Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

British History

The skeleton of Richard III

New Research

Richard III Suffered Severe Head Wounds in Battle

Analysis of the skeleton revels that he was likely not wearing a helmet when he died

Trending Today

Sir John Franklin’s Doomed Ship Just Turned Up in the Arctic After 170 Years

The two ships disappeared in 1846 during a British expedition trying to map the Northwest Passage

A model depicting a Viking ring fortress layout.

New Research

Newly Discovered Viking Fortress Could Have Been a Launch Point for Invading England

The ring-shaped complex could have been used as a military training ground

Trending Today

Case Solved on Jack the Ripper? Not So Fast

An author and a scientist claim to have proven the identity of the notorious 19th century killer, but others say the evidence is lacking

Standing Stones, also known as "the First Stonehenge," in the Ring O Brodgar in Orkney

What the Scottish Independence Referendum Could Mean for Orkney

Sovereignty over Orkney, home to the First Stonehenge, has been debated for more than 5,000 years

New Research

Dry Grass Hints That Stonehenge Was Once a Whole Circle

Researchers find new evidence about the shape of Stonehenge

Cool Finds

How British Soldiers’ Gear Has Changed Over the Last 1,000 Years

Photographer Thom Atkinson traces the evolution of wooden spears to sniper rifles

An undated wash drawing depicts the burning of Washington, DC, in August of 1814.

Your Guide to the Three Weeks of 1814 That We Today Call the War of 1812

From the burning of Washington to the siege of Baltimore, what happened in those late summer days?

Siegfried Sassoon

Cool Finds

These Diaries, of Poet Siegfried Sassoon, Capture the Chaos of WWI

Siegfried Sassoon’s poems captured life in the trenches of WWI

The London as it looked before it blew up

Cool Finds

In 1665, a British Warship Mysteriously Blew Up—And Soon We Might Know Why

349 years ago, the warship The London exploded in the Thames Estuary. Now archaeologists are trying to figure out why

The initiation ceremony for a 19th century secret society, as imagined by an artist.

The Cannibal Club: Racism and Rabble-Rousing in Victorian England

These 19th-century gentlemen of good standing let their inner boors loose in secret London backrooms

The train after the initial police investigation in Cheddington, Buckinghamshire.

The Big Mystery Behind the Great Train Robbery May Finally Have Been Solved

Chris Long’s A Tale of Two Thieves examines the largest cash theft of its time

A pre-war daguerrotype of James R. McClintock. Inventor, likely crook, possible spy.

The Amazing (If True) Story of the Submarine Mechanic Who Blew Himself Up Then Surfaced as a Secret Agent for Queen Victoria

The leading mechanic of the famed H.L. Hunley led quite the life, if we can believe any of it

USS Constitution vs. HMS Guerriere by Thomas Birch, circa 1813

The British View the War of 1812 Quite Differently Than Americans Do

The star-spangled war confirmed independence for the United States. But for Great Britain, it was a betrayal

Cool Finds

You Could Smell Like A Viking

York has come up with a new tourism stunt: smell like a Viking

Charles Darwin: sailor, scientist, beard aficionado.

Cool Finds

In the Victorian Era, Doctors Prescribed Beards to Help Keep Men Healthy

The mid-19th century beard boom was motivated, in part, by health concerns

Saint Sebastian Interceding for the Plague Stricken by Josse Lieferinxe

New Research

The Black Death Actually Improved Public Health

Analysis of skeletons from before and after the height of the epidemic yields surprising results

Cool Finds

The Area Around Stonehenge Has Been Inhabited for More Than 10,000 Years

That makes this area the oldest inhabited place in England

Abandoned Scottish Boats

Cool Finds

All Known Shipwrecks in Scotland Are on This Map

The Scottish coastline is treacherous, as this interactive map of shipwrecks shows

The aftermath of Ian Ball's attempt to kidnap Princess Anne. Ball's white Ford Escort is parked blocking the path of the princess' limousine.

The Bloody Attempt to Kidnap a British Princess

Remembering the failed plot undertaken by a lone gunman

Page 64 of 66