Search results

Archaeologists have discovered a 2,000 year old toilet seat at Vindolanda fort on Hadrian's Wall. The wooden toilet seat is perfectly preserved and is thought to be the only one of its kind. It could have been used by Roman soldiers stationed at the northernmost border of the whole of the...

A document signed by Henry VIII granting a loan which helped found the London Stock Exchange has been put on sale by Bristol antiques dealers Paul Fraser Collectibles for £65,000. Addressed to John Heron, the Treasurer of the Chamber, King Henry informs him to loan £637 and 10 shillings -...

Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love has been voted the greatest guitar riff of all time by listeners of BBC Radio 2. The 1969 rock classic came out top from a list of 100 riffs drawn up by a panel of Radio 2 and 6 Music DJs, critics and record producers. Sweet Child O' Mine by Guns 'N' Roses was...

The state funeral of the Republic of Ireland's former Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Albert Reynolds has been taking place in Dublin. The Fianna Fáil politician, who was born in Rooskey, County Roscommon, served as Taoiseach from February 1992 to December 1994. Mr Reynolds, who played a key role...

An unusual Anglo-Saxon belt buckle, found by metal detecting near Mildenhall in Suffolk, has been declared treasure. Dr Helen Geake, from the Portable Antiquities Scheme and a member of Tony Robinson's Time Team, said: "It really is quite unusual. "The costumes worn at this time don't...

The new series of Doctor Who starts tonight, the first series of the world's longest-running and most successful sci-fi show since it celebrated its 50th birthday in November. It is the first series with the Twelfth Doctor, played by Peter Capaldi. The new series's first episode, "Deep...

From Helmand to Hastings, the brutality of battle can be seen in these poignant images of war kits given to British soldiers over the course of 1,000 years. Back in the 13th Century, an axe was the weapon of choice to grind down opponents. But today, soldiers carry iPads in their battle kits...

I'm not normally interested in women's sport apart from its comedy value, but I thought this was worth a mention. England have won the Women's Rugby (Union) World Cup for the second time after thrashing Canada 21-9 in the Final last night. Emily Scarratts’s brilliant solo try, which she then...

The Church of England has delivered a withering critique of David Cameron's Middle East policy, describing the government's approach as incoherent, ill-thought-out and determined by "the loudest media voice at any particular time". The criticisms are made in an extraordinary letter to the...

Basildon Hospital in Essex has said that it is 'responding to a major incident' after an illegal immigrant was found dead and others, including children, were found with 'significant health problems' at a shipping container at Tilbury Docks on the Thames early today, 25 miles east of London...

New figures show that the British economy is now the best in the world, with growth outstripping all other major economies, including the US, Japan and, far less surprising, the rest of the EU. Britain’s economy grew even more this year than previously thought. The Office for National...

After a four year hiatus, UK ghost hunting show Most Haunted is returning with a brand new series. The show, presented by former children's TV presenter Yvette Fielding and directed by her husband Karl Beattie (who are both karate black belts), originally ran from 2002 to 2010 and appeared to...

Outing white, middle-aged, male celebrities as "historical paedophiles" has become a national sport in recent years, with the Met's "Operation Yewtree" going into full swing. Whilst it has outed a few white, middle-aged, male celebrities as people who committed sexual abuse decades ago without...

Today is the 50th anniversary of the last executions ever to take place in Britain On 13th August 1964, Peter Anthony Allen was hanged at Walton Prison in Liverpool and Gwynne Owen Evans was hanged at Strangeways Prison in Manchester for the murder of John Alan West. West was a 53-year-old...

The Royal Mail has released a set of 97p and first class stamps featuring Britain's greatest-ever Prime Ministers. And it may not surprise you to know that political pygmies Blair and Cameron are NOT included in the set, and neither is Lloyd George, who served as PM in the second half of WWI...

I bet it's not as nice as that burger I had at a Harvester on the Cleveleys seafront with my grandmother last month, in which - like all Harvesters - you can have UNLIMITED, FREE salad.

And yet had someone called those cops to report an intruder in their home or gangs of thugs causing trouble in the neighbourhood the cops would have done nothing.

Ricky Gervais is to make a big screen outing centred around his comedy creation from The Office - David Brent, the egotistical, self-promoting general manager of the Slough branch of the Wernham–Hogg paper merchants. The film, Life On The Road, will chart Brent's progress in the 15 years since...

A group of schoolboys from Alston Primary School in Cumbria has unearthed a rare 4,000-year-old ornament during a dig at Kirkhaugh in Northumberland. The boys were taking part in an excavation of a burial mound when they saw a glint of gold in the soil. The object is believed to be a...

An RAF Typhoon was scrambled to escort a Qatar Airways plane into Manchester Airport earlier today. Residents of the city said that the fighter plane "came out of nowhere" to escort QR23, which was flying to Britain from Qatari capital Doha, to the airport, Britain's third busiest after...