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Articles written by:

Jo Rowan

 

 

People stand in front of a large bonfire

The pagan roots of May Day
Westminster Abbey

6 little known facts about Westminster Abbey
Vasa warship in a museum

4 shipwrecks that weren't discovered until years later
18th-century engraving of the Scilly naval disaster

3 deadly shipwrecks that changed the course of history
Painting of the coronation of King George IV

The most expensive coronations in British history
Painting of Henry IV coronation in 1399

10 strange facts about British coronations
Stained glass window of St George slaying the dragon

5 little known facts about St George
Ada Lovelace portrait

Brainy British female scientists who changed the world
Salem Witch Trials: A women protests as one of her accusers, a young girl, appears to have convulsions.

The weird history of the Salem witch trials
Shoal of fish swim through a shipwreck

The most expensive shipwrecks in history
Theda Bara as Cleopatra

Walk like an Egyptian: The Ancient Egypt craze of the 1920s
Frederick Douglass

3 iconic Black civil rights activists born on Valentine's Day
The Execution of Lady Jane Grey by Paul Delaroche (1833).

Nine facts about the 'Nine Days Queen'
Edward Adrian Wilson, Robert Falcon Scott, Lawrence Oates, Henry Robertson Bowers and Edgar Evans at the South Pole

7 reasons Captain Scott's Antarctic expedition failed
Ancient eternal cathedral calendar and clock in Messina. Sicily

Six surprising facts about the Gregorian calendar
Medieval pagans dance round a fire

6 pagan festivals we still celebrate today
Larry the Cat outside 10 Downing Street. There is a large festive wreath on the door

Larry the Cat: The history of Britain's 'Chief Mouser'
A large map of the Operation Mincemeat strategy taking up a whole wall

Operation Mincemeat: Britain's campaign of deception in WWII
Engraving of the view from the Knightsbridge Road of The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park

Inside the Great Exhibition: 10 things you would have seen
Mari Lwyd

3 bizarre Christmas traditions you've probably never heard of
A painting of St Andrew

5 surprising facts about St Andrew
A ghostly figure in a gloomy dungeon

Locked in the Tower: Historic hauntings in the Tower of London
Angela Merkel former chancellor of Germany and Margaret Thatcher former British Prime Minister

How many countries have elected female leaders?
Rendering of a volcanic eruption

The most devastating and deadly natural disasters from ancient history
St Patrick on a stained glass window

Five surprising facts about St Patrick
A woman wearing a purple dress embroidered with purple flowers hold a red present

You'll love these different Valentine's Day traditions from around the world
Drawing by R Griffiths, held by Ceredigion Museum showing several people in traditional Welsh fashions of the period

The ladies of Fishguard: Britain's unlikeliest protectors
A groundhog pops his head out of a snow covered burrow

The history of Groundhog day