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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...

A 16-year-old boy from Bristol has become the youngest person ever to trek to the South Pole. Lewis Clarke spent 48 days at temperatures as low as -58F and winds of up to 120 mph. He arrived at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station at 18:00 GMT after completing the gruelling 702-mile journey...

A former aide to Margaret Thatcher, Lord McAlpine of West Green, has died aged 71. He was today hailed as a 'towering' political figure who had been successful within and outside of public life. In 2012 he was wrongly accused by the odious Left of being a paedophile, when allegations were...

Archaeologists believe that some bones found in a box at Winchester City Museum may belong to those of Anglo-Saxon monarch King Alfred the Great. However, there is also a chance the remains could belong to his son, King Edward the Elder. Archaeologists at the University of Winchester carried...

The Queen's granddaughter and British Olympian Zara Phillips gave birth to a baby girl in the early hours of this morning. Zara's husband, England Rugby Union star Mike Tindall, was present at the birth at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital. The girl, whose name has not yet been confirmed...

Next month archaeologists are to start excavating the remains of a 6th century church which is thought to be Britain's oldest place of Christian worship. St Piran's Oratory, near Perranporth, on the north coast of Cornwall (England's most southerly and most westerly county), has been encased...

A few bones are all that have been found inside a mysterious room in a Scottish castle that was recently opened for the first time in 500 years. The room, measuring just six feet high and six feet across, is located inside the ancient ruins of Mingary Castle near Kilchoan on the bleak and...

Two schoolboys sparked a bomb scare when they returned home from metal detecting in a field - by bringing two WWII anti-tank shells home with them. The boys, Kane Byrne and Alex Taylor, both 12, from Folkestone, Kent, were looking for trinkets and coins when they discovered the shells from...

39 skulls found within the ancient part London 25 years ago are now thought to be those of gladiators killed whilst entertaining Roman audiences. The 39 skulls were found in 1988 beneath the site of the Guildhall within the City of London, central London. The boundaries of the City of London...

Diaries from British soldiers serving on the frontline during World War I have been placed online by the National Archives. Events from the outbreak of war in 1914 to the departure of troops from Flanders and France were recorded in official diaries of each military unit. About 1.5 million...

A film uploaded on the video-sharing site Vimeo shows London in 1927 in colour. The film shows the other side to London - complete with quiet streets, police guiding traffic and tradesman standing on the back of carts as they trundle along the roads. It was shot by an early British pioneer of...

In its 936 year history, the Tower of London has served variously as an armoury, a treasury, the home of the Royal Mint, a public records office, and the home of the Crown Jewels. From about 1251 to 1835, it also served as the Royal Menagerie, and was home to many animals which could be heard...

Today, the area is a £15-a-night caravan park. But a million years ago, it was the birthplace of British civilisation. What is now the Manor Caravan Park in the coastal village of Happisburgh (pronounce "hays-bru"), Norfolk is also the site of the oldest-known human settlement in Britain...

The leader of the Far Right BNP, Nick Griffin, has launched his own cookery show. Mr Griffin, who is a Member of the European Parliament for North West England and was recently declared bankrupt, is trying his hand as a TV chef promising recipes on how to cook ‘traditional British fare’ on his...