The Red Barn Murder was a notorious murder committed in
Suffolk,
England in 1827. A young woman, Maria Marten, was shot dead by her lover, William Corder, the son of the local
squire. The two had arranged to meet at the Red Barn, a local landmark, before eloping to
Ipswich in order to be married. Maria was never heard from again. Corder fled the scene and although he sent Marten's family letters claiming she was in good health, her body was later discovered buried in the barn after her stepmother claimed to have dreamt about the murder. Corder was tracked down in London, where he had married and started a new life. He was brought back to Suffolk, and, after a well-publicised trial, found guilty of murder. He was
hanged in
Bury St. Edmunds in 1828; the execution was watched by a huge crowd. The story provoked numerous articles in the newspapers, and songs and plays. The village where the crime had taken place became a tourist attraction and the barn was stripped by souvenir hunters. The plays and ballads remained popular throughout the next century and continue to be performed today. (Full article...)
Samuel Johnson was an English author. Beginning as a
Grub Street journalist, he made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, novelist, literary critic, biographer, editor and
lexicographer. Johnson was a devout
Anglican and political conservative, and has been described as "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history". His early works include the biography The Life of Richard Savage, the poems London and The Vanity of Human Wishes, and the play Irene. After nine years of work, Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language was published in 1755; it had a far-reaching impact on
Modern English and has been described as "one of the greatest single achievements of scholarship". His later works included essays, an influential annotated edition of
William Shakespeare's plays, and the widely read novel Rasselas. In 1763, he befriended
James Boswell, with whom he later travelled to Scotland; Johnson described their travels in A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland. Towards the end of his life, he produced the massive and influential Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets, a collection of biographies and evaluations of 17th- and 18th-century poets. (Full article...)
Image 3Music hall evolved into variety shows. First performed in 1912, the Royal Variety Performance was first held at the
London Palladium (pictured) in 1941. Performed in front of members of the Royal Family, it is held annually in December and broadcast on television. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 5The Christmas Pantomime 1890.
Pantomime plays a prominent role in British culture during the Christmas and New Year season. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 6One of Britain's oldest indigenous breeds, the
Bulldog is known as the national dog of Great Britain. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 9King
Alfred the Great statue in Winchester, Hampshire. The 9th-century English king encouraged education in his kingdom, and proposed that primary education be taught in
English, with those wishing to advance to holy orders to continue their studies in Latin. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 13King Edward's Chair in Westminster Abbey. A 13th-century wooden throne on which the
British monarch sits when he or she is crowned at the
coronation, swearing to uphold the law and the church. The monarchy is apolitical and impartial, with a largely symbolic role as head of state. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 15Mo Farah is the most successful British track athlete in modern Olympic Games history, winning the 5000 m and 10,000 m events at two Olympic Games. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 40William III and
Mary II Presenting the Cap of Liberty to Europe, 1716, Sir
James Thornhill. Enthroned in heaven with the Virtues behind them are the royals William and Mary who had taken the throne after the
Glorious Revolution and signed the
English Bill of Rights of 1689. William tramples on arbitrary power and hands the red cap of liberty to Europe where, unlike Britain,
absolute monarchy stayed the normal form of power execution. Below William is the French king
Louis XIV. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 42The
Oxford Union debate chamber. Called the "world's most prestigious debating society", the Oxford Union has hosted leaders and celebrities. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 52The
Notting Hill Carnival is Britain's biggest street festival. Led by members of the British African-Caribbean community, the annual carnival takes place in August and lasts three days. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 58Emmeline Pankhurst. Named one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century by Time, Pankhurst was a leading figure in the suffragette movement. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 59Terraced houses are typical in inner cities and places of high population density. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 69Cricketer
W. G. Grace, with his long beard and MCC cap, was the most famous British sportsman in the Victorian era. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Ophelia is an
oil painting on canvas completed by Sir
John Everett Millais between 1851 and 1852. It depicts the character
Ophelia, from
Shakespeare's play Hamlet, singing before she drowns in a river in
Denmark; this death scene is not seen onstage, but is instead described in a speech by
Queen Gertrude. The painting was completed in two stages: first, the setting (drawn from the
Hogsmill River in
Surrey) then Ophelia (portrayed by
Elizabeth Siddal). The painting is now owned by
Tate Britain and valued at more than £30 million.
Loch Torridon is a
sea loch on the west coast of Scotland in the
Northwest Highlands. The 15 mile- (25 km-) long body of water is home to several islets and a prominent prawn and shellfish fishery.
