On 5th and 6th June 2019, the world remembered the many thousands of men – living and dead – who took part in the crucial D-Day landings as part of Allied World War Two plan “Operation Overlord”. The largest combined land, air and sea operation in history, the D-Day landings marked a turning point in… Continue reading
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It’s not uncommon for historic buildings to hold hidden secrets, and this month Winchester Cathedral has unveiled one of its own. Biological anthropologists have analysed and radiocarbon-dated the contents of six wooden mortuary chests. They have discovered that they may hold the bones of one of the most powerful queens in English history: Queen Emma.… Continue reading
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Adolf Hitler is one of history’s most infamous dictators, thought to be responsible for the deaths of millions of people as he sought to create an Aryan race. Hitler led Germany during World War Two in his position at the helm of the Nazi Party. He used a plethora of weapons including machine guns, aerial… Continue reading
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Around 2,000 years ago, a mixed group of around 400 Germanic tribesmen marched into battle against an unknown opponent. None of them survived. These are the findings of a recent archaelogical dig at Alke Enge – a peat bog nestled among the Illerup River Valley in Denmark – where nearly 2,100 bones belonging to dead… Continue reading
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There have been many stories borne out of the Great War that have seen families split apart, marriages broken and young soldiers lost for decades as conflict raged across Western Europe. But one story to emerge this week could contain the longest-ever wait for one British solider who has finally been laid to rest after… Continue reading
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We are all familiar with the image of Roman sculptures, statues and remains being cast in bland greys or creams, their original colours worn away by centuries of damage or neglect. But one recent discovery by a researcher at the University of Glasgow has perfectly brought to light how even the ancient Romans used bright… Continue reading
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He’s remembered as one of the swaggering symbols of the Tudor period, a famous womaniser with six wives, desparate for a male heir and – of course – one of the most influential figures when it comes to the face of the globe’s religions today, after he broke away from the Catholic Church in what… Continue reading
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Swedish archaeologists have uncovered a site that sheds some light on how the Roman Empire may have started to crumble after discovering evidence of a massacre that took place some 1,500 years ago – completely with Roman jewellery and gold denarii. A team of archaelogists have been working at a site at Sandby Borg on… Continue reading
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The story of the lost Roman settlements of Pompeii and Herculaneum, located near the modern city of Naples, is one that has captured the imagination of historians and history students for centuries. Both towns were almost entirely destroyed in AD 79 when nearby Mount Vesuvius erupted, covering the surrounding area in tons of burning volcanic… Continue reading
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Code-breaking is one of the most evocative images we have of World War II, thanks to stories frequently retold about the deciphering of the Enigma code and other covert operations at Bletchley Park. Of the stories told about World War I, however, code-breaking does not feature so prominently. According to author Joseph A. Williams, however,… Continue reading
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