British History
It Didn’t Take Very Long For Anesthesia to Change Childbirth
The unprecedented idea of a painless delivery changed women's lives
How Charles II Used Art to Bolster Britain’s Struggling Monarchy
A new exhibit at the Queen’s Gallery in London features more than 200 items from the collection of the “Merry Monarch”
Archaeologists Discover 500 Artifacts from 18th-Century British Coffeehouse
Among the finds were cups, saucers, sugar bowls, coffee tins and an impressive collection of teapots
The Most Notorious Poet in 18th Century America Was An Enslaved Teenager You've Never Heard Of
Phyllis Wheatley was a prodigy, but her ultimate fate reflects the gross racial disparities of 1700s America
How Industrial Espionage Started America's Cotton Revolution
To the British, Samuel Slater was ‘Slater the traitor,’ but to the Americans, he was the father of the American industrial revolution
12 Facts About ‘The 12 Days of Christmas’
Amaze and astound your loved ones with these pieces of carol trivia
Charles Darwin’s Grandfather Was Famous for His Poems About Plant Sex
Erasmus Darwin’s poetics influenced his grandson’s vision of nature
Why Lubaina Himid's Turner Prize Win Is One for the History Books
The 63-year-old, Zanzibar-born contemporary artist becomes the oldest person and first woman of color to win the prestigious award
Christine Keeler, the British Model at the Heart of a 1960s Political Scandal, Is Dead at 75
Keeler had simultaneous relationships with a Conservative politician and a Soviet attaché, prompting concerns that she had revealed British state secrets
How Marie Tussaud Created a Wax Empire
From France, to Britain, to the world, Tussaud's waxworks endure
Winston Churchill Imagined the Lab-Grown Hamburger
But he was off about the year when it would be created
Five Things to Know About Queen Charlotte
Before Meghan Markle, the late 18th-century Queen Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz may have been the country's first biracial royal
Archaeologists Discover Where Julius Caesar Landed in Britain
A large camp along Pegwell Bay is the likely spot where 20,000 Romans landed in 54 B.C.
Our Cloud Names Come From a 1700s Amateur Meteorologist
Luke Howard's nomenclature inspired writers as well as scientists
Friction Matches Were a Boon to Those Lighting Fires–Not So Much to Matchmakers
Those who worked in match factories were exposed to white phosphorus, which caused a debilitating and potentially deadly condition
What Was the Inspiration for “The Murder on the Orient Express”?
Agatha Christie wrote her famous detective novel based on an even more famous kidnapping
Why Do We Call TV Watchers ‘Viewers’?
It all goes back to a quirky BBC subcommittee working in the 1930s to change the English language
Winston Churchill’s Historic “Fight Them on the Beaches” Speech Wasn’t Heard by the Public Until After WWII
The recordings we hear today didn’t air over the BBC at the time, but that hasn’t stopped many Britons from remembering otherwise
How a New Accent Overturned BBC Tradition and Messed With the Nazis
A man with the name of Wilfred Pickles brought regional dialect to the BBC as part of an anti-Nazi-propaganda strategy
New Portrait of Lord Nelson Found, Scars and All
One of many Nelson portraits by Leonardo Guzzardi, the painting has been restored to include his war wounds
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