Natural History Museum, London

One of the three biggest museums located on Exhibition Road, South Kensington in busy London is the Natural History Museum. The Museum is home to a wide variety of both earth and life specimens and has about 70 million items in its collection. The museums collections are separated into 5 main categories which include: Entomology, Botany, Zoology, Mineralogy and Zoology. It is known the world over as a center for research specializing in taxonomy as well as identification and conservation. In fact, many of the specimens housed inside the museum were collected by Charles Darwin, himself, thus many of these specimens have significant historical value as well as being extremely important to scientific research. Inside the museum is the newly added Darwin Center which was designed to function as the newest home for many of the museums preserved specimens. It also serves as a new workspace for the museum’s staff as well as provides visitors with more educational experiences. The Darwin Center is also home to Archie, its most famous resident, an 8.62 meter long Giant Squid.

One of the most prominent exhibits in the Natural History Museum would have to be Dippy. Dippy is a 105 foot replica of a Diplodocus carnegii skeleton and can be found in the museum’s central hall. Dippy has become quite an iconic symbol for the museum and his popularity has gone past the walls where he’s kept. Dippy also appears in the media as a popular cartoon. Another popular “giant” found in the museum is the model of a blue whale which weighs about 10 tons and is 25m in length. An urban myth surrounding the blue whale model is that there’s a time capsule hidden within its stomach. It is yet to be confirmed.