Volume 49 Issue 1 January 1999

The First Book of Common Prayer

Thomas Cranmer's prayer book was published on January 15th, 1549.

The Great Palace of Byzantium

Archaeologists in Turkey believe they could have unearthed some of the remains of the Great Palace of the Byzantine Empire which ruled much of the known world for nearly a thousand years from the heart of Constantinople.

Lord Curzon Takes Office as Viceroy of India

The formal handover took place on January 6th, 1899.

The Trial of Charles I

Sean Kelsey reconsiders the events of January 1649 and argues the trial was skilfully appropriated by rump politicians in paving the way for the new Commonwealth.

The Soviet Olympic team marches into the stadium at the opening of the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, the first one contested by the USSR. Helsinki City Museum (CC0).

The Cold War and the Olympics

From the recognition of East Germany to the banishment of Taiwan and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, diplomatic disputes dogged the Olympics throughout the Cold War.