The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition was the last major expedition of the
Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Conceived by
Sir Ernest Shackleton, its purpose was to achieve the first land crossing of the
Antarctic continent. The expedition failed entirely to accomplish this aim, but it remains memorable as an epic of heroism and survival. It required two ships; the
Endurance would take Shackleton’s party to the Weddell Sea, and the
Aurora, under Captain
Aeneas Mackintosh, would take the Ross Sea party to McMurdo Sound. In the event, Endurance became beset in the ice of the Weddell Sea before reaching Vahsel Bay. Despite efforts to free her, she drifted northward with the pack throughout the Antarctic winter of 1915. Eventually, she was crushed in the ice and sank, stranding her 28-man complement on the ice and subjecting them to a series of harrowing episodes—months spent in makeshift camps on the ice, a journey in lifeboats to
Elephant Island, an 800-mile (1,300 km) open boat journey in the
James Caird, and the first crossing of
South Georgia—that led eventually to their rescue with not a life lost. Meanwhile, the Ross Sea party overcame great hardships to fulfil its mission, after Aurora was blown from her moorings during a gale and could not return. (Full article...)
Cædmon is the earliest
Englishpoet whose name is known. An
Anglo-Saxon herdsman attached to the double monastery of Streonæshalch (
Whitby Abbey) during the abbacy of
St. Hilda, it is said that he was originally ignorant of the art of song until he learned to compose one night in the course of a dream. He later became a zealous monk and an accomplished and inspirational religious poet. Cædmon is one of twelve
Anglo-Saxon poets identified in
medieval sources, and one of only three for whom both roughly contemporary biographical information and examples of literary output have survived. His story is told to us in the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum by
St. Bede. Cædmon's only known surviving work is Cædmon's Hymn, the nine-line
alliterativevernacular praise poem in honour of God he supposedly learned to sing in his initial dream. The poem is one of the earliest attested examples of
Old English and is, with the
runicRuthwell Cross and
Franks Casket inscriptions, one of three candidates for the earliest attested example of
Old English poetry. (Full article...)
Image 5Mo 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 7The
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 9Music 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 14William 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 16The
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 28King 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 36King
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 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 77Terraced houses are typical in inner cities and places of high population density. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 78The Christmas Pantomime 1890.
Pantomime plays a prominent role in British culture during the Christmas and New Year season. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
A 'K6' model red telephone box outside of
St Paul's Cathedral in
London. These
kiosks for a
public telephone were designed by
Sir Giles Gilbert Scott and painted "currant red" for easy visibility. Although such telephone boxes ceased production when the
KX series was introduced in 1985, they remain a common sight in Britain and some of its colonies, and are considered a British cultural icon.
Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was monarch of the three kingdoms of
England,
Scotland, and
Ireland from 1625 until his execution in 1649. The second son of
King James VI of Scotland, he spent most of his life in England after his father inherited the English throne in 1603. His reign was marked by quarrels with the
Parliament of England, which sought to curb his
royal prerogative. From 1642, Charles fought the armies of the English and Scottish parliaments in the
English Civil War. His defeat led to his execution, followed by establishment of a republic called the
Commonwealth of England.
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.
Beer Street and Gin Lane are a pair of 1751
engravings by
William Hogarth in support of the then-proposed
Gin Act 1751. This
Act of Parliament made the
distillation of
gin illegal in
England. Beer Street shows a happy city drinking the "good" beverage of English
beer, whereas Gin Lane claims to show what would happen if people started drinking gin, a harder liquor. People are shown as healthy, happy and hardworking in Beer Street, while in Gin Lane they are scrawny, lazy and acting carelessly, including a drunk mother accidentally sending her baby tumbling to its doom.
The Roman Baths complex is a site of historical interest in the English city of
Bath, Somerset. It is a well-preserved site dating from
Roman Britain once used for
public bathing. The
Roman baths themselves are below the modern street level. There are four main features: the Sacred Spring, the Roman Temple, the Roman Bath House, and the museum which holds
finds from
the Roman town. The buildings above street level date from the 19th century. The Baths are a major tourist attraction and, together with the
Grand Pump Room, received more than 1.3 million visitors in 2018. Visitors can tour the baths and museum but cannot enter the water.
This picture shows the Great Bath of the Roman Baths complex, with
Bath Abbey visible in the background. The entire structure above the level of the pillar bases is of later construction.
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.
