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British History

Four of the woman's bones appear to have been broken and whittled.

This Woman’s Brains Were Scooped Out and Her Bones Were Broken and Whittled in Scotland 2,000 Years Ago

Researchers say the modifications may represent a previously unknown funerary ritual in Iron Age Britain

The Roman brooch was found near Pathhead.

Cool Finds

This Rare, Intricate Brooch Represents the Roman Empire’s Long, Disjointed Attempt to Conquer Scotland

The “miniature masterpiece” will go on display during an upcoming exhibition focused on the legacy Rome left in the highlands the empire dubbed Caledonia

Researchers are trying to find out how the massive, central altar stone was transported to Stonehenge.

How Did Stonehenge Get Its Altar Stone? New Research Adds to the Debate Between Human Effort and Glacier Transport

Ice flow modeling and geological analyses suggest it’s possible that glaciers carried the stone part of the way during the last Ice Age. However, scientists say that scenario is unlikely

The drawings were done by Stephen Verona, and John Lennon helped color them in.

Rediscovered Drawings John Lennon Helped Create for the Beatles Became One of Rock ’n’ Roll’s First Music Videos

An English collector who acquired ten of the drawings at an auction loaned them to the Liverpool Beatles Museum for a temporary exhibition

A still from the famous YouTube video known as “Charlie Bit My Finger,” which is included in the British Film Institute’s new archive of significant online videos

Which Memes Deserve Digital Preservation? See the Online Videos the British Film Institute Selected for a New Archive

Viral videos, tutorials, vlogs and livestream snippets produced across decades offer insight into modern culture and communication, archivists say. This material could be lost without efforts to save it

Winston Churchill painting in Belgium, September 1946

Catch a Surprising Glimpse at WWII Leader Winston Churchill’s Pastime—Painting—at the First Major British Retrospective Since His Death

More than 50 canvases on view in London detail the prime minister’s quieter moments away from wars, speeches and politics

The band is gold and the gem is a nicolo, or “little onyx.”

Cool Finds

See the ‘Spectacular’ Gold-and-Gemstone Ring a Roman Likely Buried for Safekeeping 1,700 Years Ago

The ring, discovered in an English field and deemed a “treasure,” has ties to a power grab that a military leader made in Roman Britain

The red fox, native to the United Kingdom, is among the six shortlisted mammals up for public vote to appear on new bank notes. 

Can a Hedgehog Replace Winston Churchill? See Which Animals May Soon Swap In for Historical Figures on British Pounds

Butterflies, dolphins and puffins are among the options the public will vote on to grace new bank notes

The painted wall in 2024, enhanced on the right by a DStretch filter

Cool Finds

A Century After Causing Controversy, Red Cave Markings in Wales Are Classified Again as Britain’s Oldest Rock Art

The team of scientists used modern dating methods to confirm an old hypothesis by the rock art’s initial discoverers

The Cerne Abbas Giant lies on a hillside.

England’s Most Famous Naked Giant Will Glow White Again, Thanks to Help From Hundreds of People Performing a Ritual of Restoration

The Cerne Abbas Giant, a 180-foot-tall geoglyph in southern England, is getting a new layer of chalk

Brendan Fraser (left) as Dwight D. Eisenhower and Andrew Scott (right) as James Stagg in Pressure, a new WWII drama about the weather forecast for D-Day

Based on a True Story

One Weather Forecast Changed the Course of WWII. Here’s the Real Story Behind ‘Pressure,’ a Drama About the Meteorologist Who Convinced the Allies to Delay D-Day

A new movie starring Andrew Scott and Brendan Fraser dramatizes the tense 72 hours before the Allied invasion of Normandy, revealing how meteorology helped determine Operation Overlord’s success

The illuminated manuscript's illustrations contain precious metals.

See the Stunning Medieval Manuscript Telling Tales of King Arthur, in Ink and Polished Gold, That’s Headed to Auction

The manuscript was made by a skilled, anonymous artist between 1290 and 1310. It’s the oldest of only three privately owned Vulgate Cycle manuscripts

The entrance gate to the Jewish cemetery on St. Eustatius

America's 250th Anniversary

This Jewish Community in the Caribbean Smuggled Gunpowder to the Patriots During the Revolution. A British Admiral Condemned the Island as a ‘Nest of Vipers’

A new exhibition at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, in Philadelphia, spotlights the little-known wartime contributions of the Jews of St. Eustatius

The death of King Harold at the Battle of Hastings depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry

The Bayeux Tapestry Takes a Journey for a Fresh Perspective as the British Museum Prepares to Lay the Masterpiece Out Flat

After spending centuries in France, the 1,000-year-old tapestry depicting the Norman Conquest of England is traveling to its home country

Archaeologists discovered the burial in Colchester, a city in Essex, England, which served as the first capital of Roman Britain. 

Cool Finds

A Woman Buried in an Elaborate Roman Coffin With Precious Grave Goods Was ‘Clearly Cherished by Her Family and Her Community,’ Archaeologists Say

A new exhibition in Colchester, England, site of the first capital of Roman Britain, explores the “Lexden Lady” and her collection of treasures

The hoard is on display at the Yorkshire Museum.

A ‘Magical’ Mirror the Powerful Queen of a British Tribe May Have Used Was Discovered in an Enormous Iron Age Hoard, Now on Display

Visitors to the Yorkshire Museum can see artifacts from the Melsonby Hoard, dating to the first century C.E., that rewrite the story of wealth and power in Britain around the time of the Roman invasion

A Benjamin West painting of the reception of American loyalists by Great Britain in 1783

America's 250th Anniversary

Born and Raised in Philadelphia, This Loyalist Fled to England During the American Revolution. In His Absence, the Patriots Declared Him a Traitor and Seized His Property

Matthias Aspden spent his time abroad yearning for his “native country.” His heirs later took the government to court, arguing that the estate had been confiscated unjustly

Different metal detectorists discovered the two "Lamb of God" coins at separate locations in Denmark.

Cool Finds

An English King Minted These Coins to Ward Off a Viking Invasion. Instead, the Seafaring Raiders Turned the Pennies Into Jewelry

Aethelred the Unready viewed the attacks on his kingdom as divine retribution. He hoped that a show of public penance, including the creation of coins featuring religious imagery, would help earn God’s forgiveness

Baptism records identifying the boy

New Clues Help Solve the Mystery of an Enslaved Boy Pictured in a Portrait by a Leading English Artist

An oil painting by Joshua Reynolds features a named naval officer and a Black child whose life story was unknown until researchers searched through captains’ logs, letters and admiralty records

Archaeologists and volunteers excavate the site in the Ben Lawers National Nature Reserve.  

Cool Finds

Researchers Discovered the Remnants of a Secret, Illegal Whisky Distillery in a Stunning Scottish Park

The copper still, likely used to make whisky, would have been hidden away from the oversight of tax collectors after Scotland outlawed unlicensed distilling centuries ago

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