Do you know about what happened to the National Museum of Brazil?The National Museum of Brazil went up in flames in September 2018. What led to this devastating situation in the country and what happened to the ceramics and artifacts there?In this article, we will look at the history of the oldest museum of Brazil and what exactly happened on that tragic day when Brazil lost a major part of its heritage. We will also uncover the artifacts that were thankfully recovered by the archeologists from the rubble left behind by the devastating fire that destroyed a historical museum .After reading about the entire collection of human bones and human remains in the museum in Rio de Janeiro, also read about Brazil soccer facts and Alabama state flag facts.The Brazil Museum HistoryThe National Museum of Brazil was its oldest scientific institution. Located in the capital city of Rio De Janeiro, the main building of the museum was once resided by the Royal Family of Portugal.The Royal Family lived there from 1808 to 1821. The building later also housed the Brazilian Imperial Family from 1822 to 1889. It later also hosted the Republican Constituent Assembly when the monarchy was overthrown between 1889 and 1891.In 1892, there was an order to use the building as the National Museum of Brazil. Portugal King João VI founded the museum on June 6, 1818. Then it was named the Royal Museum. The museum initially held collections put together by the House of Natural History, widely known as the Casa dos Pássaros which translates to House of the Birds.The House of Birds was established in 1784 by Luís de Vasconcelos e Sousa, the viceroy of Brazil. It also contained zoology and mineralogy collections. The aim of establishing the museum was to promote the socio-economic development of Brazil. The museum diffused culture, science, and knowledge.It became the most significant museum of its kind in South America. The Federal University of Rio De Janeiro incorporated the museum in itself in 1946.What started the Brazil museum fire?The national museum fire began with a faulty air conditioning unit. On the ground floor of the National Museum, an air conditioning unit, whose job was to cool down the cultural institution’s auditorium, was not installed properly.It was also reported that the unit received stronger currents than it was produced to handle which contributed to the tragedy. Inadequate safety measures taken throughout the museum were also blamed for the quick spread of the fire with no means of putting it out. The museum lacked water hoses, fire exits, and sprinklers that were absolutely necessary to stop the blaze of such a big scale. The tragedy was a result of several cuts in the budget.These careless mistakes were primary reasons for the September 2018 blaze. The 203-year-old building went up in flames and most of the artefacts collections were completely destroyed.The fire burned the museum for as long as six hours and the temperature of the ground floor reached 1,832 F (1,000 C).The auditorium tragically was below the art gallery that housed the restructured skeleton of a dinosaur named Maxakalisaurus topai.How old was the Brazil museum?The Brazil National Museum was 203 years old. It was a symbol of heritage and its loss is immeasurable.The Brazilian government was kind enough to pledge to rebuild the national museum. Sérgio Sá Leitão, the cultural minister, ordered inspections of the other museums of Brazil.Researchers and archaeologists fear that repairing the building will not be able to fill the hole that has been left in Brazilian science.In the past, there have been cuts in research budgets of research institutions. Due to this, institutions struggled to afford minimum amenities.In order to preserve the memory of this monumental museum, students enrolled in the museology course at the Federal University for the State of Rio de Janeiro collected various selfies, photos, and videos of the exhibition.An ecologist from the Florida University, Emilio Bruna, who is a native Brazilian, recently visited the National Museum.He commented that when specimens from the museum were lost, Brazilians lost some of who they were. The Dallas Museum of Art in Dallas, Texas has an exhibition about Brazil.A failed attempt was made to burn down Barnum’s American Museum by the Confederate Army of Manhattan in November 1864. The museum was burned down to the ground on July 13, 1865, in New York.What museum burned down?On Sunday, September 2, the fire started in the oldest natural history museum, the National Museum of Brazil, at around 7:30 p.m. The fire destroyed the museum completely.It burned the museum through the night. Firefighters, scholars, and soldiers worked hard to save some of the artifacts from the museum’s archive.Even though they were able to recover some artifacts, including a few thousand mollusk specimens, the National Museum of Brazil still lost up to 90% of its collection of 20 million artifacts.Paleontologists, anthropologists, and archaeologists around five months later were given the task to sift through the rubble and recover artifacts from various collections of the oldest natural history museum. They successfully preserved about 2,000 items.Among the most important artifacts recovered was Luzia’s 11,500-year-old skull. She was the oldest human ever found in the Americas.Scientists also recovered the Bendigo meteorite which was discovered Bahia in 1784. Surprisingly, the fragments of a dinosaur fossil which is 44 ft (13.4 m) tall were rescued as well.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Brazil Museum: curious national history facts for kids then why not take a look at flamingo wildlife habitat in Las Vegas or birds that sing.
Do you know about what happened to the National Museum of Brazil?
