Short answers, pulled from the story.
King Philip II began construction of the Louvre Palace in the late 12th century to protect Paris from attacks by the Kingdom of England. The original structure served as a defensive fortress with thick walls and towers, remnants of which remain visible today in the museum's basement crypt.
The Louvre opened on the 10th of August 1793 exactly one year after Louis XVI's imprisonment. The initial exhibition contained 537 paintings and 184 objects of art derived from royal collections and confiscated property belonging to émigrés and the Church.
Napoleon appointed Vivant Denon as the museum's first director on the 19th of November 1802. He chose Denon over other contenders including painter Jacques-Louis David and sculptor Antonio Canova before renaming the institution Musée Napoléon in July 1803.
Architect I.M. Pei personally selected by Mitterrand designed the master plan including an underground entrance accessed through a glass pyramid in the central Cour Napoléon. Open spaces surrounding the pyramid were inaugurated on the 15th of October 1988 with its underground lobby opening on the 30th of March 1889.
The Louvre received 9 million visitors in fiscal year 2025 maintaining its position as the world's most visited museum despite recent challenges. On the 19th of October 2025 intruders entered through a forced window in Galerie d'Apollon using a basket lift mounted on a lorry to steal nine major pieces of jewelry from French crowns within minutes.