The History of Britain Magazine
Welcome to the History of Britain! The home nations share a varied and shared history unlike anywhere else, so we thought it only right to create a section dedicated to our mutual heritage.
The Devils Porridge
During World War One, Gretna was the site of the Britain’s largest cordite factory. Women workers came from all over the UK to help make “Devil’s Porridge”, a mixture of gun cotton and nitro-glycerine that was used to produce cordite as a shell propellant. This hazardous work even turned their skin yellow…
Walter Arnold and the World’s First Ever Speeding Ticket
On 28th January 1896 Mr Walter Arnold of East Peckham became the first person to be caught speeding in a motorised vehicle. Mr Arnold was spotted doing a heady 8mph, four times the 2mph speed limit, and was pursued for 5 miles by a policeman on a bicycle…
Ada Lovelace
The second Tuesday of every October is Ada Lovelace Day, in honour of the 19th century mathematician and computer programming pioneer. She was the only legitimate daughter of Lord Byron, who was one of the most debauched and above all, poetic of Englishmen…
Timeline of the Industrial Revolution
The industrial revolution took place between the eighteenth century and the mid-nineteenth century, and changed the landscape and infrastructure of Britain forever…
Peaky Blinders
Peaky Blinders, now a hit television programme, may be a fictional story of the Birmingham underworld but it is based on the very real existence of a gang by the same name based in the Midlands in the late nineteenth century…
Timeline of the British Empire
A short history of the rise and fall of the British Empire…
Decimalisation in Britain
Whilst there are many Britons who would struggle to recall a ten shilling note and its value today (for the record, it is 50p in today’s money!), in comparison to the rest of the world, Britain lagged behind in the decimalisation stakes.
Causes of the Crimean War
Many British towns and cities have streets named after battles fought during the Crimean War, such as Alma, Sebastapol, Balaclava and Inkerman. But who fought this war, and why?
