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