All articles in History
11th April, 2018 in History, Women in History
Joan, Lady of Wales
Three hundred years before Anne Boleyn was executed for allegedly committing adultery, the wife of Welsh prince Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, more commonly known as Llywelyn the Great, was forgiven for the same crime. Joan, Lady of Wales, also known by her Welsh name Siwan, was an illegi…
5th April, 2018 in History, Society & Culture
Peace symbols through history
Over the centuries many different cultures, religions, political movements and individuals have developed peace symbols to communicate peace, harmony and reconciliation. Here we look at the origins of a few of them. The olive branch The use of the olive branch as a symbol of…
28th March, 2018 in Aviation, History, Military
The RAF and Imperial War Museums
As the centenary of the First World War came to an end in 2018, it was also the centenary of the RAF. Founded in 1918, the Royal Air Force has a remarkable place within the collections and history of Imperial War Museums (IWM). IWM Duxford, formerly RAF Duxford, was an early RAF…
16th March, 2018 in History, Society & Culture
The solution to the ‘Two St Patricks’ theory
In 1942 an academic paper rocked the world of the researchers of Saint Patrick. The academic who wrote the paper announced that there were two Patricks. Since then his proposal has generally become known as the ‘Two Patricks Theory.’ The man who caused this intellectual earthquak…
16th March, 2018 in Biography & Memoir, History
The death of Robert Falcon Scott
When, on 29 March 1912, Captain Robert Falcon Scott wrote his last exhortation, ‘For God’s sake look after our people’, two members of his Polar Party, ‘Titus’ Oates and ‘Taff’ Evans, were already dead, and Scott, ‘Doc’ Wilson and ‘Birdie’ Bowers had just a few hours left to…
15th March, 2018 in History, Society & Culture
The Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918
A little over a century ago the world was in the grip of a devastating influenza pandemic which killed millions worldwide. It was the most vicious flu virus on record; not only one of the greatest medical catastrophes of the 20th century, but one of the deadliest natural disaster…
13th March, 2018 in History, Society & Culture
The Clifford’s Tower massacre
On 16 March 1190 one of the worst cases of anti-Semitic violence in Britain took place in York, and yet so few of us know of the massacre at Clifford’s Tower. It was during the 12th century that the representation of Jews in European art across the continent began to change; for…
22nd February, 2018 in Archaeology, History
The Victorian Society: Campaigning for Victorian and Edwardian architecture
60 years ago 33 cultural luminaries including John Betjeman and Nikolaus Pevsner gathered at 18 Stafford Terrace, Kensington to found a body dedicated to the protection of threatened Victorian and Edwardian buildings. Today the Victorian Society is thriving, with 3,000 members na…
16th February, 2018 in History
Duke of Clarence: A title through time
Duke of Clarence and its related titles are substantive titles which have traditionally been awarded to junior members of the British royal family. As grand sounding as the title Duke of Clarence is, it is perhaps forever tainted by two previous incumbents. As many Shakespeare sc…
5th February, 2018 in History, Military, Women in History
Women’s war work and 1918’s Representation of the People Act
By the end of World War I about one million more women were at work than had been in the summer of 1914. Most of them had taken jobs previously done by men who were in the armed forces. The large number of working-class women was nothing new; such women had always gone out to wor…
5th February, 2018 in History
Royal engagement rings through the centuries
2018 was a busier than usual year for the Royal Family, with two of its members marrying. Following the announcement of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s engagement, Princess Eugenie and fiancé Jack Brooksbank also revealed that they too were tying the knot. Ahead of these wedding…
30th January, 2018 in History
Camp debate: Bloody Sunday 1972
The audio recordings and visual images that captured the military operation in Londonderry on 30 January 1972, in and around the Bogside area of William Street and Rossville flats, were real eye openers to the escalating dangers and civil unrest across the province as a whole. As…