Sir
John Tenniel's illustration of the Caterpillar for
Lewis Carroll's classic children's book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The illustration is noted for its ambiguous central figure, which can be viewed as having either a human male's face with pointed nose and protruding lower lip or as the head end of an actual
caterpillar, with the right three "true" legs visible. The small symbol in the lower left is composed of Tenniel's initials, which was how he signed most of his work for the book. The partially obscured word in the lower left-center is the last name of Edward Dalziel, the
engraver of the piece.
Mary of Teck was the
queen consort of
King George V as well as the
Empress of India. Before her accession, she was successively
Duchess of York,
Duchess of Cornwall and
Princess of Wales. By birth, she was a
princess of
Teck, in the Kingdom of
Württemberg, with the style Her Serene Highness. To her family, she was informally known as May, after her birth month. Queen Mary was known for setting the tone of the
British Royal Family, as a model of regal formality and propriety, especially during state occasions. She was the first Queen Consort to attend the coronation of her successors. Noted for superbly bejewelling herself for formal events, Queen Mary left a collection of jewels now considered priceless.
A map of the Battle of Jutland, a
naval battle fought by the British
Royal Navy's
Grand Fleet against the
Imperial German Navy's
High Seas Fleet during the
First World War. The only full-scale clash of
battleships in the war, the Germans intended it to lure out, trap and destroy a portion of the Grand Fleet, as the German naval force was insufficient to openly engage the entire British fleet. Fourteen British and eleven German ships were sunk, and more than 8,000 people were killed. Both sides claimed victory, and dispute over the significance of the battle continues to this day.
A view of the Second Severn Crossing, as seen from
Severn Beach,
England. This bridge carries the
M4 motorway across the
River Severn between Severn Beach and
Caldicot in south
Wales. It has a total span of 5.1 km and includes a
cable-stayed section called the Shoots Bridge which spans the shipping channel between the two towers. The River Severn has a vast tidal range—the point from which this photograph was taken is covered at
high tide.
Panoramic view of the
geodesic dome structures of the Eden Project, a large-scale environmental complex near
St Austell,
Cornwall,
England. The project was conceived by
Tim Smit and is made out of hundreds of
hexagons (
transparentbiomes made of
ETFE cushions) that interconnect the whole construction together. The project took 2½ years to construct and opened to the public in March 2001.
The Red Barn Murder was a notorious murder committed in
Suffolk,
England in 1827. A young woman, Maria Marten, was shot dead by her lover, William Corder, the son of the local
squire. The two had arranged to meet at the Red Barn, a local landmark, before eloping to
Ipswich in order to be married. Maria was never heard from again. Corder fled the scene and although he sent Marten's family letters claiming she was in good health, her body was later discovered buried in the barn after her stepmother claimed to have dreamt about the murder. Corder was tracked down in London, where he had married and started a new life. He was brought back to Suffolk, and, after a well-publicised trial, found guilty of murder. He was
hanged in
Bury St. Edmunds in 1828; the execution was watched by a huge crowd. The story provoked numerous articles in the newspapers, and songs and plays. The village where the crime had taken place became a tourist attraction and the barn was stripped by souvenir hunters. The plays and ballads remained popular throughout the next century and continue to be performed today. (Full article...)
Samuel Johnson was an English author. Beginning as a
Grub Street journalist, he made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, novelist, literary critic, biographer, editor and
lexicographer. Johnson was a devout
Anglican and political conservative, and has been described as "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history". His early works include the biography The Life of Richard Savage, the poems London and The Vanity of Human Wishes, and the play Irene. After nine years of work, Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language was published in 1755; it had a far-reaching impact on
Modern English and has been described as "one of the greatest single achievements of scholarship". His later works included essays, an influential annotated edition of
William Shakespeare's plays, and the widely read novel Rasselas. In 1763, he befriended
James Boswell, with whom he later travelled to Scotland; Johnson described their travels in A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland. Towards the end of his life, he produced the massive and influential Lives of the Most Eminent English Poets, a collection of biographies and evaluations of 17th- and 18th-century poets. (Full article...)
Image 3Music hall evolved into variety shows. First performed in 1912, the Royal Variety Performance was first held at the
London Palladium (pictured) in 1941. Performed in front of members of the Royal Family, it is held annually in December and broadcast on television. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 5The Christmas Pantomime 1890.
