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British History

Along with stretches of cobblestone path, researchers found pottery and Roman coins.

Cool Finds

A Roman Road Was Hiding Beneath a Primary School Playing Field in England

The 2,000-year-old cobbled pathway was likely built after the Romans invaded Britain in the first century C.E.

The medieval archway was buried beneath layers of plaster and brick.

Cool Finds

Historic Theater Discovers 15th-Century Doorway That May Have Led to a Dressing Room

Some experts speculate that Shakespeare could have used the room to change costume during performances in the late 16th century

Another rare example of Alan Turing's handwritten notes, which went to auction in 2015

British Government Places Export Ban on Alan Turing’s World War II-Era Notebooks

The mathematician took careful notes while working on a portable voice encryption system in the mid-1940s

The London Fire Brigade responded to a blaze that began on Somerset House's roof.

Firefighters Extinguish Blaze at London’s Somerset House

The palatial complex’s historic artworks sustained no damage from the fire that broke out on August 17

The colorful mosaic depicts brightly colored dolphins and fish.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Stumble Upon a 2,000-Year-Old Dolphin Mosaic in England

The Roman-era artwork was likely preserved thanks to a remodeling project in the third or fourth century C.E.

Andreane Rellou is an actor and filmmaker who saw the photos at the museum and took it upon herself to identify the two women.

Cool Finds

Amateur Sleuth Identifies the Mystery Women in a Museum’s Fabergé Frames

The portraits were on display at a museum in England, where staffers had been wondering about the two subjects for years

The Altar Stone lies at the center of the prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England.

New Research

Stonehenge’s Massive Central Stone May Have Been Shipped From Hundreds of Miles Away

Researchers think they’ve solved the mystery of the monument’s Altar Stone, which could have traveled all the way from Scotland

The Tower of London has loomed over the city since the 11th century.

Will the Tower of London Lose Its UNESCO World Heritage Status?

The United Nations agency is worried about high-rise developments near the famed 11th-century fortress

This portrait of Henry VIII was one of 22 in a set commissioned by Ralph Sheldon in the late 16th century.

Cool Finds

Art Historian Discovers Long-Lost Portrait of Henry VIII in Background of Social Media Post

Commissioned by a wealthy tapestry maker in the 1590s, the Tudor king’s likeness features a distinctive frame with a rounded top

The Dolphin Hotel is a historic structure dating in Southampton, England.

Inside the Controversial Plan to Turn a Hotel Where Jane Austen Attended Balls Into Student Dorms

Devoted readers are worried about the fate of the historic Dolphin Hotel in southern England

The artifact had been on view at a table inside the British Museum in London.

This Art Student Stole a Coin From the British Museum—and Dropped It in the Donation Box

Ilê Sartuzi briefly pocketed a 17th-century coin to make a statement about looted artifacts held by the museum

The Wentworth brothers campaigned ceaselessly for the liberty of free speech in the House of Commons. They were driven by the ongoing succession crisis, which they felt Elizabeth was ignoring, placing England in danger of civil war or foreign invasion.

The Brothers Who Asserted Their Right to Free Speech in Tudor England

Peter and Paul Wentworth called on Elizabeth I to name an heir to the throne, wielding Parliament’s free speech privileges to urge the queen to take action

The five musket balls were found near the Concord River in Massachusetts, just under 20 miles northwest of Boston.

Cool Finds

Musket Balls Fired in Early Revolutionary War Battle Unearthed in Concord

Colonial militiamen fired the lead balls on April 19, 1775—and likely missed their mark

The peacock mural in James McNeill Whistler's Peacock Room, as seen in the 2022 exhibition “The Peacock Room Comes to America”

How Golden Peacocks on a Dining Room Wall Destroyed a Longstanding Friendship in Victorian Society

Paintings, sketches and correspondence shed light on the drama surrounding the famed “Peacock Room”

Preteen and teenage schoolgirls made these tiny paper cuttings in the 17th century.

Cool Finds

Paper Cuttings Made by 17th-Century Schoolgirls Discovered Beneath Floorboards

The fragile cutouts are going on display at Sutton House in London, which was once a boarding school for girls

Riviera Coast Scene, Winston Churchill, circa 1935

Check Out Ten Never-Before-Seen Paintings by Winston Churchill

The former British prime minister was an avid painter who sometimes gifted his works to other world leaders

Victoria created this 1833 ink sketch when she was 14 years old. It's inscribed, "original sketch by the Royal Highness the Princess Victoria.

You Can Buy Four Drawings by a Young Queen Victoria

The sketches, which are heading to auction this week, showcase the teenage royal’s devotion to the arts

An 18th-century illustration of a jury of matrons

How All-Female ‘Juries of Matrons’ Shaped Legal History

Courts called on these jurors to determine whether women sentenced to death were pregnant or faking it to avoid execution

The remains of the Bronze Age roundhouse are located in a park in Cardiff, the capital of Wales.

Northern Europe and the British Isles

An Excavation in Wales Paints a Picture of Home Life 3,500 Years Ago

Archaeologists have enlisted volunteers to dig up the remains of a Bronze Age roundhouse found beneath a park

Last May, the team uncovered a telltale sign of the long-lost palace: the base of a centuries-old wall and a foundation.

Cool Finds

Amateur Historians Unearth a Long-Lost Tudor Palace Visited by Henry VIII and Elizabeth I

Locals had long shared stories of Collyweston Palace. Then, excavations in England’s Midlands revealed traces of the fabled estate

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