British History

Charles Darwin: sailor, scientist, beard aficionado.

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

The Black Death Actually Improved Public Health

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

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

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

Help Transcribe Diaries From World War I

WWI diaries are some of the most requested documents in the National Archives, but until now they've only been available on paper

St Martin's In the Fields William Logsdail

See London in Double Vision—How It Looks Today And How Artists Saw It Years Ago

These pictures of modern London streets mashed up with old artwork are a sight to see

The British Guiana 1-cent stamp

The World’s Most Valuable Stamp Is Expect to Sell for More than $10 Million

There's only one of these stamps left in existence

Have patience, says this bouquet of two roses and two carnations.

Send Your Valentine a Secret Message in the Language of Flowers, Updated for Modern Lovers

Certain flowers had well-understood meanings back in Victorian times, and now a London startup is trying to revive floriography for current times

A Tiny Scrap of Paper Offers a Glimpse Into Jane Austen's Inspiration

The small scrap of paper transcribes part of a sermon, the theme of which Austen later explored in "Mansfield Park"

The Heartbreaking History of Divorce

Historian Amanda Foreman explores the other side of love and marriage

New archaeological analysis shows that King Richard’s remains were buried in an awkward position, leaning against the wall of a grave that wasn’t dug large enough.

New Study Finds That King Richard III Was Buried in a Hurry

The British king's remains, discovered in a parking lot, were dropped in an awkward position in a grave that wasn't dug large enough

William Crockford—identified here as “Crockford the Shark”—sketched by the great British caricaturist Thomas Rowlandson in about 1825. Rowlandson, himself an inveterate gambler who blew his way through a $10.5 million family fortune, knew the former fishmonger before he opened the club that would make his name.

Crockford’s Club: How a Fishmonger Built a Gambling Hall and Bankrupted the British Aristocracy

A working-class Londoner operated the most exclusive gambling club the world has ever seen

Kayakers on the Thames in London go with the flow near Parliament and Big Ben.

The Long and Winding History of the Thames

Float down England's longest river, from its origin in the Cotswolds to its ramble through London, a journey through centuries of "liquid history"

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Quite Likely the Worst Job Ever

A British journalist provides us with a window into the lives of the men who made their living from combing for treasures in London's sewers

Elis the pedlar, a Welsh packman working the villages around Llanfair in about 1885.

The Last of the Cornish Packmen

An encounter on a lonely road in the furthest reaches of the English West Country sheds light on the dying days of a once-ubiquitous profession

The marriage of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer did not have an auspicious beginning: she laughed when he proposed.

Ten Royal Weddings to Remember

For centuries, British monarchs have had their marriages tested by war, infidelity, politics and diplomatic intrigue

Ludd, drawn here in 1812, was the fictitious leader of numerous real protests.

What the Luddites Really Fought Against

The label now has many meanings, but when the group protested 200 years ago, technology wasn't really the enemy

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"Read My Pins: The Madeleine Albright Collection" Opens Friday

Carved sarsens-enormous blocks of hard sandstone-were used to build the towering trilithons that dominate the landscape of Salisbury Plain in southern England. But archaeologists Timothy Darvill and Geoffrey Wainwright believe the smaller so-called bluestones hold the key to unraveling Stonehenge's mystery.

New Light on Stonehenge

The first dig in 44 years inside the stone circle changed our view of why—and even when—the monument was built

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