Roundup

WWI battle grave recovery begins [video 1 min 48 sec]

It follows the discovery of several unmarked mass graves in a field on the outskirts of the village of Fromelles. The British and Australian authorities have published the names of the soldiers they expect to find. They have asked relatives for DNA to help identify the soldiers, who will be re-buried in a new military cemetery. The bloody battle fought on 19 July 1916, at Fromelles, was a military disaster.

Rare Darwin first edition auctioned [video 1 min 20 sec]

A rare first edition of one the most influential books ever to be published goes under the hammer in Norfolk on Thursday. The copy of Darwin's "On the Origin of Species" was bought for next to nothing, but is expected to sell for more than £30,000.

Drama behind the headlines: Tricycle theatre's Afghanistan season [video 5 min 11 sec]

The Great Game is a festival hosted by north London's Tricycle theatre, charting 150 years of Afghan culture, history and politics through 15 short plays. Richard Norton-Taylor went to find out more.

Holocaust Remembrance Day marked [video 2 min 21 sec]

The wail of sirens brought Israel to a standstill this morning for a two minute silence to remember the victims of the Holocaust.

Craig Schuftan: Hey! Nietzsche! Leave Them Kids Alone [video 55 minutes 55 seconds]

Who knew Lord Byron had something in common with My Chemical Romance? Armed with an encyclopaedic knowledge of pop culture, Craig Schuftan traces the history of romanticism in rock and roll, drawing comparisons between 19th century poetic giants and the heroes of indie, glam and emo music. In this talk with Zan Rowe, Schuftan explores the links between music, philosophy and literature and why nobody wants to own up to being emo.

Chet Huntley, Newscaster from the West [video 2 min 39]

Video review of Mark Weisenmiller's new book, Chet Huntley, Newscaster from the West. The video gives a background on Huntley, a famed reporter from the mid-20th century, and a brief overview of the book. Huntley (1911-1974) is still the only major American newscaster to have worked at the three major U.S. broadcast networks---the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS), and, especially, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). Weisenmille

Iraq war analysis: Tim Collins [video 3 min 53 sec]

The army captain – famous for his passionate speech to troops before the invasion – looks back on Britain's involvement in the Iraq war.

Georgia recalls Soviet crackdown [video 2 min 13 sec]

"Like a scene from a medieval battle," is how one of the Soviet soldiers involved remembers the dawn hours of 9 April 1989. He was referring to the violent clashes between troops and protesters on the main square in front of the Georgian government building, on Rustaveli Avenue, in the heart of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. The clashes left 20 people dead, mainly young women. It was one of the defining moments of late Soviet history.

Nat Turner: Freedom Fighter or Terrorist? [video 46 minutes 39 seconds]

What are the distinctions between a freedom fighter and a terrorist? The debate over the meaning of Nat Turner's slave rebellion has been at the heart of race relations in the United States for the past 178 years. Charles Burnett, MacArthur Award-winning American filmmaker, Frank Christopher, award-winning producer, director, writer and editor, and Kenneth S. Greenberg, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Suffolk University and Distinguished Professor of History, screen thei

Henry VIII: 'Nasa examined his armour when they were designing space suits' [audio 2 min 52 sec]

Mark Brown visits a new exhibition of Henry VIII's armour, and finds out how it contributed to space age clothing.

Drew Gilpin Faust Interviewed About the History of Death and Mourning [Podcast]

On Memorial Day, we pay public tribute to those who lost their lives fighting for our country. But how do we live with the memory of the dead the rest of the year? In this hour, the History Guys explore Americans' changing attitudes about death. A Gold Star Mother explains why she thinks there should be more media coverage of military deaths in Iraq. Historian Drew Gilpin Faust talks about how the Civil War altered the American way of dying. And BackStory's own Ed Ayers tours Rich

Henry VIII armour to be exhibited [video 3 min 41 sec]

Henry VIII: Dressed to Kill includes a personal suit of armour not seen in the UK for 70 years. The priceless Wilton anime armour of about 1544 is on loan from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was only discovered to be Henry's in 2003. The Tower of London exhibition marks 500 years since his accession.

Pupils remember genocide victims [video 2 min 31 sec]

A group of students from Hampton School in Twickenham have taken messages of support for the victims of the Rwandan Genocide to Downing Street.

Shakespeare's first theatre found [video 1 min 38 sec]

A team from the Museum of London discovered the foundations of what they believe is the original Globe Theatre in Shoreditch last summer. Built in 1576, it is thought the Bard acted there and that it also hosted the premiere of Romeo and Juliet. The site is now owned by the Tower Theatre Company and a new playhouse is due to open there in 2012.

A Yankee Rebellion? The Regulators, New England, and the New Nation [podcast]

Was Shays's Rebellion a sign of a general crisis of self-government in the new nation, or was it a peculiarly Yankee affair? This essay suggests that wrenching changes, growing out of the Revolution in Massachusetts, turned a conflict over taxes common to all the states into a unique and short-lived political upheaval.

Nepal palace reopens as a museum [video 1 min 22 sec]

It is a sign of Nepal's huge changes that the red ribbon opening the museum was cut by a Maoist former rebel - the Prime Minister, Prachanda. Speaking to VIPs from a small podium on the lawn, the pink palace towering behind him, Prachanda recalled seeing pictures of the last-but-one king, Birendra, in the years when he visited villagers' homes during the Maoist guerrilla war. Prachanda described Birendra as a "liberal" king whom Nepalis still respected, and

Statue honours Queen Mother [video 1 min 38 sec]

A national monument to the late Queen Mother has been unveiled by the Queen. The BBC's Daniela Relph takes a closer look at sculptor Philip Jackson's work.

'Superguns' of Elizabeth I's navy [video 1 min 28 sec]

Tests on cannon recovered from an Elizabethan warship suggest she carried powerful cast iron guns, of uniform size, firing standard ammunition.

Benicio del Toro on Che Guevara: 'He was not Tarzan' [video 3 min 15 sec]

Benicio del Toro tells Alex von Tunzelmann how he felt the weight of historical responsibility when playing the Latin American revolutionary in Steven Soderbergh's biopic, and why everyone needs to see Che: Part Two.

Eric Rauchway, Author, "The Great Depression & the New Deal" [60 min 23 sec]

Eric Rauchway, Author, “The Great Depression & the New Deal,” on the actions taken by the Roosevelt administration to alleviate the national economic collapse.