On This Day, December 31st, 1705, Catherine of Braganza, widow of Charles II whom she had married in 1662, died in Lisbon, Portugal. Most notably, from our food history perspective, Catherine is said to have brought the tea drinking habit to the Royal Court.

On This Day, December 30th, a cold Sunday morning in 1945, the cargo ship Tilapa docked in Bristol. It was carrying the first bananas to be seen in Britain for five years.

It is widely held, and oft repeated, that ancient Britons, and most especially the Picts, painted or tattooed their bodies with Woad.We all know that, because depictions of the Iron Age or Roman period on television and film nearly always show the indigenous tribespeople painted in 'mystical' blue designs. It seems, however, that the evidence for Woad inspired body art is not as rock solid as one might have hoped. Another myth to be dispelled?

On This Day, December 27th in 1675 a Royal Proclamation orders the closure of all coffee houses in London because they are seen as hotbeds of subversion. Within days public outrage forces a reversal of the decision.

On This Day, December 24th, 1914, a German seaplane carried out the first air-raid on British soil, dropping bombs on Dover.

A series exploring a Brief History of Foods, in this case Coffee.

On This Day, December 17th, 1538, Henry VIII is excommunicated by Pope Paul III.

On This Day, December 16th, 1485, Catharine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII, was born in Alcala de Henares, Spain.

Somehow we got talking about ghosts a couple of days ago. We both were reminded of working at Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire and how it claimed to be one of the most haunted places in the UK. We both seemed to recall that Mary, Queen of Scots was one of those said to roam the grounds, but were we remembering correctly? Not only that, but wasn't Mary executed at Fotheringhay Castle in Northamptonshire? Why would she be haunting Tutbury some 75 miles distant? We had to check.

Dispelling the Myth that the murderous "Barber of Fleet Street", Sweeney Todd, was a real person. And there's a recipe for "A Beef Steak Pye".

It is often asserted on television and online that a skilled Welsh or English longbowman could shoot about 12 arrows per minute. But what is the origin of this claim, and just how true is it?

On This Day (December 1st, 1581), having been convicted of high treason, English Jesuit priest Edmund Campion was drawn through the streets of London, hanged and then quartered at Tyburn.

On November 18th, 1910, three hundred female protesters marched to the Houses of Parliament as part of their campaign to secure voting rights for women. What happened next saw the women met with violence from the police and male bystanders. The shocking nature of the violence led to the day being christened "Black Friday".

A brief introduction on how little Romans were educated to climb the greasy pole to attain military and political glory for Rome (and themselves).

A brief introductory history to the humble sausage, popular worldwide.

A century is a hundred, right? So how come a Roman army century was only 80 soldiers? Find out more.

We think it is great for children to dress up but many of the products for sale are, to the trained eye, rather dubious. What follows is a guide to avoid common mistakes and create more historically accurate costumes.

When TV shows have a narrow historical focus or make claims that seem a little too bold, it's only right to challenge them and if necessary redress the balance. Such is the case with the US TV series "Man at Arms: Art of War" and its assertions on how ahead of the world was Chinese ironworking.

In recreating recipes from the Medieval and Tudor periods we often rely on the Forme of Cury. That last word sounds a lot like 'curry' but is there any connection? We didn't know so we set about finding out.

A brief history and description of common ingredients, in this case, lemons.