John Constable's Stour Valley location mystery solved

"The exact spot in Suffolk where John Constable painted one of his most famous works has been identified for the first time in almost 200 years..."

Two thousand year old Roman aqueduct discovered

"A pair of British amateur archaeologists believe they have found the hidden source of a Roman aqueduct 1,900 years after it was inaugurated by the Emperor Trajan..."

AA307 so far

I started my new course a few weeks ago and have already completed Block 1! It's format is slightly different to the courses i have done over the last few years. The amount of course material seems less (than AA312 especially) though it might just be Block 1 (which was on Christianity & Roman Paganism and the Crusades) is designed to ease us into the course.

The content of the course is interesting as it seems to reflect the content of the courses i have been doing over the last few years so maybe this course will be the natural end to my history degree and tie everything together (well thats the hope anyway). So we have started with the Roman empire and middle ages, the reformation is coming and modern history is to come.

Oldest remains of English royalty unearthed

"Archeologists believe they have discovered the coffin and skeleton of Queen Eadgyth, the sister of King Athelstan and granddaughter of Alfred the Great, who died in 946.

It was thought that her actual remains were lost when they were last moved in 1510 and that a monument built in Magdeburg Cathedral in southern Germany, was a cenotaph in her honour..."

Most British men are descended from ancient farmers

"Most men in Britain are descended from the first farmers to migrate across Europe from the Near East 10,000 years ago, scientists say.

Ancient farmers left their genetic mark on modern males by breeding more successfully than indigenous hunter-gatherer men as they made their way west, a study has found.

As a result, more than 60% of British men, and nearly all of those in Ireland, can trace their Y chromosome back to the agricultural revolution, or more precisely the sexual success of the men behind it..."

Oscar-winning director announces controversial 10-hour crash course in 20th century for American television

"In a film-making career spanning almost 40 years, Oliver Stone has turned political controversy in America into an art form. He has upset financiers with his caustic portrayal of Wall Street; conservatives with his depiction of Fidel Castro, Hugo Chávez and George Bush; and Democrats with his conspiracy theories about the assassination of John F Kennedy.

All of which may come to look like a tea party – of the social as opposed to right-wing protest variety – when his next big venture hits the screens.

Stone announced yesterday that a 10-hour crash course in the history of the 20th century he is putting together for American TV is designed as an antidote to the inaccuracies and biases he believes exist in the conventional historical narrative dished out in American schools and mainstream media. The title alone gives an inkling of what lies ahead: Oliver Stone's Secret History of America..."

Historian claims to have finally identified wartime 'Man Who Never Was'

"A historian claims to have conclusively proved the identity of the "Man Who Never Was", whose body was used in a spectacular plot to deceive the Germans over the invasion of Sicily in the Second World War, Ian Johnston reports.

It was a turning point in the Second World War. As the Allies prepared to invade Sicily in 1943, they wanted to dupe the Germans into thinking that their attack would be aimed elsewhere.

To carry out the deception, a plan was concocted in which a body was dumped in the sea, to be discovered by Axis forces, carrying fake 'secret documents' suggesting the invasion would be staged in Greece, 500 miles away..."