circa 1850: A crowd of onlookers greet the arrival of the hot-air balloon 'Crystal Palace'. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

circa 1850: The dioptric revolving lighthouse shown at the Great Exhibition, Crystal Palace, London. Original Publication: From 'The Official Descriptive and Illustrated Catalogue of the Great Exhibition' (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Sir William Cubitt (1785 - 1855), English civil engineer born in Norfolk, designer of Bute Docks in Cardiff, the Southeastern Railway and the Berlin waterworks, knighted for the Crystal Palace buildings of the 1851 Great Exhibition, he was Lord Mayor of London, 1860 - 61. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

circa 1848: The construction of Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, for the Great Exhibition of 1851. After the exhibition, the prefabricated building was relocated in Sydenham, south London. (Photo by Rischgitz/Getty Images)

London, 1911.View showing one of two water towers designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806-1859). The south tower was used for a television aerial in the 1930s. The Crystal Palace was built to house the 'Great Exhibition of the Works of the Industry of all Nations', conceived by Prince Albert (1819-1861) and held at Hyde Park, London in 1851. It was the first large-scale prefabricated ferrovitreous (iron and glass) structure and was designed by landscape designer Joseph Paxton (1801-1865).

A coloured lithograph of a model elephant with howdah in the Indian Court in the Crystal Palace, Hyde Park, London, from 'Dickinsons' Comprehensive Pictures of the Great Exhibition of 1851'. Published in 1854, this book contains lithographed copies of original paintings by Nash, Haghe and Roberts, commissioned by Prince Albert (1841-1910). The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, held in 1851 in the spectacular Crystal Palace built in London's Hyde Park, was the first industrial exhibition. Over 100,000 exhibits were shown from around the world. (Photo by SSPL/Getty Images)

1 December 1936: London firemen try to contain the fire which destroyed the Crystal Palace exhibition hall in Sydenham, south London. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

UK: Illustrated plate taken from Dickinsons' Comprehensive Pictures of The Great Exhibition' (1854). The Great Exhibition was conceived by Prince Albert (1819-1861) to showcase Britain's industrial and technological achievements. The Crystal Palace was purpose-built to house the 30,000 exhibits. It was the first large-scale prefabricated ferrovitreous (iron and glass) structure, and was designed by Joseph Paxton (1801-1865). The prefabricated design made the construction, and later dismantling, easier and quicker.