This week on The Past, we are delighted to celebrate a very special milestone: the 400th issue of our sister publication Current Archaeology – the ground-breaking specialist magazine, first published in March 1967, that is now firmly established as Britain’s favourite archaeology title. Over more than five decades, CA has…
It is an argument that has become as traditional as turkey and mince pies. Where did the annual festival held primarily on 25 December and now celebrated by billions of people around the world really come from?…
Which philosopher was the tutor of Alexander the Great?…
Which winter festival was described by the Roman poet Catullus as the 'best of days'?…
Few figures in history have seen their reputation rise and fall quite like Domitian (AD 51-96). The third and final ruler of the dynasty founded in AD 69 by his father Vespasian, he became one of the longest-serving emperors, praised during his 15-year reign as a living god, but later…
Augustus was the first Roman emperor. When did he come to power?…
Archaeologists have long been drawn to the Outer Hebrides, the windswept island chain that lies off Scotland's north-west coast. For decades, the chief source of their fascination was to be found on the Isle of Lewis, where a number of prehistoric ritual sites were found to be clustered around the…
Which monk founded a monastery on the island of Lindisfarne in around 634?…
Today, the Co-op group has 65,000 employees, £11bn in revenues, and thousands of shops around the country. Yes, there have been some high-profile hiccups in recent decades – but the movement which spawned it has come a long way since 21 December 1844, when a group of Rochdale textile workers…
In which city did Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer open their first retail outlet in 1894?…
According to the dictionary, it means simply 'land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation'. But in the context of our human story, the word 'jungle' – which derives from the Hindi 'jangal' – has often taken on unfairly negative connotations.…
In 1947, it is believed that rainforest covered 14% of land on Earth. What percentage does it now cover?…
A number of imaginative solutions to the global-warming crisis were on offer this month, as world leaders gathered in Glasgow to discuss ways of tackling climate change – but one subject that was not up for discussion was human sacrifice. As a fascinating new exhibition on the history and culture…
To which other land mass is South America believed to have been joined before the break-up of the supercontinent Pangaea around 225 million years ago?…
It was, according to a famous speech made by US President Franklin D Roosevelt the following day, 'a date which will live in infamy'. Shortly before 8am on Sunday 7 December 1941 – 80 years ago next month – 360 aircraft launched in two waves from carriers belonging to the…
How many Imperial Japanese aircraft took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941?…
Archaeologists have been among those paying close attention this week as delegates have gathered in Glasgow for the 26th UN Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26. Few would now disagree that man-made global warming is having a devastating effect around the world.…
Palaeontologists have identified a 'Big 5' of extinction events. Which one saw the demise of all non-avian dinosaurs?…
It’s a scary thought for parents. After an enforced pause in 2020, Halloween spending is expected this year to return to something like pre-pandemic levels – which in 2019 stood at £474m in the UK alone, according to market analyst Statista. That equates to an awful lot of chocolate ‘treats’…
On which historical figure is Bram Stoker's Dracula thought to have been based?…
According to a recent estimate by the World Gold Council, the total quantity of this precious pale yellow metal discovered around the world throughout all of human history amounts to just 201,296 tonnes. If the whole lot were melted down to form a single cube, it would measure just 22 metres…