History - Latest news and reviews
Oliver Cromwell’s funeral banner goes on saleOne of only four surviving banners that formed part of the Royal Regalia used at the funeral of Oliver Cromwell in November 1658, is to be put up for sale next week.
This Tudor London map overlay is marvelousA map of London, as it was during the era of the Tudor monarchs, give or take a few decades has been released by Layers of London.
50th anniversary of Oxford Street’s Protein ManLess Lust, by Less Protein. 50 years ago, a man started walking around with a simple sign exhorting people to avoid protein as it leads to lust.
Tooting Common’s Jurassic era fossil tree to get a restorationThe petrified remains of a 145 million year old "fossil tree" on Tooting Common is to get some tender loving care with the council carrying out a restoration.
The year football was banned in LondonIn 1314, Nicholas de Farndone, the Mayor of London, acting on behalf of King Edward II, banned the "striking of great footballs" in the City of London.
Two 19th century pumps in the countrysideIt would be impressive to be out in the middle of the countryside and find one 19th century water pump, but two within a mile of each other is exceptional.
Japanese prints of London in 1866… are very JapaneseWhat happens when you're a Japan based woodblock printer who wants to sell prints of London, but have never visited the city? London ends up looking like Japan.
Queen Anne’s Summerhouse – a 300 year old folly you can sleep inHidden away in a private wood is a 300 year old folly, Queen Anne's Summerhouse. Queen Anne never visited it, but you can.
There’s a museum to Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillinIn this the 90th anniversary of the publication of the discovery of penicillin and the transformation of medical science, what better than to visit the Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum?
Visit an abandoned railway tunnel and viaductMany towns have bits of abandoned railway, maybe a tunnel or a viaduct, but there are few that have both. Such a place is Winchester, and this is a tale of a lost railway.
250th anniversary of the Massacre of St George’s FieldsToday marks the 250th anniversary of the government shooting dead rioters in Southwark.
Museums by Appointment – The Memorial Scrolls TrustThere’s a museum on a private road, behind a locked door and up several floors, that’s a remarkable survivor of Nazi and Communist oppression in Eastern Europe.
The Aldgate Pump EpidemicA water pump on the edge of the City of London that was praised for its clean clear water, that killed hundreds of Londoners.
Have you seen the Metropolitan Arcade at Liverpool Street Station?An early precursor of the modern shopping centre is the Arcade, and a rather fine example can be found just outside Liverpool Street station.
London smallest police station, in Trafalgar Square… isn’t what it’s claimed to beYou might have seen a small round cubicle on the edge of Trafalgar Square and been told it's the London's smallest police station. You might have been told that it was an idea of Sir Lionel Edwards. Both are wrong.
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