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For a sailor in the ‘Age of Sail’, the main scourge was not battle but boredom, though if they experienced any sailing warfare at all, it was random and chaotic. Historian, archaeologist, writer and broadcaster Dr Sam Willis shares 5 facts on the navy of Horatio Nelson… 5...

KATIE HOPKINS brilliantly turned the tables on an out-of-touch LBC caller after the self-confessed London boy claimed people were embarrassed to admit they voted for Brexit and Donald Trump. The fired-up LBC radio host could not hide her annoyance with Kevin as she loudly sighed and put...

It once hung outside Charles I's bedroom, sold off after his execution as his famous art collection was scattered across Europe. This month, a Gentileschi portrait of a woman will come up for sale for the first time in 380 years – minus some of its assets. The ca.1630-36 portrait, entitled...

The UK is "doing great" following its vote to leave the EU, US President-elect Donald Trump has said. In his first UK interview - with former Justice Secretary Michael Gove for The Times - Mr Trump said he thought the UK was "so smart in getting out". Mr Trump promised a quick trade deal...

Britain has always had something of a reputation as being a bit stuffy. A closer look at some centuries-old history shows that they were really anything but, and some of the stories that have gotten inconveniently left out of our typical history books are enough to make almost anyone today...

The National Archives has made available early photos of Oxford Castle's inmates, many of whom were children. And even children were sentenced to hard labour... Oxford Castle mugshots show 'victims of their time' BBC News 15 January 2017 The National Archives has made available early photos...

Theresa May will gamble this week by siding with Eurosceptics and signalling she is prepared to take Britain out of the single market and customs union. In her most significant Brexit speech since taking office, the Prime Minister will defy critics by indicating she is open to a clean...

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator has said he wants to secure easy access to the City of London for countries in the bloc, in the first sign of a softer stance. Michel Barnier reportedly told MEPs that he wanted a “special” relationship between the 27 remaining EU countries and...

Writing for History Extra, Dr Andrea Major gives an insight into one of history’s most powerful companies, and their rise to political power on the Indian subcontinent… The East India Company: How a trading corporation became an imperial ruler Featured in BBC One’s new period drama Taboo as a...

Think of the Victorians as straight-laced and boring? Think again – nothing captured the imagination of 19th-century readers like the strange, macabre and bizarre... 6 strange newspaper stories that shocked Victorian Britain Think of the Victorians as straight-laced and boring? Think again –...

The Omen may have given significance to the dreaded number 666, but it's Friday 13th that's proving unlucky for Harvey Spencer Stephens, the former child actor who played Damien in classic horror film The Omen. Stephens will be sentenced today after admitting to two counts of actual bodily...

A "substantial" hoard of gold has been found hidden inside an old piano. The discovery was made in Shropshire before Christmas when its new owners had it retuned and repaired. Experts think the valuables might have been "deliberately hidden" in the instrument more than 100 years ago... Hoard...

Fifty years before Jack the Ripper terrorised London, another serial killer roamed the streets who was every bit as sadistic but even more calculating, it has emerged. Francois Courvosier, a Swiss gentleman servant who had emigrated to London, murdered two prostitutes, a watchmaker and a Lord...

A controversial plan for a road tunnel past Stonehenge has been finalised by the government. Campaigners claim the 1.8-mile dual-carriageway tunnel will cause "irreparable damage" to the landscape. However, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said the plan will "transform" the A303...

It was discovered in the 1850s, but details on this rare ancient Egyptian treasure have remained a mystery to experts. Now, the 3,400-year-old fragmented wooden box has been pieced together by a museum in Scotland. Experts believe the treasure has royal associations to Pharaoh Amenhotep II...

Henry VIII has never been known as an austere king and his famous image as a round-bellied royal has shaped the public's view of the Tudor over the centuries. But a new study has revealed the true extent of his eye-watering spending, with the King shelling out nearly £6million a year on...

Thousands of Victorian jam jars and pickle pots have been discovered beneath a former nightclub during the building of Crossrail, it has emerged. The Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) found more than 13,000 pots in an old vault at the site of the new Elizabeth line station in Tottenham...

Thousands of Victorian jam jars and pickle pots have been discovered beneath a former nightclub during the building of Crossrail, it has emerged. The Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) found more than 13,000 pots in an old vault at the site of the new Elizabeth line station in Tottenham...

I feel genuinely sorry for the Remoaners. It must be a thoroughly miserable experience. First you lose a referendum that your Remain mates told you was in the bag. Then you spend months living in even greater misery: refusing to accept the result, droning on about the idiocy of your...

Clare Hollingworth, the veteran British war correspondent who broke the news that World War Two had started, has died in Hong Kong at the age of 105. Born in Leicester in 1911, Hollingworth broke the story of Germany's invasion of Poland in August 1939... Clare Hollingworth: British war...