Search results

Archaeologists from around the UK have been examining a hoard of treasures unearthed in a 4,000-year-old tomb on Dartmoor. Prehistoric jewellery, animal pelts and beads made of amber were among the finds about two years ago in the burial chamber. The chamber, known as a cist, was found on...

This is the face belonging to an ancient skeleton buried in Roman times, created using the latest 3D reconstruction technology. The so-called 'Beachy Head Lady' - because she was discovered in the East Sussex beauty spot - had her face recreated using craniofacial reconstruction techniques...

The "pips" - the hourly markers broadcast on Radio 4 and other BBC stations - were first broadcast on 5 February 1924 (almost 16 months after the BBC itself was established) and so today they have turned 90. Sam Judah looks back at a familiar sound. The comforting tone of the hourly radio...

A top-secret British stealth drone has carried out its first successful test flights, it has been announced. BAE Systems' Taranis, named after the Celtic god of thunder, was today billed by military chiefs as the most technologically advanced aircraft ever built in the UK. The...

In a landmark new BBC history series which started last night, Jeremy Paxman (presenter of BBC's Newsnight and BBC's University Challenge) describes how the First World War transformed the lives of the British people, and helped shape modern Britain. 1. War Comes to Britain Jeremy Paxman...

The BBC has unveiled the costume for the 12th Doctor Who, Peter Capaldi. Sporting a dark blue Crombie coat with red lining, dark blue trousers, a white shirt as well as black Dr Marten shoes, the look was created by Doctor Who costume designer Howard Burden. Lifelong Dr Who fan Capaldi, a...

A unique collection of Viking Age monuments, which lay unloved in a Govan churchyard for 1,000 years, has attracted the attention of the British Museum. Its curator said the Govan Stones were one of the best collections of early medieval sculpture anywhere in the British Isles. Govan, in south...

In a spoof weather forecast for the BBC's Sunday Politics show, UKIP leader Nigel Farage took a light-hearted view of UKIP's recent gaffes in a spoof forecast. Mr Farage took the chance to respond to fury at remarks by David Silvester, a UKIP councillor who was suspended for linking recent...

From the train to the jet engine; from the television to photography; and from the marine chronometer to the computer and the World Wide Web, British inventions have helped bring in the modern age. Here we celebrate the inventors and inventions that put the ‘great’ into Great Britain. Fathers...

There was a spat at Davos yesterday between America's leftie former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers (who is also an occassional advisor to Britain's discredited Labour Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Ed Balls) and Britain's Tory Chancellor of the Exchequer (Britain's equivalent of America's...

The owner of a British shop in Canada has been ordered to stop selling the great British products of Irn-Bru and Marmite because they contain illegal additives. Tony Badger, who owns Brit Foods in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, told local media that food safety officials had removed the foods from...

A new book, The King in the North: The Life and Times of Oswald of Northumbria, tells the story of a great Anglo-Saxon warrior saint whose struggle to claim his righful place as King of Northumbria inspired Tolkien's Aragorn. King Oswald is hardly a household name, even in Britain. But as...

The UK is on course to overtake France to become the third largest car manufacturer in Europe after Germany and Spain, according to figured released today by The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). British car production increased by 3.1 per cent in 2013, the industry body said...

Television presenter and historian Dan Snow takes a look at the similarities between 1848, a year that saw a number of violent revolutions break out across Europe, and the recent unrest in Syria 1848: The Year of Revolutions Wednesday 15th January 2014 History Extra, the website of the BBC...

As early as the 18th century, diet doctors began to recommend strict, low fat meals, and newspapers featured adverts for tonic and diet pills. Research carried out by Dr Corinna Wagner from the University of Exeter reveals how the perceived decadence of the Georgian period gave way to a more...

The "fastest ever" broadband speeds have been achieved in a test in London, raising hopes of more efficient data transfer via existing infrastructure. Alcatel-Lucent and British Telecom (BT) said speeds of 1.4 terabits per second were achieved during their joint test - enough to send 44...

The Jurassic Coast has been packed with fossil hunters (or should that be money hunters?) since a giant marine reptile worth £15,000 was found on a beach on Boxing Day. The near-complete ichthyosaur skeleton was discovered by hobby collector Alan Saxon, from Chippenham in Wiltshire, who was on...

European Geostrategy release data each year showing the ranking of the world's most powerful countries. But this is not power by just military means. They have chosen four different categories – cultural pull, diplomatic influence, economic strength and military reach – with each divided into...

Tests are being carried out to establish the genetic condition of the Elephant Man. A team at Queen Mary University of London is using new techniques to extract DNA from his bones. Previous attempts failed because the skeleton was cleaned with bleach-like agents. The Elephant Man - whose real...

The BBC's new adaptation of the Three Musketeers starts on BBC1 tonight. The classic tale of Alexandre Dumas' Musketeers is well-trodden ground, but the new BBC interpretation promises a modern take on the story - while still set in 17th Century Paris. The new 10-part series is about to hit...