The Crystal Palace Opens
“Hyde Park, London, May 1, 1851. Queen Victoria opens the Great Exhibition inside a vast hall of glass and iron. Foreground shows exhibits of Indian textiles, American McCormick reapers, and a Krupp cannon; midground reveals a fountain of pink glass and palm trees enclosed under the soaring nave; sunlight pours through 300,000 panes onto a crowd of top hats and parasols.”
