Rio de Janeiro's iconic National Historical Museum, which turned 200 in June, burned to the ground on Sunday night, Estado de Sao Paulo reported this evening. The museum was one of the oldest in the Americas, and was Brazil's version of the Museum of Natural History in New York. But with Rio de Janeiro requiring federal bailouts to keep public workers paid since the Olympics left in 2016, the museum has fallen on hard times. The destruction of the National Museum of Rio is emblematic of a city reeling from years of political corruption. Rio's National History Museum has been tied to the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro since the 1940s but was founded during the days of Portuguese colonialism in 1818.

Source: Forbes September 03, 2018 01:12 UTC