Top 10 historical status symbols

Anna Buckett had never seen a pineapple. Undeterred, on 12 July 1656, she took the bold move of stitching one. While the fine stitches on her sampler 1 show dexterity, the result is more artistic than

Quaint relic or symbol of bad taste, garden gnomes have gone in and out of fashion. They are generally thought to have originated in Switzerland and Germany in the late 18th century. Then, in 1841, a

Ancient India gave the world its number system, anticipated Galileo’s heliocentric theory by a millennium and spread its culture from Egypt to Siberia–only to be almost entirely forgotten. It’s past time to restore it to its rightful place in history

AS you enjoy your lunchtime sandwich, washed down with a cup of Earl Grey tea, and perhaps rounded off with a slice of Battenberg cake, you may not realise that you’re taking a bite out of history. Fo

Gin, witches, regicide, boats, nudists, an Egyptian curse, Spitfires, the invention of windsurfing and more writers and vineyards than you can shake a fishing rod at: this beloved English county has it all. Here are 13 stories you may never have heard about Hampshire

From battlefields to celebrations, antique and vintage flags are rich with symbolism and history – speaking of identity, power and pride across centuries, Alice Roberton explains