Great Exhibition

The "Great Exhibition" in Hyde Park London, from 1st May to 15th October 1851, was the first of the large exhibitions of culture and industry that were to be repeated in many later events. It was organised by Prince Albert and Henry Cole[?] as a celebration of modern industrial technology and design. A special building, the Crystal Palace was designed by Joseph Paxton to house the show, which was an emormous popular success. Profits were later used to found the Victoria and Albert Museum, Science Museum and the Natural History Museum[?]. The exhibition caused controversy at the time. Some conservatives feared that the mass of visitors might become a revolutionary mob, while radicals such as Karl Marx saw the exhibition as an emblem of the capitalist fetishism of commodities. Today the 'Great Exhibition' has become a symbol of the Victorian Age[?].

See also: List of world's fairs