30 January 2012
When Eliza Lucas was a girl of 17 she wrote a friend: “I have the business of three plantations to transact, which requires much writing and more business and fatigue of other sorts than you can imagine.25 January 2012
Researchers from Germany and the United States suggest that the European conquest triggered the loss of more than half the Native American population. The results of their study provide new insight into the demise of the indigenous population.21 December 2011
Skeletons don’t lie. But sometimes they may mislead, as in the case of bones that reputedly showed evidence of syphilis in Europe and other parts of the Old World before Christopher Columbus made his historic voyage in 1492.19 December 2011
Reasons why it became acceptable for people to smile when having their pictures taken is being explored by a national organisation. The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland holds millions of images, many dating from the 1800s.15 December 2011
Nazi hunters have embarked upon one final swoop for remaining Third Reich criminals who worked as extermination camp guards or as executioners in mobile death squads during WW2.13 December 2011
A 93-year-old Belgian Congolese nurse who saved hundreds of wounded American soldiers during WWII has received an award for valour from the US army. Augusta Chiwy was presented with the award by the US ambassador to Belgium, Howard Gutman.9 December 2011
The Japanese government on Thursday apologized to former Canadian prisoners of war for their suffering during the Second World War, according to a Canadian statement.5 December 2011
German police have raided the homes of six elderly suspects in connection with the bloodiest massacre by the Nazis in France during the Second World War, prosecutors said Monday. But detectives failed to find any war diaries, photos or old documents as they had hoped, prosecutor Andreas Brendel said. All six men were either too infirm to talk or denied they took part in the Oradour massacre.28 November 2011
Adolf Hitler spent five months in Liverpool, wandering around the city and relaxing in the Poste House pub, pint in hand. He also enjoyed a sightseeing tour of London and was so fascinated by Tower Bridge that he bribed his way into the engine room so he could see the machinery at work.17 November 2011
Jane Austen, the author of classics such as "Pride and Prejudice" and "Sense and Sensibility," may have died of arsenic poisoning, according to a crime writer who has reviewed the last letters of the British novelist.16 November 2011
Every year, hikers trek the "Chemin de la Liberte" in the Pyrenees, to commemorate the 800 or so Allied airmen and Jewish refugees who risked their lives on a 60km (40 miles) route escaping Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II.9 November 2011
The Oka boys are a true band of brothers. All seven served in the military, yet they fought on opposing sides.8 November 2011
A previously "unknown heroine" who helped to foil a World War I spy plot by detecting secret messages has been discovered through the archives of the Royal Society of Chemistry. In 1915, Mabel Elliott uncovered messages about military movements being sent by an undercover German agent.28 October 2011
Polish authorities have reopened an investigation into crimes committed at Auschwitz and its satellite camps during World War II. It is estimated that one million people - mostly Jews and non-Jewish Poles - were killed at the Nazi death camp.25 October 2011
They were all founded between 1535 and 1728, but the UK's 10 oldest family businesses are showing no signs of ageing, such as slowing down. Instead, companies like RJ Balson and Son show impressive levels of stability and longevity, according to a study by the Institute for Family Business.24 October 2011
This Catholic man holds one of the most incredible concentration camp escape stories of World War Two, after he sneaked his Jewish girlfriend out of Auschwitz in 1944 by dressing up as an S.S. officer.
The Australian government is calling on Britain to pardon two of its soldiers executed more than a century ago for war crimes in South Africa.18 October 2011
On September 25, 1660, the great chronicler, Sarnuel Pepys, made the following entry in his diary: ‘And afterwards did send for a Cupp of Tee (a China drink) of which I had never drank before’.
A South Korean woman has been offered a little over $4 in government compensation for the death of her brother during the 1950-53 Korean War, embarrassing officials who say they were bound by an out-dated law.4 October 2011
For 90 years, Asko Vuorinen's ancestors lived in a stately, red farmhouse atop the hill, 400 miles north of Helsinki, Finland, that they called Mulikka. "The original house dated back to 1564, and it is said that nearly everyone from the area goes back to Antti Mulikka, who came there, far inland, and built the house," Vuorinen said.Older Posts - page 1 of 12