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
1923: A Punt Gun
We look at a strange, divisive and forgotten weapon that was banned in the USA but tolerated in Great Britain
1877: Recruiting Sergeants in Westminster
By the mid-Victorian Age people were beginning to look at recruiting sergeants with fresh eyes
1892: Tower Bridge, London
At the end of the nineteenth century the gaunt arms of an engineering wonder stretched across the River Thames
1939: A Montana Rancher
Louis D. Hall explores the history behind one of Arthur Rothstein's finest photographs
1895: A Remarkable Railway Crash in Paris
The day in 1895 when a locomotive ploughed through the wall of Montparnasse Station
1865: Meet the Countess of Castiglione
In the 1860s, 'La Divine Comtesse' was considered the most beautiful woman of her day
1926: Driving a Flock of Sheep through London
In the 1920s the last traces of old Dickensian London faded as the modern city grew at pace
1888: The Eiffel Tower: The Beauty and the Terror
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
1917: Johnny Reynolds, 'Human Fly', Thrills Crowd
On Wednesday 5 September 1917, the daredevil climber Johnny Reynolds performed in Washington D.C.
1941: Mill District, Pittsburgh
We search for the source of this classic image by one of twentieth century's great documentary photographers