Pantomime plays a prominent role in British culture during the Christmas and New Year season. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 6One of Britain's oldest indigenous breeds, the
Bulldog is known as the national dog of Great Britain. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 9King
Alfred the Great statue in Winchester, Hampshire. The 9th-century English king encouraged education in his kingdom, and proposed that primary education be taught in
English, with those wishing to advance to holy orders to continue their studies in Latin. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 13King Edward's Chair in Westminster Abbey. A 13th-century wooden throne on which the
British monarch sits when he or she is crowned at the
coronation, swearing to uphold the law and the church. The monarchy is apolitical and impartial, with a largely symbolic role as head of state. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 15Mo Farah is the most successful British track athlete in modern Olympic Games history, winning the 5000 m and 10,000 m events at two Olympic Games. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 40William III and
Mary II Presenting the Cap of Liberty to Europe, 1716, Sir
James Thornhill. Enthroned in heaven with the Virtues behind them are the royals William and Mary who had taken the throne after the
Glorious Revolution and signed the
English Bill of Rights of 1689. William tramples on arbitrary power and hands the red cap of liberty to Europe where, unlike Britain,
absolute monarchy stayed the normal form of power execution. Below William is the French king
Louis XIV. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 42The
Oxford Union debate chamber. Called the "world's most prestigious debating society", the Oxford Union has hosted leaders and celebrities. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 52The
Notting Hill Carnival is Britain's biggest street festival. Led by members of the British African-Caribbean community, the annual carnival takes place in August and lasts three days. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 58Emmeline Pankhurst. Named one of the 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century by Time, Pankhurst was a leading figure in the suffragette movement. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 59Terraced houses are typical in inner cities and places of high population density. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 69Cricketer
W. G. Grace, with his long beard and MCC cap, was the most famous British sportsman in the Victorian era. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Ophelia is an
oil painting on canvas completed by Sir
John Everett Millais between 1851 and 1852. It depicts the character
Ophelia, from
Shakespeare's play Hamlet, singing before she drowns in a river in
Denmark; this death scene is not seen onstage, but is instead described in a speech by
Queen Gertrude. The painting was completed in two stages: first, the setting (drawn from the
Hogsmill River in
Surrey) then Ophelia (portrayed by
Elizabeth Siddal). The painting is now owned by
Tate Britain and valued at more than £30 million.
Loch Torridon is a
sea loch on the west coast of Scotland in the
Northwest Highlands. The 15 mile- (25 km-) long body of water is home to several islets and a prominent prawn and shellfish fishery.
Sir
John Tenniel's illustration of the Caterpillar for
Lewis Carroll's classic children's book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The illustration is noted for its ambiguous central figure, which can be viewed as having either a human male's face with pointed nose and protruding lower lip or as the head end of an actual
caterpillar, with the right three "true" legs visible. The small symbol in the lower left is composed of Tenniel's initials, which was how he signed most of his work for the book. The partially obscured word in the lower left-center is the last name of Edward Dalziel, the
engraver of the piece.
Mary of Teck was the
queen consort of
King George V as well as the
Empress of India. Before her accession, she was successively
Duchess of York,
Duchess of Cornwall and
Princess of Wales. By birth, she was a
princess of
Teck, in the Kingdom of
Württemberg, with the style Her Serene Highness. To her family, she was informally known as May, after her birth month. Queen Mary was known for setting the tone of the
British Royal Family, as a model of regal formality and propriety, especially during state occasions. She was the first Queen Consort to attend the coronation of her successors. Noted for superbly bejewelling herself for formal events, Queen Mary left a collection of jewels now considered priceless.
A map of the Battle of Jutland, a
naval battle fought by the British
Royal Navy's
Grand Fleet against the
Imperial German Navy's
High Seas Fleet during the
First World War. The only full-scale clash of
battleships in the war, the Germans intended it to lure out, trap and destroy a portion of the Grand Fleet, as the German naval force was insufficient to openly engage the entire British fleet. Fourteen British and eleven German ships were sunk, and more than 8,000 people were killed. Both sides claimed victory, and dispute over the significance of the battle continues to this day.
A view of the Second Severn Crossing, as seen from
Severn Beach,
England. This bridge carries the
M4 motorway across the
River Severn between Severn Beach and
Caldicot in south
Wales. It has a total span of 5.1 km and includes a
cable-stayed section called the Shoots Bridge which spans the shipping channel between the two towers. The River Severn has a vast tidal range—the point from which this photograph was taken is covered at
high tide.
Panoramic view of the
geodesic dome structures of the Eden Project, a large-scale environmental complex near
St Austell,
Cornwall,
England. The project was conceived by
Tim Smit and is made out of hundreds of
hexagons (
transparentbiomes made of
ETFE cushions) that interconnect the whole construction together. The project took 2½ years to construct and opened to the public in March 2001.