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 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition was the last major expedition of the
Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Conceived by
Sir Ernest Shackleton, its purpose was to achieve the first land crossing of the
Antarctic continent. The expedition failed entirely to accomplish this aim, but it remains memorable as an epic of heroism and survival. It required two ships; the
Endurance would take Shackleton’s party to the Weddell Sea, and the
Aurora, under Captain
Aeneas Mackintosh, would take the Ross Sea party to McMurdo Sound. In the event, Endurance became beset in the ice of the Weddell Sea before reaching Vahsel Bay. Despite efforts to free her, she drifted northward with the pack throughout the Antarctic winter of 1915. Eventually, she was crushed in the ice and sank, stranding her 28-man complement on the ice and subjecting them to a series of harrowing episodes—months spent in makeshift camps on the ice, a journey in lifeboats to
Elephant Island, an 800-mile (1,300 km) open boat journey in the
James Caird, and the first crossing of
South Georgia—that led eventually to their rescue with not a life lost. Meanwhile, the Ross Sea party overcame great hardships to fulfil its mission, after Aurora was blown from her moorings during a gale and could not return. (Full article...)
Cædmon is the earliest
Englishpoet whose name is known. An
Anglo-Saxon herdsman attached to the double monastery of Streonæshalch (
Whitby Abbey) during the abbacy of
St. Hilda, it is said that he was originally ignorant of the art of song until he learned to compose one night in the course of a dream. He later became a zealous monk and an accomplished and inspirational religious poet. Cædmon is one of twelve
Anglo-Saxon poets identified in
medieval sources, and one of only three for whom both roughly contemporary biographical information and examples of literary output have survived. His story is told to us in the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum by
St. Bede. Cædmon's only known surviving work is Cædmon's Hymn, the nine-line
alliterativevernacular praise poem in honour of God he supposedly learned to sing in his initial dream. The poem is one of the earliest attested examples of
Old English and is, with the
runicRuthwell Cross and
Franks Casket inscriptions, one of three candidates for the earliest attested example of
Old English poetry. (Full article...)
Image 5Mo 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 7The
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 9Music 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 14William 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 16The
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 28King 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 36King
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 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 77Terraced houses are typical in inner cities and places of high population density. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
Image 78The Christmas Pantomime 1890.
Pantomime plays a prominent role in British culture during the Christmas and New Year season. (from Culture of the United Kingdom)
A 'K6' model red telephone box outside of
St Paul's Cathedral in
London. These
kiosks for a
public telephone were designed by
Sir Giles Gilbert Scott and painted "currant red" for easy visibility. Although such telephone boxes ceased production when the
KX series was introduced in 1985, they remain a common sight in Britain and some of its colonies, and are considered a British cultural icon.
Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was monarch of the three kingdoms of
England,
Scotland, and
Ireland from 1625 until his execution in 1649. The second son of
King James VI of Scotland, he spent most of his life in England after his father inherited the English throne in 1603. His reign was marked by quarrels with the
Parliament of England, which sought to curb his
royal prerogative. From 1642, Charles fought the armies of the English and Scottish parliaments in the
English Civil War. His defeat led to his execution, followed by establishment of a republic called the
Commonwealth of England.
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.
Beer Street and Gin Lane are a pair of 1751
engravings by
William Hogarth in support of the then-proposed
Gin Act 1751. This
Act of Parliament made the
distillation of
gin illegal in
England. Beer Street shows a happy city drinking the "good" beverage of English
beer, whereas Gin Lane claims to show what would happen if people started drinking gin, a harder liquor. People are shown as healthy, happy and hardworking in Beer Street, while in Gin Lane they are scrawny, lazy and acting carelessly, including a drunk mother accidentally sending her baby tumbling to its doom.
The Roman Baths complex is a site of historical interest in the English city of
Bath, Somerset. It is a well-preserved site dating from
Roman Britain once used for
public bathing. The
Roman baths themselves are below the modern street level. There are four main features: the Sacred Spring, the Roman Temple, the Roman Bath House, and the museum which holds
finds from
the Roman town. The buildings above street level date from the 19th century. The Baths are a major tourist attraction and, together with the
Grand Pump Room, received more than 1.3 million visitors in 2018. Visitors can tour the baths and museum but cannot enter the water.
This picture shows the Great Bath of the Roman Baths complex, with
Bath Abbey visible in the background. The entire structure above the level of the pillar bases is of later construction.
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.
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.