The 20th-century saw modern man make numerous momentous steps forward thanks to his senses of innovation and exploration.

It also witnessed significant progress in gazing backwards to understand our place in history.

Next week marks the 90th anniversary of one of the latter types of milestone, arguably the most...

It seems like music has always had a place for rebels, those individuals who become fashionable by taking against the more established fashions of their day.

We may like to kid ourselves that the process only began in the 1950s with a young Elvis Presley, whose gyrations were considered 'unfit...

The Sistine Chapel is a pain in the neck - but only in the most aesthetically-pleasing sense of the phrase.

Join the crowds snaking through the Vatican and you too will find your eyes drawn from the tomb of St Peter, the Pieta and even the tapestries designed by Raphael...

The release of official documents relating to the Hillsborough disaster bring only a comfort of sorts and certainly no closure.

For the families of the Liverpool fans killed by a crush at the FA Cup semi-final between their team and Nottingham Forest, there is the understanding that they were right...

In more than a quarter of a century since his violent death, Olof Palme has retained the ability to command headlines and divide opinion just as he did during his lifetime.

Palme was gunned down on a snowy central Stockholm street in February 1986. The investigation to find the perpetrator...

When elite sportsmen and women discuss the pain and dedication needed to win an Olympic medal, they talk about the great sacrifices made en route to the podium.

The general image created is one of sustained intense exercise reinforced by rigorous nutrition and an almost monastic seclusion...

The tragic news of the death of Winifred Johnson, the mother of Keith Bennett, brings closure to a life of peculiar torment but not an end to one of the most notorious episodes in British criminal history.

Mrs Johnson was defined by her reaction to the disappearance of her son,...

There are certain points on the calendar when even those Brits who profess disinterest in all things sporting find their attention captured and pulses quickened by events on the field of play.

They may have succeeded in blocking out England's failure at Euro 2012.

Some curmudgeons might also have made...

The new Leonardo da Vinci exhibition at London's National Gallery opens tomorrow, however it has long been regarded as the highpoint of the city's Winter cultural attractions.

Through the gallery's own treasures and those on loan from the likes of the Louvre in Paris and St Petersburg's Hermitage, the...