The English Lake District, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

British National Parks Plug Into the Internet of Things

Researchers in England think connecting British National Parks to the “Internet of Things” could help better protect the national treasures at lower costs with improved experience for nature-lovers.
18th century hoop skirt

Why Hoop Petticoats Were Scandalous

In the 18th century a new trend in women's underwear sparked public scandal: the hoop petticoat. How the world became obsessed with what was under women’s skirts.
Samuel Richardson

Why the First Novel Created Such a Stir

Samuel Richardson's Pamela, the first novel in English, astounded and terrified readers. Authors have striven for the same effect since.
English tea time

The Extremely Un-British Origins of Tea

Tea is bound up in the nation's history of colonial expansion. British tea drinkers preferred Chinese tea at first, and had to be convinced on patriotic grounds to drink tea from India.
Hogarth crime

The First Moral Panic: London, 1744

The late summer crime wave of 1744 London sparked an intense moral panic about crime that burnt itself out by the new year. But not before heads rolled.
Mr and Mrs William Lindow

How 17th Century Unmarried Women Helped Shape Capitalism

Under coverture, married English women had no rights to their property, even though unmarried women did, making for a unique system in Europe.
Perry Pears

England’s Forgotten Favorite Drink

Thanks to botanical artists, 19th century paintings of perry pears are helping to bring England's forgotten bubbly back to our glasses.
James Bond

The Marketable Misogyny of James Bond

The attitudes reflected in the James Bond franchise are wildly out of touch with social reality.
New Designs in Menswear

This Short-Lived Political Party Embraced Socks With Sandals

The Men’s Dress Reform Party (MDRP) called for liberation from dark, tightly-knit textiles...and had some ties to the eugenics movement.
Ballooners

Why Hot Air Balloons Never Really (Ahem) Took Off

More than two centuries after the invention of ballooning, Steve Fossett became the first person to solo circumnavigate the world in a balloon.