The Natural History Museum is a world-renowned center of life and earth science research, housing about 80 million specimens in its five main collections: botany, entomology, mineralogy, palaeontology, and zoology. It opened in 1881 and was originally part of the British Museum, but became a separate institution in 1963. Today, the museum is a leading research center, an exhibition space, and a public attraction, notable for its iconic architecture and vast collections, which include specimens collected by scientists like Charles Darwin