British History

Thatcher visits with President Bush in Aspen, Colorado in 1990 during a diplomatic reception. News of her resignation lit up diplomatic channels around the world.

The World Finally Knows How Leaders Reacted to Margaret Thatcher’s Resignation

The Iron Lady glistens in newly released papers about her last years as Prime Minister

Boo! Telling ghost stories on Christmas was a tradition for hundreds of years. Here, Marley's ghost surprises Ebenezer Scrooge in an illustration from the first edition of the classic tale.

Why Do People Tell Ghost Stories on Christmas?

Christmas ghost stories are a tradition going back much farther than "A Christmas Carol"

Eggnog is connected to a medieval drink called posset.

The Long, Rich, Boozy History of Eggnog

This December, we’re exploring the drink’s storied history

Our Top Ten Stories of 2016

From slavery to tuberculosis, it’s been a tumultuous year of exploring our past and looking to the future

The first edition of A Christmas Carol. The illustration on the left is of Mr. Fezziwig's ball, one of Scrooge's good memories.

Why Charles Dickens Wrote 'A Christmas Carol'

The beloved story sold 6,000 copies in its first week in print and 15,000 in its first year

A photo of Bill Clinton taken in 1993, the first year of his presidency.

Presidents Can Be Impeached Because Benjamin Franklin Thought It Was Better Than Assassination

The founding fathers struggled with the idea of whether the top leader should be impeachable

Most Expensive Science Book Sells for $3.7 Million

An anonymous buyer paid triple the estimated sale price for this first-edition copy

Photo of Olivia de Havilland (left), Leslie Howard (center) and Vivien Leigh (right) from Gone With The Wind.

Why Do We Love Period Dramas So Much?

Gone With The Wind, the highest-grossing period drama ever, premiered on this day in 1939

Glad tidings! There's a new Christmas song in town.

Researchers Found a Long-Lost Christmas Song

"Crown Winter With Green" has some serious archival cred—and a sad story to tell

How the British Cleverly Diverted Nazi Missiles

Operation Double Cross was the British response to the threat of Nazi V2 rockets. It involved relaying bogus information about British targets

Graves of Franklin Expedition members on Beechey Island

Thumbnail Reveals the Final Days of Franklin Expedition Explorer

A synchrotron micro-x-ray sheds new light on the cause that led to one crew member's death

Men smoke pipes and drink on the London streets. Booth's police notebooks reveal the everyday habits of Londoners.

Explore the Seedy Reality of a London Long Gone

Charles Booth explored the poorest parts of England’s capital—and changed the way social scientists think about the world

Ever Wonder Why Encylopedia Is Sometimes Spelled Encyclopædia?

Scribes added the ash to the Roman alphabet so they could phonetically spell sounds that Latin didn't include

The new, meatier five-pound note

Why Vegetarians Hate the U.K.'s New £5 Note

The new currency uses a polymer that contains some animal fat, and it turns out at least 24 other nations use the same product

Human skeletons found in a mass grave near the ruins of a medieval monastery in the English countryside.

English Mass Grave Sheds New Light on the Horrors of the Black Death

The burial pit contained 48 skeletons that tested positive for the plague

The Flying Scotsman in 2003

The 'Flying Scotsman' Made Train History When The Speedometer Hit 100

The first locomotive to hit 100 miles per hour was billed as "The Most Famous Train in the World"

A detail of a 17th century map found stuffed in a Scottish chimney.

Rare 17th-Century Map Found Shoved Up a Chimney Is Restored

Nothing like an antique document to block a draft

Today, the Marsh Collection is treasured for its inherent cultural value as well as its connection to the debates that framed the Smithsonian.

American Culture’s Unlikely Debt to a British Scientist

A fortuitous influx of cash launched the Smithsonian Institution and its earliest art collection

New Dictionary Explains 45,000 English and Irish Surnames

Using sources dating back to the 11th century, researchers have put together the massive Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland

An archaeologist studies remains of the Curtain theater's foundations.

Shakespeare May Have Tailored "Henry V" for a Specific Theater

Archaeological digs at the Curtain theater suggest it looked very different from the Bard’s usual venues

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