Richard Owen

Hello. My name is Richard Owen. A long, long time ago, when I was a little boy, I loved animals. I was especially curious about their bones. To me, bones were like puzzles. I thought if you put them all together, they could tell you a wonderful story about an animal that lived a very long time ago. I was born in the year 1804.

When I grew up, I became a scientist. I studied the bones of animals that lived long before any people did. Some of the bones I found were very, very big. They were enormous. No one had ever seen animals like these before, and nobody knew what to call them. In the year 1842, I came up with a special name for these giant creatures. I called them 'dinosaurs.' That name means 'terrible lizard,' because they were so big and amazing.

I wanted everyone to see the incredible skeletons of the dinosaurs. I thought children, especially, would love to see them. So, I had a big idea. I wanted to build a special museum in London. This museum would be a home for all the wonders of nature. It would have everything from tiny little insects to the giant dinosaur bones I loved to study so much. This museum opened in the year 1881.

I lived a long and exciting life. I lived to be 88 years old. My dream was for everyone to learn about the amazing animals that once walked the Earth. So, whenever you see a picture of a dinosaur or visit a natural history museum, you are seeing a part of my dream come true. And you can remember the special name I gave to those 'terrible lizards'.