England

The First Map of the Moon

At 9pm on 26 July 1609, Thomas Harriot pointed his telescope at a five-day-old crescent moon. It made him the first person to train such an instrument on the skies and map the moon. 

‘Found Incapable’

As senility came to be recognised as a distinct diagnosis, methods of protecting patients – from themselves and from others – had to change. 

Off with Their Heads!

Recent royal crises reveal echoes of discontent in 1870s Britain, when disquiet with monarchy manifested in calls for its abolition. 

Was Richard III a Bad King?

Child-murderer, arch villain, failed monarch, ‘northern’. Have efforts to redeem Richard III succeeded or is he still one of history’s worst kings?

Crowning Triumph

Westminster Abbey was the focus of the world during the recent coronation. How and why was it built?