History Magazine

Gun Law
In July 1901 a heatwave coincided with the end of six months’ official mourning for the death of Queen Victoria. Temperatures rocketed beyond 90 degrees Fahrenheit, causing deaths and a harvest crisis. Cycling was suddenly a cultural phenomenon. Hundreds of thousands of wheelers poured out from the suburbs and into the sun-burned English countryside, taking with them the latest essential accessory, ‘The Cyclist’s Friend’ – a scaled-down handgun…

The Mods
Mods and Rockers are synonymous with the 1960s gang culture. Whilst the Rockers wore leather jackets and jeans, the Mods wore Fred Perry and Ben Sherman shirts, with a Parka coat over. They rode European scooters like Lambrettas and Vespas and listened to a mix of Motown, Northern Soul and bands such as The Who…

King Cnut The Great
As ruler of England, Denmark and Norway, King Cnut the Great consolidated his power to become leader of the North Sea Empire, demonstrating his leadership…

Hysterical Victorian Women
Mad women have been a subject of scientific curiosity for centuries. But the legitimacy of the diagnoses Victorian women, in particular, received from the most celebrated psychiatric minds of the time is certainly questionable by today’s standards. What were these women being admitted for? There were several diseases native to the period that were attributed to both sexes, but the most significant that pertained only to females was hysteria. Were these women truly insane? Or were they simply the undesirables of society where incarceration was a convenient option?