Mind-boggling historical facts

NEW SEVEN WONDERS / ANTARCTICA / LETTER FROM AMERICA

In 1494, the high castle walls that had dominated the Middle Ages came tumbling down in clouds of gunpowder smoke. It was the start of a new age

The article on the battle against U-boats in the Second World War in the November issue omitted perhaps the most important episode. That was the part played by the late Joe Baker-Cresswell of Bamburgh

Railways gave criminals a vast pool of people from which to target victims - and at the same time offered a new, fast means of escape and a chance to remain anonymous. TONY STREETER and GEORGE DENT don their deerstalkers and head back in time…

Maya artefacts are something you’d probably expect to find in an archaeological site in Mexico or hidden in ruins buried deep in the Central American jungle. A startling number of them turn up in Euro

The railway revolution opened up new destinations, expanded our culinary horizons and dramatically improved trade. Jonathan Self takes us on a whistle-stop tour of ‘railway mania’