1683    The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, opens as the world's first university museum.

1773    The first public Colonial American museum opens in Charleston, South Carolina.

1793    In Paris, the French Revolutionary government opens the Louvre to the public as a museum.

1995    A budget standoff between Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Congress forces the federal government to temporarily close national parks and museums and to run most government offices with skeleton staffs.