Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was Queen of England from 17 November 1558 until her death on 24 March 1603.

Alfred the Great (c.848 – 899) was king of the West Saxons from 871 to c. 886 and king of the Anglo-Saxons from c. 886 to 899. He is regarded as one of Britain's greatest heroes for his patriotism, his success against barbarism, his promotion of education, and the establishment of the rule of law.

The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066, as part of the Norman Conquest of England. It culminated in a decisive win for William of Normandy and marked a turning point in the development of mediaeval English culture and language.

Sir Francis Drake (c. 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English sea captain, privateer, naval officer, and explorer, best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580.

The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement fought by the British Royal Navy against the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815). It has been described as Britain's greatest naval battle.

William Pitt the Younger (1759-1806) became the youngest Prime Minister of Great Britain at the age of 24 when he was elected in 1783, and became the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801. Part 1 of this three-part series deals with his early life and his rise to power. Part 2 explores the characteristics of his first premiership.

William Pitt the Younger (1759-1806) became the youngest Prime Minister of Great Britain at the age of 24 when he was elected in 1783, and became the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801. Part 1 of this three-part series deals with his early life and his rise to power. Part 2 explores the characteristics of his first premiership. Part 3 deals with the impact of the war with France and the French Revolution, his second premiership and the legacy of his time in office.

William Pitt the Younger (1759-1806) became the youngest Prime Minister of Great Britain at the age of 24 when he was elected in 1783, and became the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801. Part 1 of this three-part series explores his early life and his rise to power.

The little known Battle of Kohima (together with the intertwined Battle of Imphal) proved the turning point of the 1944 Japanese offensive into India, during the Second World War of 1939-1945, and has been described by various historians as 'The Stalingrad of the East' and by the National Army Museum as 'Britain's Greatest Battle'.

Oliver Cromwell (1599 – 1658) was an English military and political leader best known for making England a republic and leading what became known as the 'Commonwealth of England' after the execution of Charles I in 1649.

On 25 October 1415 (Saint Crispin's Day), the English won an unexpected victory near Agincourt in Northern France against a numerically superior French army. The victory was decisive, decimating the political and military leadership of France, and started a new period of English dominance in the Hundred Years War which had begun in 1337 and was to last until 1453.

Edward Colston (2 November 1636 – 11 October 1721) was an English merchant, Member of Parliament, and a great philanthropist, who supported and endowed numerous schools, hospitals, almshouses and churches in Bristol, London and elsewhere. His name is commemorated by several Bristol landmarks.

At Bosworth Field, Richard III was the last English king to be killed in combat; and the battle - on 22 August 1485 - marked the end of the Plantagenet dynasty and the start of a century of Tudor rule.

Although the Magna Carta was signed in 1215, the Battle of Naseby (on 14 June 1645) has long been regarded as the turning point for the establishment of democracy in England, giving Parliament a right to a permanent role in the government of the kingdom.  

On 22-23 January 1879, 156 British and colonial troops successfully defended Rorke's Drift station against repeated attacks by 3,000 to 4,000 Zulu warriors; eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded to the defenders, and the engagement is often characterised as the epitome of steadfastness against overwhelming odds.

Magna Carta (also "The Great Charter"), is often thought of today as the pre-eminent manifestation of constitutional protections for the common people, but it was not originally drafted for this purpose.

The Britain people are a nation of genius, inventiveness and brilliance.

The British Empire was the largest empire in the history of the world.

In 1789, a revolution erupted in France which unseated the monarchy.

Thanks to the voyages of John Cabot, Britain claimed large areas of the North American land mass.

On 22 July 1706, the Treaty of Union was agreed between England and Scotland, and subsequently the national parliaments of both countries each passed an Act of Union on 1 May 1707, creating a single supreme parliament formally uniting both nations under a single monarchy and a single flag.

Upon Elizabeth’s death in 1603, she was succeeded by James I, the son of Elizabeth’s cousin, Mary Stuart, also known as Mary Queen of Scots.

When Elizabeth I took the throne in 1559 AD, England entered what many consider to be her Golden Age.

Henry VII, the first Tudor king of England, was succeeded by his son Henry VIII in 1509 AD.

Thanks to the Norman-French connection provided by William the Conqueror and his successors, the House of Plantagenet always held a loose claim on the throne of France.

In 1272 AD, a new king took the throne in England called Edward I (1272-1307), who became known as Edward the Longshanks.

From 1154 AD to 1399 AD a royal house called the Plantagenets ruled England.

When the Anglo-Saxon king Edward the Confessor died in January 1066, he left behind no heir to the throne.

Anglo-Saxon England became the focus for a wave of attacks by ferocious Scandinavians called Vikings.

A number of Roman legionnaires and officials decided to stay in Britain after their service had ended.

The Roman occupation of Britain led to enormous cultural changes.

The first Roman Emperor, Augustus, taking power following Julius Caesar, planned a number of invasions of Britain, following in his adopted father’s footsteps, but they were all abandoned.

The Celts in Britain remained relatively undisturbed, warring amongst themselves, until the mighty Romans under Julius Caesar invaded in 55 BC.

In 5,600 BC the Black Sea in southern Russia flooded and caused major migrations of Europeans in all directions.

Recent DNA and anthropological studies, as well as publications such as 'The Origins of the British', have proven beyond a doubt that the majority (at least two-thirds) of the present day British population are biologically the same as those settlers who first arrived in the British Isles towards the end of the last Ice Age.

At the close of the last great Ice Age, Britain’s climate gradually improved, which permitted the early British to become more settled, leading eventually to fixed settlements.

The Stone Age (Paleolithic Age) was a period during which man used weapons and tools made of stone, and covers approximately 99% of all human history, the usual consensus being around 2.5 million years ago to around 10,000 BC.