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British planetary scientist Professor Colin Pillinger, the man behind Britain's 2003 Beagle 2 Mars rover, has died aged 70. Prof Pillinger was at his home in Cambridge when he suffered a brain haemorrhage and fell into a deep coma. His family said he later died at Addenbrooke's Hospital...

The moat at the Tower of London is to be filled with almost 900,000 poppies to mark the centenary of the start of WWI. From August 5 to November 11, the dry moat will be turned into a sea of red, with one large ceramic poppy for each of the 888,246 British soldiers killed during the...

One of the world's first printed atlases is on sale at Bloomsbury in London for £90,000. The atlas of the known world is an interpretation of the works of Roman mathematician, astrologer and geographer Claudius Ptolemy, who lived between 90 and 168AD. It contains a barely recognisable...

The former British number one tennis star Elena Baltacha died on Sunday from liver cancer at the age of just 30. Baltacha, who was born in Ukraine and emigrated to Britain at the age of five with her professional footballer father (Ipswich Town, St Johnstone and Inverness Caledonian Thistle)...

Yes, it's that time of year again. This Saturday night it's the 59th Eurovision Song Contest, the cheesy popfest which will be broadcast live globally. As last year's winner, Denmark - which won it for the first time since 2000, with 1963 being their one other victory - is hosting this...

More than 100 people are taking part in the re-chalking of the Uffington White Horse. Set in the beautiful countryside of the parish of Uffington in Oxfordshire (previously in neighbouring Berkshire) the Uffington White Horse is thought to date back up to 1000BC, measures 374 feet in length...

The result of a judicial review over where the remains of Richard III should be buried is expected this month. The judicial review will examine Justice Secretary Chris Grayling's decision to authorise the exhumation and reinterment of the monarch’s remains in Leicester. It has been brought by...

Scottish independence setback after Salmond calls Scots "drunks" and backs Putin A new poll in Scotland has revealed a surge against Scottish independence after Alex Salmond, the Scottish First Minister and the leader of the SNP, the party campaigning for Scottish independence, pledged his...

The Wiltshire town of Amesbury has been confired as the UK's oldest settlement. The town, notable for being the location of Stonehenge, has been continually occupied since around the year 8820BC, experts have found. The news was confirmed following an archaeological dig which also unearthed...

Tired of writing with traditional pen and paper? Then you'll want to pay attention to Lix's device. Their 3D printing pen enables you to write and draw in the air by melting plastic. This means at the touch of a button you can create freestanding objects in a matter of seconds. London-based...

A "rare" 16th Century "royal" silver vervel found in a Norfolk field has revealed the hunting habits of Charles Brandon, the first duke of Suffolk. The 23mm (0.9in) ring, found in December 2012, was worn by a bird of prey around its foot to identify its owner. Adrian Marsden, finds officer...

The medieval equivalent of a cotton bud has been declared treasure after being found in Norfolk. The 1 inch (28mm) "ear scoop" and sheath handle were discovered by a metal detector enthusiast in Fincham. The "toilet implement" was among a number of items to appear at a treasure inquest in...

Here's a bittersweet British comedy you should watch. It is funny but also packed with touching, tender moments. Like a previous work of Ricky Gervais's - The Office - this show is presented in mockumentary style. Series 2 has just started. Here are the first two episodes from last year's...

2014 marks 300 years since the House of Hanover took to the Throne of the new nation of Great Britain. The 1701 Act of Settlement decreed that Roman Catholics cannot ascend the British throne, and so took all Catholics out of the Line of Succession. The Act was prompted by the failure of...

When a cricket team bowled out their opposition for a low score, they must have gone into bat confident of an easy victory. However, Wirral Cricket Club, who play in the Cheshire League Division Three, did even worse. In fact, they were bowled out for just THREE runs against Haslington, who...

The Dutch have this weekend been celebrating their first ever King's Day. Our next door neighbours have clad themselves in orange - the national colours of the Netherlands - to honour King Willem Alexander, who became king on 30th April last year after his mother, Queen Beatrice, abdicated...

Five British service personnel have been killed after their helicopter crashed yesterday in southern Afghanistan. Three of the servicemen, from the Army Air Corps, and an airman, from the Royal Air Force, were stationed at RAF Odiham, in Hampshire, the Ministry of Defence said. The fifth...

The visits of sports teams to Nazi Germany in the 1930s still generate controversy today, from the Berlin Olympics' anti-Semitism to the England football team's Nazi salute in 1938. But a new book tells the story of a cricket team from Worcestershire which, founded in 1848, predated...

BREAKING NEWS Camilla's brother and Prince Charles's brother-in-law Mark Shand is critical in hospital on life support after falling and smashing his head outside a New York club. BREAKING NEWS: Duchess of Cornwall's brother, 62, fighting for life after smashing head in fall outside New York...

UKIP leader Nigel Farage has promised there will be a political earthquake if his anti-EU, anti-immigration party win next month's EU elections - and they are the favourites to do so. Launching UKIP's campaign, he argued his policies on immigration and the EU were "straightforward" and...