The remains of a medieval knight have been discovered underneath a car park that is being demolished at a city-centre building site. The skeleton was found in Edinburgh’s Old Town after archaeologists uncovered the corner of an elaborately decorated sandstone slab bearing markings of a member of the nobility – the carvings of the Calvary [...]
Where did “Piss Poor” come from? Interesting History. They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot And then once a day it was taken and sold to the tannery… if you had to do this to survive you were “Piss Poor”. But worse than that [...]
In the second century, an ethnically Greek Roman named Galen became doctor to the gladiators. His glimpses into the human body via these warriors’ wounds, combined with much more systematic dissections of animals, became the basis of Islamic and European medicine for centuries. Galen’s texts wouldn’t be challenged for anatomical supremacy until the Renaissance, when [...]
When were Homer’s works written? One of literature’s oldest mysteries is a step closer to being solved after a recent study that dates the The Iliad to 762 BCE and adds a quantitative means of testing ideas about history by analyzing the evolution of language. The epic poem The Iliad, set amid the final year [...]
The mummified heart of King Richard I has been analysed by forensic experts. When the English monarch, nicknamed Richard the Lionheart, died in 1199 his heart was embalmed and buried separately from the rest of his body. Its condition was too poor to reveal the cause of death, but the team was able to rule [...]
Prof Stephen Milner from Manchester University discovered the historic document by accident while researching town criers and the proclamations they read out in archives in Florence. The 1513 proclamation, which called for the arrest of Machiavelli, eventually led to his downfall and death. “When I saw it I knew exactly what it was and it [...]
A hoard of Roman coins worth hundreds of pounds was unearthed in a farmer’s field in Sheffield (UK) – and this week was declared treasure. The five republican silver denarii were discovered by a metal detector enthusiast on land at Plumbley Hall Farm, near Mosborough. The find was reported to the authorities before the coins [...]
As she scraped cold dirt from the remains of an extinct bison, Pam Groves wrinkled her nose at a rotten-egg smell wafting from gristle that still clung to the animal’s bones. She lifted her head to scan the horizon, wary of bears that might be attracted to the flesh of a creature that gasped its [...]
Archaeologists in Vélez-Málaga Town Hall have discovered a Roman Amphora, dating from the first century. The Amphora had been lost for years, but was found again in 1960 before being forgotten once again. What’s more the experts say it’s still full of wine which they think is in ‘perfect conditions’ because the vessel is hermetically [...]
The wooden steamboat Montana has resurfaced on the Missouri River, thanks to the severe drought. Pieces of the sunken vessel are now clearly visible because of the near-record low water levels. The Montana, built in 1882, was the largest vessel to ever travel the Missouri. It was longer than a football field. The Montana struck [...]
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