First broadcast on BBC1 on 5th October 1989, “ Corporal Punishment ” is the second episode of “ Blackadder Goes Forth ” , which is the fourth series of the BBC sitcom “ Blackadder ” . In the episode, the eponymous “ hero ” Captain Edmund Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson) faces a court-martial and is sentenced to execution by firing squad for shooting and eating a carrier pigeon. Not just any old carrier pigeon, but none other than “ Speckled Jim ” the finest carrier pigeon in th

Introduction What follows was inspired by a @HistoryFilmClub tweet shown right . Like many who responded, naming just one historical inaccuracy in a film or TV show proved far too difficult. Sadly, and contrary to the claims of directors, producers, costume designers et al., far too many historically themed media productions are beset with inaccuracies. Not wishing to be unreasonably critical, we thought there was an opportunity to highlight some of the more common errors a

Introduction What follows was inspired by a @HistoryFilmClub tweet shown right . Like many who responded, naming just one historical inaccuracy in a film or TV show proved far too difficult. Sadly, and contrary to the claims of directors, producers, costume designers et al., far too many historically themed media productions are beset with inaccuracies. Not wishing to be unreasonably critical, we thought there was an opportunity to highlight some of the more common errors a

May 22nd , 1455 : The Wars of the Roses began. The Wars of the Roses began not on a battlefield but with a bloody clash fought on foot through the streets of St Albans which, at the time, was a modest market town that lies 20 miles north-west of London. Unrest in England had been building since Henry VI inherited the throne in 1422 when aged about nine months. During his long minority, the country was ruled by a council of nobles between whom the bitterest rivalries arose. He

Introduction What follows was inspired by a @HistoryFilmClub tweet shown right . Like many who responded, naming just one historical inaccuracy in a film or TV show proved far too difficult. Sadly, and contrary to the claims of directors, producers, costume designers et al., far too many historically themed media productions are beset with inaccuracies. Not wishing to be unreasonably critical, we thought there was an opportunity to highlight some of the more common errors a

Introduction What follows was inspired by a @HistoryFilmClub tweet shown right . Like many who responded, naming just one historical inaccuracy in a film or TV show proved far too difficult. Sadly, and contrary to the claims of directors, producers, costume designers et al., far too many historically themed media productions are beset with inaccuracies. Not wishing to be unreasonably critical, we thought there was an opportunity to highlight some of the more common errors a

A beginner's guide to guns and firearms related history.

Introduction What follows was inspired by a @HistoryFilmClub tweet shown right . Like many who responded, naming just one historical inaccuracy in a film or TV show proved far too difficult. Sadly, and contrary to the claims of directors, producers, costume designers et al., far too many historically themed media productions are beset with inaccuracies. Not wishing to be unreasonably critical, we thought there was an opportunity to highlight some of the more common errors a

Introduction What follows was inspired by an @HistoryFilmClub tweet shown right. Like many who responded, naming just one historical inaccuracy in a film or TV show proved far too difficult. Sadly, and contrary to the claims of directors, producers, costume designers et al., far too many historically themed media productions are beset with inaccuracies. Not wishing to be unreasonably critical, we thought there was an opportunity to highlight some of the more common errors a

Introduction What follows was inspired by a @HistoryFilmClub tweet shown right . Like many who responded, naming just one historical inaccuracy in a film or TV show proved far too difficult. Sadly, and contrary to the claims of directors, producers, costume designers et al., far too many historically themed media productions are beset with inaccuracies. Not wishing to be unreasonably critical, we thought there was an opportunity to highlight some of the more common errors a

Introduction What follows was inspired by a @HistoryFilmClub tweet shown right . Like many who responded, naming just one historical inaccuracy in a film or TV show proved far too difficult. Sadly, and contrary to the claims of directors, producers, costume designers et al., far too many historically themed media productions are beset with inaccuracies. Not wishing to be unreasonably critical, we thought there was an opportunity to highlight some of the more common errors a

One of the more enduring popular “ myths ” is the idea that the great pyramids at Giza in northern Egypt were constructed (c. 2575 - c. 2465 BC) by a vast army of maltreated slaves. How this falsehood has flourished for centuries and even transformed popular perceptions of a historical event can be laid firmly at the feet of Greek historian Herodotus (c. 484 - c. 420 BC). Although considered to be the “ father of history ” , Herodotus was responsible for passing on a number

On This Day, 15th March 44 BC, Gaius Julius Caesar was assassinated.

February 16th , 1923 : One hundred years ago today Egyptologist Howard Carter unseals Tutankhamun’s tomb. Despite the builders’ best efforts most of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings were robbed of their treasures. The only one to remain untouched was that of boy king Tutankhamun, the seemingly unremarkable 11th Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty, who was made famous by the discovery of his intact tomb (KV 62) by the British archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922. Who found the tomb

February 4th , 1555 : John Rogers becomes the first Protestant martyr to be burnt at the stake in Queen Mary I’s persecutions. Formerly an orthodox Catholic priest, Rogers had converted to Protestantism after an encounter in Antwerp with William Tyndale. Rogers was born c. AD 1500 in Aston, Staffordshire. Having graduated from the University of Cambridge in 1526, six year later (1532) he was made rector of Holy Trinity, Queenhithe, London. In 1534 Rogers became a chaplain to

On This Day, January 22nd, 1879, the attempt to extend British colonial influence into Zululand are met with fierce resistance as Zulu warriors rout British troops at Isandlwana, South Africa.

Dispelling some myths about what "Blitzkrieg" meant and whether it was ever an official German army tactic in World War Two.

Where does the name "Beefeater" for the British King's bodyguard come from?

A brief introduction to the Home Front and rationing in both The Great War and World War Two.

A brief introduction to schooling in Victorian Britain.