Historical Period

Stonehenge: Trying to Understand the Mystery

Stonehenge is a famous, but little understood, stone circle just outside Amesbury in Wiltshire. It is also more than just a stone circle, with a ritual landscape spreading out from it in every direction. Within this landscape, there are a number of…

Stone Age

A Brief History of Climate Change

Climate changed dramatically during the Stone Age, from warmer than today to much colder. There were a number of ice ages, where glaciers expanded down from the north and sometimes covered much of Britain, making it impossible to live there.

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Fact of the Day

In 1576, the Bishop of London threatened to deal with puritans by sending them to 'Lancashire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, and such like barbarous places'.

Quote of the Day

"It shall make a delightful summer capital when we invade Britain. "

~ Joseph Goebbels on Edinburgh

On This Day

1664 The Dutch colony of New Amsterdam was captured by the British. It would be renamed New York.

1727 A fire during a puppet show in Burwell, Cambridgeshire, killed 78 people, 51 of whom were children.

1761 George III met and married Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Rarely for royalty, the couple enjoyed a genuinely close relationship.

1888 The first football league matches were held, with 12 teams from the Midlands and the North of England competing.

1888 The body of Annie Chapman, Jack the Ripper's second known victim, was discovered.

1914 Thomas Highgate, a 19-year-old private in the Royal West Kent Regiment, became the first British soldier to be executed 'as publicly as possible' for desertion during the First World War.

1944 The first V2 flying bombs fell on Britain, landing in Chiswick, London, and killing three.

1974 US President Gerald Ford issued a full and unconditional pardon for Richard Nixon, which meant that he couldn't be prosecuted for any federal crimes he'd committed during the Watergate scandal. The pardon was hugely controversial and probably cost Ford the next election.