History Today

George III to the United States Sendeth

On November 11th, 1791, George Hammond, the first British Minister to the United States, presented his credentials to George Washington. Despite favourable auguries, writes Leslie Reade, his was to prove “a stormy and frustrating mission.”

Paris Exposition 1867

Bela Menczer describes the various intellectual and artistic personalities who conspired to produce the Exposition Universelle, in Paris, in 1867.

Clemenceau: The Politician

Sometimes admired, even occasionally popular; John Roberts describes how Georges Clemenceau towered over French political life for nearly half a century.

Bokhara Burnes

Alexander Burnes met his death on November 2nd, 1841, at the hands of a furious Afghan mob. James Lunt introduces one of the most adventurous travellers of his generation.

Black Friday, 1921

The mining dispute of 1921, writes Patrick Renshaw, was one of the most serious industrial conflicts that Britain has faced.