Episode 1 of 2

Opening of the Great Exhibition

Name: Opening of the Great Exhibition
Start: 1851-05-01
Location: Hyde Park, London

When: 1 May 1851
Where: Hyde Park, London
Part of: Queen Victoria opens the Great Exhibition

Queen Victoria opened the Great Exhibition in the Crystal Palace, Hyde Park, London, on 1 May 1851.

The event was held in a cast iron and plate glass structure built in Hyde Park. The opening marked the start of an international exhibition showcasing industrial works from around the world.

Sources

The Crystal Palace Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-29

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.