Tens of thousands of people turn out to watch Lord Nelson’s funeral procession in London, with some purchasing tickets to secure the best view. The service takes place at St Paul’s Cathedral the following day – sailors refuse to fold the Victory’s fl

SHORT ANSWER Well, they didn’t call poor Franz Reichelt the ‘Flying Tailor’ for nothing LONG ANSWER In the early days of aviation, pilot safety became a priority issue rather quickly. The parachute had long been a firm favourite, but a Bohemian tail

The Children’s Crusade is said to have been a failed popular (meaning not sanctioned by the Pope) crusade of 1212, mainly made up of children, with the intent of taking back Jerusalem. It is said to have been inspired by the crusades of Western Europ

When it came to choosing sides during the Civil Wars, it usually depended on who controlled your local area.There were three main types of soldiers within both armies: cavalry (horsemen), infantry (foot soldiers) and dragoons (mounted infantry who wo

The Civil Wars of the 17th century tore the British Isles apart, pitting Parliament against the King, and brother against brother. In 1642, disagreements and mistrust between Charles I and his government boiled over into the unthinkable – years of bl

Arguably the most important woman of the Civil Wars was the wife of Charles I, Henrietta Maria. Although the French-born queen has sometimes been overlooked, Professor Mark Stoyle argues that she was a far more pivotal figure in the conflict than is

Yes. If you look at the few surviving beds that we have, they're much smaller than a conventional bed. A reasonably average-sized person couldn't stretch out in one. If you look in some of the later halls, which have ‘bed boxes’ built into the walls,

Q: How popular was Charles I as monarch before the Civil Wars? A: He certainly had his critics and I wouldn’t say that he was a particularly popular king before the Civil Wars. Charles came to the throne in 1625 and was almost immediately beset wit

One Night in Miami / on limited cinema release, then streaming from 15 January on Amazon Prime On 25 February 1964, a glib and fast-talking young boxer stepped into the ring with the most feared fighter of his day, Sonny Liston. Few gave 22-year-old

PAID ENTRY ltmuseum.co.uk A new permanent gallery has opened at the London Transport Museum, exploring the fascinating history of the capital’s buses, trains and trams during the World Wars. Featuring a huge range of vehicles and interactive exhibi

William Collins, £25, hardback, 352 pages Charles Spencer has a knack for making seemingly remote historical events accessible for modern audiences. His latest book, for instance, suggests that the 1120 sinking of the White Ship was more meaningful

After years of bloodshed, leading parliamentarian army officers and some MPs came to the decision that the only way to restore peace across the nation was to remove Charles I – permanently. The decision was momentous: legally-sanctioned regicide in E

The Civil Wars of the 17th century turned life upside down for people all over the British Isles. As Charles I and Parliament fought bitterly for control, ordinary men and women were sucked into the conflict and families were ripped apart: brother fi

With the King dead, England was declared a Commonwealth and Free-State, Cromwell became the first de facto leader of the Council of State – a period known as the Interregnum. The execution of Charles I was not the death of the royalist cause – suppor

A shy, sickly child, Charles lived in the shadow of his accomplished older brother, Henry Frederick. Henry was extremely popular, even eclipsing his father, James VI and I, on occasion, but at 18 he died, probably from typhoid fever, and Charles beca