England

R. E. Foster reconsiders the origins of the Church Settlement of 1559.

Richard Cavendish marks the founding of a famous Victorian penitentiary, on March 20th, 1806.

Judith Richards pinpoints the debts of Elizabeth I to her older half-sister.

The bride was fifteen and the groom twenty-two, when they married on December 1st, 1655.

A Tudor portrait in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, once believed to be Mary I when princess, has recently been relabelled ‘Possibly Lady Jane Grey’ as the result of research by Ph.D student J. Stephan Edwards. Here he explains how the iconography in the painting prompted the discovery.

Elizabeth Sparrow unpicks the origins of the long-standing belief that Penzance, in Cornwall, was the first place on the mainland to receive news of the victory at Trafalgar and the death of Nelson.

John Matusiak examines whether a common interpretation can survive detailed scrutiny.

Pauline Croft explains the origins of Bonfire Night.

Bartholomew's Fair, which dates back to the 12th century, was held for the last time on September 3rd, 1855.

The Guinness Book of Records was first published on August 27th, 1955.