosee：clockswhichhavebeentellingthetimeforsixhundredyears，Ro—manmoney，someoftheearliestbooksintheworld，Shakespeare’Sownwriting···ThestoryoftheBritishMuseumgoesbackthreehundredyearstooneunusualman：SirHansSloane.doctort0KingGeorgeII.Thedoctorcouldn’tstopcollecting--books，drawings，clothes，money，animals，flowers：thingsfromalIovertheworld.Thedoctorwantedeverythingtostaytogetherwhenhedied，SOthatpeoplecouldcomeandlookatit.TheBritishMuseumhadbegun.KingGeorge11gavehislibrary，andtheMu—seumstartedtogrow.Ithasneverstopped.Thefirstdifficultywasfindingahome.OneideawasBuckinghamPalace，butthePalacewasn’tbige—nough.FinallypeoplefoundalargerbuildingfortheMuseuminthemid—dieofLondon.Topayforit.theyboughtticketsat￡3each.TheBritishMuseumopenedin1759，sixyearsafterSirHansSloanedied.Thedoctorwantedpeople“toenterfreely”。ButtheMuseumwasa—fraidoflettingeverybodyin.Assistantswithgunsstoodatthedoors.On—ly“gentlemen”couldvisittheMuseumandthentheyhadtobuytickets.TheyalsohadtOmaketwoorthreejourneystOtheMuseumtoaskfortheticket，andthentheyhadtowaitweeksormonthsbeforeitcame.La—