Search results

Despite being the world's biggest (and oldest) underground railway, with over 250 miles of track ad one billion passenger journeys in 2007, it's amazing that only two babies have ever been born on the London Underground. Julia Kowalska is the first person to give birth on the London Underground...

With another three and a half years still to go until the 2012 London Olympics and with the Beijing Games ending just a few months ago, the new Olympic stadium is already beginning to take shape. The 80,000 seater stadium in Stratford, east London, will be one of the largest in Europe, though...

In 1808, during the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleon sent French troops into Spain to occupy that country, and Napoleon put his brother Joseph on the Spanish throne in place of the Spanish royal family. The Spanish people rose up against the French occupiers. In November 1808, exactly 200 years...

A poll has shown that 71% of the British people are opposed to ditching the pound and joining the euro. And, in the second article, Peter Oborne shows why it would be suicide for Britain to join the euro. Majority of voters still oppose Britain joining the euro - 10 years after it was...

The BBC revealed yesterday that Matt Smith is the new Doctor Who. He will be the 11th Doctor Who - and the youngest actor to play him. So Matt is now the fourth most important man in England, after the Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the England football manager! At 26...

The British Empire was the greatest, and most benign, empire the world has ever known. At its biggest-ever extent in 1922 (just 87 years ago), it ruled over a quarter of the world's people and a quarter of the world's landmass and was the world's foremost global power for over 150 years until...

Imagine a country with mind-boggling poverty, an incredible 26% annual rate of inflation, crippling strikes that left it at a standstill, a working week of only three days to conserve electricity after the miners (amongst many others) went on strike leaving millions of people living in darkness...

Prince Charles has become the hardest working member of the Royal Family - notching up 560 engagements in 2008. That means he has overtaken his little sister, the Princess Royal, who racked up 534. That's not bad for a 60-year-old. The number of engagements carried out by the Queen this...

English sports fans are celebrating today after the Australia cricket team, the world champions, suffered their first Series defeat in Australia since 1993, after losing by 9 wickets against South Africa. Now, their conquerors, South Africa, are aiming to take Australia's crown as world No1...

Thousands of spectators have braved the freezing temperatures to watch the annual MAD Club soapbox derby. The event, in Burton on Trent, Staffordshire, last year raised £78,000 for charity. MAD stands for "Meynall Arms Drinkers" after the pub where the event is held. Teams risk life and...

A mixed-race couple, Dean Durrant and Alison Spooner of Fleet, Hampshire, have given birth to black and white twins. But, incredibly, this is the SECOND time it has happened. The odds of this happening are half-a-million to one. Mixed-race couple give birth to black and white twins - for...

William Tyndale was an English scholar who from 1525, became the first person to translate the Bible into English. He was convinced that the way to God was through His word and that scripture should be available even to common people. Much of Tyndale's work eventually found its way into the...

As 2008 nears the end, who should be the person of the year? The Telegraph's Iain Martin thinks it should be Queen Elizabeth II, who has further shown why she is the world's best Head of State. From asking "Why did no-one predict the credit crunch?" to being a much needed non-partisan symbol...

The League of Gentlemen's Mark Gatiss stars in, and has written, the BBC's new Crooked House, a series of three spooky episodes that will put a chill up anybody's spine this Christmas. The three episodes, shown over the Christmas period, depict a creaky old manor whose spooks terrify...

Here we have a look behind-the-scenes of Britain's new aircraft carriers, the world's second-biggest warships. The Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers - HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales - will enter service with the Royal Navy between 2016 and 2018. They will be the world's...

The British are often described as being a nation of animal lovers, and St Tiggywinkles Wildlife Hospital in Buckinghamshire may be proof of that. It is the world's busiest wildlife hospital, with over 10,000 orphaned or injured animals. From foxes to doves, from hedgehogs to bats, and from...

Three movies are to be released in 2009 about the Battle of Hastings, and it's about time. Unlike other famous battles, such as Trafalgar, Agincourt and Waterloo, the Battle of Hastings has not received the same kind of interest from moviemakers. The Battle of Hastings way back in 1066 was...

Prince Edward, the youngest child of the Queen, has been condemned after he lashed out at his dogs with a large stick at the Sandringham Royal Estate in Norfolk on Boxing Day. It is traditional for the British Royal Family to take their Christmas break at Sandringham, and Prince Edward was...

England and India drew the Second Test, meaning India won the Series 1-0. England were praised by many people, including the Indians, for deciding to return to India to go ahead with the Series after the Mumbai terrorist attacks. England lost the Series but can leave India with their heads...

If you think you're having a bad Christmas, just think yourself lucky that you didn't have to experience the harsh realities of a British Christmas in the 19th Century. In Victorian Britain, a workhouse was a place where people who were unable to support themselves went to live and work, but...