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Forty horses yesterday ran the Grand National in Liverpool, the world's biggest, most famous and most valuable horse race. Despite coming under attack from various animal rights groups for its high rate of horse fatalities, the race is as popular as ever before. The race is 4 miles 4 furlongs...

It's that time of year again for one of the oldest sporting fixtures in the British sporting calendar. Today was the 155th University Boat Race between the dark blues of Oxford and the light blues of Cambridge, and it was watched by a crowd of over 250,000. It was Oxford who were the victors...

A group of drunken students thought it would be a good idea to steal a model triceratops from a local museum. The gang, who had been out celebrating the end of their course, tried to take the dinosaur to a road to place it in the middle of a roundabout, in Dorchester, Dorset. It took ten of...

Former RAF member Henry Allingham, 112, is not only Britain's oldest man and Europe's oldest, he's also the oldest British man in HISTORY. Mr Allingham turned 112 years and 296 days today, surpassing Welshman John Evans who died in 1990 aged 112 years and 295 days. He is one of only two...

It may have been just a meaningless friendly, but a crowd of over 85,000 packed into Wembley Stadium in London last night to watch in-form England's game against Slovakia, a large number that would probably never be matched anywhere else in Europe for just a friendly. England dazzled in their...

Imagine your parents were cruel enough to give you silly names, so that you were called Constance Smell, Anice Bottom, Seymour Bust, Boadicea Basher or Norman Conquest. Imagine the embarassement when you have to tell somebody your name, or the bullying and name-calling inflicted on you by your...

If nowadays you feel nervous about having surgery or even just going to the dentist, then spare a thought for those souls who had to undergo treatment in days of yore. A new exhibition from the Science Museum in London brings to life medicine's dark past. More than 2,500 objects are on display...

Seaton Delaval Hall in Northumberland, in the north east of England, is one of the finest English stately homes. It was built between 1718 and 1728 by Sir John Vanbrugh for Admiral George Delaval. Vanbrugh also built Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill (the 1st Duke of...

It has been revealed that British scientist Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, spent more money on shoes than books whilst at university. He even paid people to carry out tasks such as stoking his fire and polishing his fancy new footwear. Darwin's college bills amounted to...

In 1906, a water-powered supercar - called the Stanley Rocket - achieved an astonishing (at that time) record speed of 127.659mph in Florida. That made it the fastest car in the world at the time. But now a British team is hoping to break that 103 year old steam land record. Leading the...

Many people may consider England footballers to be heroes (even though they haven't won a major trophy since 1966), but yesterday John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Steven Gerrard and Co met some REAL heroes. John Terry’s basic pay at Chelsea is £7.3million a year. Most of these servicemen will earn...

Here is the picture of Doctor Who's latest nemesis - a Trivatore. The Trivatores are an alien species who have heads like those of flies. They will first appear in the new Easter special Planet of the Dead. The show's producers hope the Trivatores become as iconic as the Daleks and the...

For this St George's Day (23rd April), the BBC and the Arts Council have teamed up to give England a new national anthem. As part of the UK, England doesn't have a national anthem but instead uses the UK's national anthem "God Save the Queen/King", the world's oldest. Before football...

Only Fools's "Del Boy" forced to say sorry after making "racist" joke live on radio Actor Sir David Jason, who played ambitious, cockney market trader Derek "Del Boy" Trotter in the classic BBC comedy series Only Fools and Horses, which ran from 1981-2003, has been forced to apologise after...

It's amazing how much different the present day could have been. Take Britain's monarchy. Instead of the comfortably familiar, grandmotherly-type figure of Queen Elizabeth II, we might have ended up with a bald bloke calling himself King George VII. History could have dictated that that the...

England's female cricket team showed their male counterparts how to win yesterday by beating New Zealand to win the Cricket World Cup. It is the third time the England women's team has won the World Cup, having previously won it in 1973 and 1993 (England's men were defeated by Pakistan in the...

British reality TV star Jade Goody has died today after losing her battle against cervical cancer. She was just 27 years old. Tragically, she left behind two young sons - and today is Mother's day. Jade shot to fame in 2002 when she appeared on reality TV show Big Brother. Ironically, in...

Every Spring and Autumn equinox, the setting sun shines through a window at the Holy Trinity church in Barsham, Suffolk and illuminates a 5ft statue of Christ on the cross for 5 minutes. This beautiful spectacle dates back to the 1300s, but was lost and only recently rediscovered by the...