January 12, 1773
America's First Museum
A museum is a building, place, or institution devoted to the acquisition, conservation, study, exhibition, and educational interpretation of objects having scientific, historical, or artistic value.
South Carolina was still a British colony when the Charleston Museum was founded in 1773 and is regarded as America's first museum. A fire destroyed many of the original collections in 1778, and operations were suspended during the Revolutionary War and again during the War Between the States.