History of Museums
Museums have a very long history dating back to the Third Century B.C. when Ptolemy I founded the museum in Alexandria. However, this was more of a library and university than what we now consider to be a museum.
The start of present day museums began around the 16 century A.D. with private collectors (generally the rich and elite class).
In England and France these collections were generally called cabinets. In Germany they were referred to as Kammer or Kabinett (meaning basically the same thing as cabinet). However, sometimes they were referred to as Kunstkammer (art), Wunderkammer/Naturalienkabinett (Nature specimens) and Rustkammer (historical objects). In Italy a collection was called a galleria. Eventually this word was borrowed and came to stand for a collection of art (paintings and sculptures mainly).
Obviously these collections were not open to anyone who wished to view them and for the most part, lacked any type of organization.
By the end of the 16 century/beginning of the 17 century, these collections had begun to be displayed in places for people to view. Their viewing audience was still rather limited to the educated and elite.
Throughout the 17 century museums began to open all over the world and in the 18 century over 100 museums were opened in Britain alone.
All through out these times the definition of a museum keeps getting redefined as does the proper way to setup a museum.
With in the last 100 years the definition of "museum" has broadened to include zoos, planetariums, aquariums, archives, and libraries.