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British History

One of the tablets found at the fort

Cool Finds

Cache of Roman Messages Found Near Hadrian’s Wall

The 25 well-preserved wooden tablets include a soldier’s request for time off

The women faced temperatures of almost -50 degrees Fahrenheit, blasting winds and ever-changing ice conditions.

Trending Today

The Amazing Story of the First All-Women North Pole Expedition

Answering an ad in a newspaper, 20 amateur explorers attempted to ski from Arctic Canada to the top of the world

The first page of 'Measure For Measure' in the First Folio of 1623. Set in Vienna and full of less-than-proper characters, this play proved the most challenging to bowdlerize.

The Bowdlers Wanted to Clean Up Shakespeare, Not Become a Byword for Censorship

Thomas and Henrietta Bowdler started out with relatively noble intentions

The White Horse at Uffington, Oxfordshire

Against All Odds, England’s Massive Chalk Horse Has Survived 3,000 Years

Cleaning up the Uffington Horse is the neigh-borly thing to do

Protestors in London attack the coalition between the Conservative Party and the Democratic Unionist Party from Northern Ireland on June 17, 2017.

History of Now

Why the New U.K. Political Coalition Could Undermine Peace in Ireland

Theresa May’s deal to control Parliament may endanger the 1998 Good Friday Agreement

Researchers used facial reconstruction software to paint a vivid portrait of one Dubliner that lived 500 years ago.

New Research

3-D Reconstruction Reveals Face of 500-Year-Old Irishman

The image offers a rare portrait of an ordinary Dubliner

Michael Bond, Creator of Paddington Bear, Dies at 91

The author’s stories about a plucky, marmalade-loving bear sold more than 35 million copies worldwide

John Trumbull's painting, Declaration of Independence, depicting the five-man drafting committee of the Declaration of Independence presenting their work to the Congress.

At Its Core, the Declaration of Independence Was a Plea for Help From Britain’s Enemies

The intended audience for the document could be found in the royal houses of France and Spain

Americans went nuts for Queen Victoria less than 60 years after the American Revolution drew to a close.

Americans Caught ‘Victoria Fever’ For The British Queen’s 1838 Coronation

Such delicacies as ‘Victoria soap’ could be bought in America as a souvenir of the occasion

British Camp Hill Fort in Herefordshire

Cool Finds

Explore Ancient British Isles Hill Forts with a New Online Atlas

The atlas lists over 4,000 of the structures that dot the landscape, used as gathering spots for Bronze and Iron Age Britons

Secret Tunnels Under London, Once Used to Hide Art During WWI, Open to the Public for the First Time

Explore the 6.5-mile-long network of hidden mail tunnels starting this July

Tonedall Mills, once a large textile mill, is listed as an at-risk property in the 'Up My Street' catalogue.

UK Charity Calls On Developers to Save At-Risk Buildings

The ‘Up My Street’ catalogue profiles 100 historic properties in desperate need of repair

Aphra Behn made a name for herself in Restoration-era England, writing bawdy plays that were wildly popular.

The Spy Who Became England’s First Successful Female Writer

Aphra Behn made a name for herself in Restoration-era England, when most women still relied on their husbands

Aerial view of the wooden circle site

New Research

Massive Wooden Fire Monument Is Older Than Stonehenge

Carbon dating shows that the site dates back to 3300 B.C.

King George and Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon MacKenzie King ride in President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's car as the president drives them away from church on June 11, 1939.

When Franklin Delano Roosevelt Served Hot Dogs to a King

A king had never visited a president at home before, but by all accounts they got along fine

257-Year-Old Coloring Book Rediscovered in St. Louis

The Florist contains 60 drawings, and recommends watercolor pigments like “gall-stone brown”

A plaque marking one of the sites of the Pentrich Revolution.

Two Centuries Ago, These Ill-Fated Laborers Attempted to Overthrow the British Government

In 1817, the tragic Pentrich Revolution was short and brutal

An excerpt from the first road map of Britain, published by John Ogilby when Fiennes was 15, in 1675. No word on whether Fiennes ever saw it, although she did write about visiting a college in Manchester that had a map collection.

See 17th-Century England Through the Eyes of One of the First Modern Travel Writers

Celia Fiennes traveled and wrote about her adventures—including a bit of life advice

Mounted Normans attack the Anglo-Saxon infantry during the Battle of Hastings, as portrayed on the Bayeux Tapestry.

England’s Most Brutal King Was Its Best Peacemaker

William the Conqueror was ruthless, but he achieved something his predecessors couldn’t: peace

Although ketchup has roots in Southeast Asia, tomato ketchup may be an American original.

There’s Something Fishy About the Ketchup You Put On Your Burgers

The red stuff that Americans eat on their French Fries doesn’t look much like the ‘kôechiap’ it’s based on

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