What is a Blockade – and Do They Work?
As President Trump announces his blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, we glance back at the history of this military tactic
Snapshot
Here we look at snapshots in time as caught in photographs, paintings, maps and letters, investigating the history of the artefact and its meaning for us today.
October 1989: Proclamation of the Republic of Hungary
This photograph shows the US ambassador among the crowds as the Republic of Hungary was proclaimed by Mátyás Szűrös in 1989
Firing A Punt Gun (1923)
We look at a strange, divisive and forgotten weapon that was banned in the USA but tolerated in Great Britain
Victorian Recruiting Sergeants in Westminster (1877)
By the mid-Victorian Age people were beginning to look at recruiting sergeants with fresh eyes
Building Tower Bridge in London (1892)
At the end of the nineteenth century the gaunt arms of an engineering wonder stretched across the River Thames
Riding With A Montana Rancher (1939)
Louis D. Hall explores the history behind one of Arthur Rothstein's finest photographs
A Remarkable Railway Crash at Montparnasse in Paris (1895)
The day in 1895 when a locomotive ploughed through the wall of Montparnasse Station
The Dazzling Countess of Castiglione (1865)
In the 1860s, 'La Divine Comtesse' was considered the most beautiful woman of her day
Driving a Flock of Sheep through London (1926)
In the 1920s the last traces of old Dickensian London faded as the modern city grew at pace
The Construction of the Eiffel Tower (1888)
The Parisian skyline was changing in a strange and stirring way in July 1888 when Gustave Eiffel led a tour of his majestic new tower
Johnny Reynolds The Daredevil 'Human Fly' (1917)
On Wednesday 5 September 1917, the daredevil climber Johnny Reynolds performed in Washington D.C.
Jack Delano In Pittsburgh's Mill District (1941)
We search for the source of this classic image by one of twentieth century's great documentary photographers