England

“The first people to look at the Rosetta Stone thought it would take two weeks to decipher,” says Edward Dolnick, author of The Writing of the Gods: The Race to Decode the Rosetta Stone. “It ended up taking 20 years.”

Two Hundred Years Ago, the Rosetta Stone Unlocked the Secrets of Ancient Egypt

French scholar Jean-François Champollion announced his decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs on September 27, 1822

Elizabeth arrives in Jamestown, Virginia, at the start of a visit to the United States in October 1957.

Why Women in 1950s America Looked to Elizabeth II as a Source of Inspiration

The British queen ascended to the throne at a time when most women were expected to conform to traditional domestic roles

Digital facial reconstructions of two of the individuals found in the well, based on skeletal remains and DNA

Bones Found in Medieval Well Likely Belong to Victims of Anti-Semitic Massacre

A new DNA analysis suggests the 17 individuals were Ashkenazi Jews murdered in Norwich, England, in 1190

English writer Charles Dickens, circa 1860

Charles Dickens Was a Busy Man and a 'Mild Diva'

Eleven never-before-seen letters go on display at the Charles Dickens Museum

The real thing? Not quite. This regal chamber, King Arthur’s Great Halls, was erected in Tintagel, England, in the 1930s for a social club. 

Was King Arthur a Real Person?

The story of Camelot and the Knights of the Round Table has captivated us for a thousand years. But is there any truth behind the tales?

Archaeologists excavate the remains of friars buried at the former Augustinian friary in central Cambridge.

Why Were Medieval Monks So Susceptible to Intestinal Worms?

Friars in Cambridge, England, suffered from these parasites at nearly double the rate found among average unwashed citizens

An 1843 illustration for A Christmas Carol by George Leech, in which Ebenezer Scrooge is shown his own tombstone

Charles Dickens Was a 'Fascinated Skeptic' of the Supernatural

A new exhibition explores the writer's enduring interest in ghosts and other paranormal phenomena

Alan Turing’s class photo at King’s College, Cambridge in 1931

King's College, Cambridge Will Install Abstract Memorial to Alan Turing

Despite pushback, plans for a sculpture honoring the visionary mathematician have been approved

“The Great Divide” explores how ideas that came to the fore during the Enlightenment at once blurred social hierarchies and reinforced them, particularly along lines of gender and race. 

These 18th-Century Shoes Underscore the Contradictions of the Age of Enlightenment

An exhibition at Toronto's Bata Shoe Museum examines fashion's role in supporting social hierarchies that emerged during the landmark intellectual movement

Abigail Barlow (bottom left) and Emily Bear (bottom right) won a Grammy for their Unofficial Bridgerton Musical.

What the 'Unofficial Bridgerton Musical' Lawsuit Means for Fan-Created Content

Netflix has accused the songwriting duo behind the viral production of stealing copyrighted material for their own financial gain

Archaeologists found the ruins last year ahead of planned construction.

Archaeologists Rebury 'First-of-Its-Kind' Roman Villa

The ruins were originally uncovered in Scarborough, England, last year

In May 1536, Henry had his second wife, Anne Boleyn, beheaded on trumped-up charges of adultery and incest. For centuries, historians blamed Anne's sister-in-law, Jane Boleyn, for testifying against the queen—but new research calls this claim into question.

The Myths of Lady Rochford, the Tudor Noblewoman Who Supposedly Betrayed George and Anne Boleyn

Historians are reevaluating Jane Boleyn's role in her husband and sister-in-law's downfall

A marine archaeologist examines one of the engraved Purbeck gravestones recovered from the 13th-century Mortar Wreck.

England's Oldest Surviving Shipwreck Is a 13th-Century Merchant Vessel

Carrying a cargo of locally sourced limestone, the so-called Mortar Wreck likely sank off the Dorset coast during the reign of Henry III

A forest fire in Louchats, southwestern France, on July 17, 2022

Heat Wave Scorches Europe

Scientists say climate change is making heat waves hotter, longer and more frequent

Drawing of a woman being dragged to a ducking stool at a river in Ipswich, Suffolk, around 1600

When Authorities Dunked Outspoken Women in Water

In early modern England, women accused of being "common scolds" were immersed in rivers and lakes while strapped to contraptions known as ducking stools

Cavers found the perfectly preserved mine in the small town of Alderly Edge in England.

Cavers Discover 200-Year Old Mine, Untouched Since the Moment It Was Abandoned

Found in northwest England, the cobalt mine is perfectly preserved due to a lack of oxygen

Grime artist Jammer’s basement studio

Inside the Evolution of Grime Music

A new exhibition explores how the genre has changed since it began in east London

Literary scholar Vanessa Braganza suggests that Catherine commissioned the pendant design as "a sign of her conviction of her own enduring legitimacy."

The Secrets of a Long-Overlooked Cipher Linked to Catherine of Aragon

Henry VIII's first wife may have commissioned the design as an act of defiance during the Tudor king's attempt to divorce her

Arthur’s Stone is “a monument of an entirely different kind to the one that we’d imagined,” says archaeologist Julian Thomas.

Archaeologists Begin First-Ever Excavation of Tomb Linked to King Arthur

Britons first proposed a connection between Arthur's Stone and the mythical ruler of Camelot before the 13th century

Pages from Plastic Surgery of the Face by Harold Gillies

Inside a Trailblazing Surgeon's Quest to Reconstruct WWI Soldiers' Disfigured Faces

A new book profiles Harold Gillies, whose efforts to restore wounded warriors' visages laid the groundwork for modern plastic surgery

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