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Naturalist Charles Darwin, one of the people who put the Great into Great Britain, famously sailed around the world on the Royal Navy ship HMS Beagle in the 1830s. He came up with his Theory of Evolution after visiting the Galapagos Islands, now a part of Ecuador, in 1835. It was the behaviour...

On 14th November 1948, the future King Charles III was born, the first son of Princess Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip. Tomorrow, the Prince of Wales turns 60. There has been some speculation the the Queen may pass the crown onto Prince William upon her death, bypassing Charles...

In a scene which harks back to the 18th Century, a group of pirates decided to take on the Royal Navy - and didn't live to tell the tale. The terrified pirates stood with their hands on their heads after the Royal Navy Type 23 frigate, HMS Cumberland, came to the aid of a Danish cargo ship...

Two Royal Marines have been killed in Afghanistan, bringing the British death toll in Afghanistan and Iraq up to the 300 mark. 176 British troops have been killed so far in Iraq and 124 so far in Afghanistan. Last week, a Gurkha was killed in Afghanistan. Yubraj Rai, a 28-year-old from...

Many people are under the false impression than Britain abolished the death penalty in the 1960s, around the same time as many other countries abolished theirs. In actual fact, it wasn't until 1998 that Britain actually abolished the death penalty. Even in the 1990s, there were six offences...

The tiny kingdom of Bhutan, the last-remaining independent Buddhist nation in the Himalayas, has crowned its new monarch. Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck, who was educated at Britain's Oxford University, was finally crowned king after a two-and-a-half year wait for the moment when Bhutanese...

If you want to leave this life in style, rather than in a traditional plain coffin, then Colourful Coffins is the company you might want to contact. This company, based in Oxfordshire, has coffins in all colours and styles.... Going out in style: The coffins that carry you off in a riot of...

The customers of the Lord Clyde, a pub near to where I live, have all placed bets on when they think Barack Obama will be assassinated. Remember, whereas the British Empire abolished slavery in 1807 (meaning Britain was the first country in the world to abolish slavery, one of the many good...

Despite her age, the Queen again once again was at The Cenotaph in central London to lay a wreath in honour of the British and Commonwealth soldiers who have died in every conflict since WWI. She's 82 years old but still serves her country well. Other members of the Royal Family - such as...

At the Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery in La Targette, northern France, a team is lovingly restoring the gravestones of those soldiers from Britain and her Empire who fell during the Great War. There are so many gravestones that need repairing that the whole process will take 28...

With tonight being Guy Fawkes Night, with fireworks exploding, Guy Fawkes effigies being burned on top of bonfires and people eating treacle toffee all over the country to celebrate the foiling of a Catholic plot to assassinate the King in 1605, the BBC (always one to stick up for the rights of...

There was also democracy in action in Britain on Monday as beekepers took to the streets. Hundreds of beekeepers from around Britain have marched on Parliament and 10 Downing Street to present a petition to the Prime Minister to fund £8 million of bee diseases and health. They are concerned...

The Charge of the Light Brigade in 1854 was one of the most glorious failures in British military history. The incident took part during the Battle of Balaclava against the Russians during the Crimean War. The incident happened after the British advanced down a different valley from the one...

The Queen has asked economists: "Why didn't anyone see the credit crunch coming?" Today she revealed her concern during an academic briefing on the financial crisis at the London School of Economics where she opened its £71million New Academic Building. She is the first monarch to visit the...

Sectarianism between Catholics and Protestants reared its ugly head in Britain again last night after Catholic thugs threw a lighted firework at a footballer in Belfast. Cliftonville, which is supported mainly by Catholics, played Linfield, which is supported mainly by Protestants. After the...

Britain has a World Championship. Lewis Hamilton has just become the youngest-ever Formula 1 World Champion - and the first black person to win it. It was looking like it was going to be a disaster for the 23 year old Englishman (who was recently the subject of sickening racist abuse on a...

With Britain (unlike many other European countries) unafraid to send her soldiers, sailors and airmen into war, it's vital that they have the best modern equipment that money can buy, especially when Britain spent $60 billion on defence in 2008, more than any other nation except the United...

There will be a green centrepiece to the 2012 London Olympics - the 30th Olympiad - in the form of a half-mile long garden inspired by Britain’s five centuries of collecting plants from around the world. The riverside rival to Kew Gardens will be divided into four geographic zones...

The first ever Stanford Super Series was played last night. The Stanford Super Series is the brainchild of Texan billionaire Allen Stanford, a fan of the Twenty20 format of cricket (just one innings played and each team bats for just 20 overs). The match was between Allen's Stanford...

It's not LBW (Leg Before Wicket), but more like L-Bee-W in the current Test match between Australia and India. A deadly swarm of bees invaded the pitch during the Third Test, leaving the Australian and Indian cricketers diving for cover at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in New Delhi. A swarm...