Netflix’s hit TV series The Crown, which goes deep inside the private world of Queen Elizabeth II and Britain’s royal family, chronicles their lives within the sweep of global events during and after World War II—from the Suez Crisis to John F. Kennedy’s assassination. Below, our ...read more
It was supposed to be a mundane morning. It was 1909 and Winston Churchill, a British member of parliament, had just arrived in Bristol with his new wife, Clementine. Their task was to greet local party members during a routine political stop. But suddenly, the low-key event ...read more
Although 10 Downing Street appears to be a modest-looking terrace house from the outside, there’s more than meets the eye behind its gleaming black front door. The original residence, built on the site of a medieval brewery, is a portal to 100 rooms in several larger houses ...read more
After 18 years of Conservative rule, British voters give the Labour Party, led by Tony Blair, a landslide victory in British parliamentary elections. In the poorest Conservative Party showing since 1832, Prime Minister John Major was rejected in favor of Scottish-born Blair, who ...read more
Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, is called to replace Neville Chamberlain as British prime minister following the latter’s resignation after losing a confidence vote in the House of Commons. In 1938, Prime Minister Chamberlain signed the Munich Pact with Nazi ...read more
In London, Spencer Perceval, prime minister of Britain since 1809, is shot to death by demented businessman John Bellingham in the lobby of the House of Commons. Bellingham, who was inflamed by his failure to obtain government compensation for war debts incurred in Russia, gave ...read more
On July 21, 1911, at the Mansion House in London, David Lloyd George delivers the customary annual address of the British chancellor of the exchequer. Lloyd George, a radical member of the Liberal government of Prime Minister Herbert Asquith, had made a name for himself as a ...read more
On the night of Thursday, May 29, 1913, the pioneering Russian ballet corps Ballet Russes performs Igor Stravinsky’s ballet Le Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring), choreographed by the famous dancer Vaslav Nijinsky, at the Theatre de Champs-Elysees in Paris. In founding the ...read more