An ancient species has been named after Edward Scissorhands because of the shape of its claws. The 505 million-year-old 'Kootenichela deppi' - a no...
A facial reconstruction of King Richard III is going on display in Leicester's Guildhall on the first stop of a nationwide tour. The model, which g...
Crossrail workers have celebrated a full year of tunnelling by dedicating a birthday cake to one of their boring machines, Phyllis. The faithful ...
Having gone to a comprehensive school in an area of considerable social depravation I can speak for talented teachers who were specially selected for their ability to maintain control and to enthuse their students with imaginative and inspired ideas.
One dank Saturday afternoon last year, I snapped up the Georgian portrait you see here in a near-empty Northamptonshire junk shop. I haggled him down to £8. Even so, you might think I was robbed, since it is a fairly unremarkable picture. But the lady shown was one of the more interesting characters of the late 1700s.
I have to admit to a certain amount of confusion of late. I was asked recently by a friend 'what' I considered myself. I live in Scotland and here, in the run up to the referendum on independence next autumn, most people are trying to figure out, in essence, if they're more Scottish than British or vice versa.
Today the issue of economic justice is among the most polarizing and provocative we have. Watching the arguments for and against is often like bloodsport. Is the level of inequality an accurate measure of a country's success? Are bankers or socialists the enemy?
I live in Canterbury. It's not the only English city overflowing with history but it is a compact little circle, with plenty of Norman, medieval and T...
Michael Gove has come under fire after basing claims that children had “disturbing historical ignorance” on a handful of PR surveys, including pol...
Schools that cannot afford the travel expense of taking pupils on trips are to have the costs of coaches covered by English Heritage. The price of ...
Schools that cannot afford the travel expense of taking pupils on trips are to have the costs of coaches covered by English Heritage. The price of ...
Hundreds of mysterious yellow orbs have been found beneath Mexico’s Temple of the Feathered Serpent. The once-metallic spheres were discovered b...
The 'banter' that the boys of my school year dealt out did not fade away. It was less directed at me because I was apparently, in the words of another boy: 'An oversensitive bitch with no sense of humour', but I saw it continue to happen with many girls.
I've nothing against Winston Churchill popping up on our money - it's not actually the first time, having previously appeared on 1965 five-shilling pieces. Although it seems a little rude he's kicking off the only woman, the Queen not withstanding, who currently appears on any British banknote, social reformer Elizabeth Fry. Still, if the public had its way, it could be David Beckham staring back at us as we fork over our fivers, or even Robbie Williams. Those being just two of the more contemporary figures offered up by well-meaning Brits.
It seems there has never been a better time to head outside and start digging up your local car park. Since the bones of Richard III were exhumed in Leicester last summer, archaeology has become more exciting than even two decades of Channel 4's Time Team could have dreamed.
Original Art is a signpost for history
I'm a bit in love with Luxembourg. I've just returned from a weekend city break and I'm already planning my next visit. It's one of those cities that you don't hear much about - apart from banking, finance, and opaque tax regulation. But it's a lot more than that.
Compulsory Holocaust Studies and related school trips have contributed to minimising right-wing anti-Semitism in the playground. Positive curriculum material in history could help significantly reduce Islamophobia.
Some matters are simply contentious. Sometimes you're never going to get it right. The politics of the Middle East, for example. Whether Scotland should or shouldn't become independent in 2014. Oh, and whether the term 'lady' is outmoded and derogatory or exactly what most women aspire to.
I was in the small town of Neath in South Wales the other day, admiring castle ruins and thinking about Edward II. History is written by those who su...
As 1 April nears you may be planning the perfect joke, hoax, or act of revenge. If so - and if you're looking for inspiration - may we recommend some of British history's finest hoaxers, courtesy of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
In this cut-throat, every-man-for-himself age, this thorough history and analysis of a respected and profitable company of the past proved excellent, timely and wise reading.
Descendants of King Richard III have added their voices to the mini War of the Roses being fought over his final resting place, in a last ditch attemp...
I set off to explore some of England's darker histories and reveal how brave tourists can go ghost hunting themselves
We know this: that all art is the product of the modern human brain with its beginnings, over 100,000 years ago, in Africa. There, our species Homo sapiens sapiens evolved before spreading out around the globe to become the most successful animal ever. Those who migrated to the icy lands of Europe encountered Neanderthal people who, having evolved there over such a long period, had probably developed fair skin. The dark skinned, fully modern migrants who interbred with them produced the first figurative art in Europe. They themselves, in turn, gradually became fairer as they adapted to life at higher latitudes. Those are the facts. This is fiction: 'Race'.
