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Headlines were made in 1864 when a group of excavators uncovered evidence of an "ancient British city" near modern-day Edinburgh Airport...Subsequent excavations in the 20th century found that the Craigie Hill site was not actually an "ancient British city" as claimed by the 1864 headlines, but the remains of a Bronze Age hillfort, similar to others that were once ubiquitous in the Lothians...The area around Edinburgh Airport is famous for its prehistoric settlements. In 1830, archaeologists uncovered the remains of a stone circle called the Huly Hill Cairn, which today stands preserved as a peculiar oddity given its proximity to...

Major General Sir Nils Olav III, Baron of the Bouvet Islands, is now the most highly decorated penguin in the world - probably even the universe. A penguin has been promoted to the third highest rank in the Norwegian Armed Forces. Sir Nils Olav III, a resident of Penguin's Rock in Edinburgh Zoo, was given the honorary title of Major General in the King's Guard of Norway on Monday, as their official mascot. Some 160 uniformed soldiers visited the Scottish zoo to bestow the unique honour upon the king penguin, involving much military pomp and circumstance. The decorated bird, already...

Tributes have been paid to chef Paul Kitching who has died suddenlyKitching, who ran the five star 21212 restaurant in Edinburgh with his partner Katie O’Brien, was described as a “true inspiration”. Sharing the news on social media on Thursday, she wrote: “I’m sorry to say the love of my life has gone.” Tributes quickly flooded in. In a Tweet released by the Michelin Guide, which inspects hotels and eateries across the world, the organisation paid tribute to “a true maverick”. The post said: “Paul Kitching was kind, clever, hugely talented and infectiously enthusiastic. He was also a true maverick...

onfire Night across the country erupted into chaos last night as thugs chucked fireworks at passers-by, set alight wheelie bins and threw explosives at police. Scenes of disarray were seen in Leeds and Edinburgh with police in Manchester and Merseyside reporting blockaded roads. Multiple videos posted on TikTok showed riot police descending on the streets of the Hyde Park area of Leeds last night, with thugs firing explosives at officers.

The historic pub is great for a pint, and a story or two. No trip to Britain is complete without a pint or meal at a pub. Luckily, if you're purely going for the cultural experience and aren't fussed about quality, it's not a difficult thing to tick off the travel itinerary. Pubs are a dime a dozen in the U.K, regardless of whether you're in a major city, or a quaint village. But not all pubs are created equal, and some are worth making a special journey for. Edinburgh's oldest licensed public house dating back to 1360, the Sheep...

Allegedly on this date in 1724, a young woman was hanged at Edinburgh’s Grassmarket for concealing her pregnancy. Any number of details in this horrible/wonderful story are shaky, including the date: some sources make it 1728, a few say 1723, and only a handful attest a specific calendar date. Nobody seems to doubt the tale in the main, however — and it’s certainly excellent enough lore to deserve even a heavily asterisked entry. Deserted by her husband, young Maggie Dickson took lodgings at an inn in exchange for work, and became pregnant by either the innkeeper or his son. (Again...

One of the passengers on the Ukrainian jet downed by Iranian missiles earlier this month was a businesswoman who was the boss of two companies cited in a UN report for links to the shadowy arms trade supplying the protracted civil war in Libya. Olena Malakhova, 38, had been allocated a place in the second row of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 from Tehran to Kiev, according to a seating plan of the aircraft seen by CNN. She was one of only two Ukrainian passengers on the plane, which crashed shortly after takeoff from the Iranian capital on January 8,...

Scotland’s capital Edinburgh is to become the first British city to introduce a tourist tax to try to better manage the impact of swelling visitor numbers and booming hotel occupancy, its council said on Thursday. […] The council said it would use funds raised by the £2 ($2.60) per room per night tax “to improve facilities and better manage the city”, as other European cities such as Barcelona and Rome have done. The tourist tax has been unpopular with some businesses, however. A survey conducted by the council found only a narrow 51 percent of accommodation-providers supported the idea, which...

Queen Elizabeth's husband Prince Philip is said to be doing fine after his SUV flipped in a car crash Thursday near the queen's country estate in eastern England. The 97-year-old was behind the wheel during the collision... The force of impact shattered the windshield and jolted the prince, who was strapped into the driver's seat. He walked away without serious injuries but witnesses said he was lucky to escape alive. One witness said Philip was lightly bleeding and appeared "very shocked" but was pulled from the wreck with the help of bystander Roy Warne. "I helped him move his legs...

An archaeological dig has unearthed new evidence of a three-day attack on Edinburgh Castle - on a site earmarked for a luxury hotel by Sir Richard Branson. Experts believe they have found a carved stone which would have been fired from a giant catapult during the pivotal siege in 1296. It led to Edward I seizing control of the medieval fortress, plundering its treasures and shipping them to London, and the castle being held under English rule for 18 years. Archaeologists made the discovery at the site of the proposed new Virgin Hotel, which is earmarked for a large swathe...

A student at Edinburgh University is facing a backlash from his peers and a university investigation after he mocked ISIS on social media. A 21-year-old student at Edinburgh University is facing a backlash after posting a social media update following the U.S. bombing of an ISIS stronghold in Afghanistan in April. “I’m glad we could bring these barbarians a step closer to collecting their 72 virgins,” student Robbie Travers wrote. According to a report from the Times, several complainants has allegedly reported Travers for his social media post, claiming that his decision to mock ISIS made Muslim students feel uncomfortable....

Despite the obvious similarities between Martian and Terrestrial dunes, one in-depth analysis has led a couple of researchers (Gary Kocurek and Ryan Ewing, see below) to suggest that there are also important differences.

Edinburgh’s tale of two cities: Learning from the lessons of history by Paul James-Griffiths Published: 9 March 2017 (GMT+10) For the past 10 years I have been leading walking tours2 of the famous Royal Mile in Edinburgh. What a joy it is to weave our way around the old streets where people can discover our extraordinary Christian heritage. Here St Columba and St Cuthbert preached, as did John Knox and the Scottish Reformers; here the Covenanter Christians bled and died for their faith. Amidst the years and turmoil of the ages revival has broken out to transform the world from...

Author Adam Ardrey claims that instead of the romantic English king of legend who lived at Camelot – which is often said to be Tintagel in Cornwall or in Wales – Arthur was actually Arthur Mac Aedan, the sixth-century son of an ancient King of Scotland, whose Camelot was a marsh in Argyll. He also suggests that Arthur pulled the sword Excalibur from a stone at Dunadd near Kilmartin, died near Falkirk and was buried on the Hebridean island of Iona, which he declares to be Avalon. Ardrey, an amateur historian who works as an advocate in Edinburgh and previously...

'Forty years ago this week, the Bay City Rollers were the biggest pop band in the UK and were about to the hit the United States, as the Scottish teen sensations rolled on towards turning the whole world tartan.'

Ben Franklin is the prototype for the celebrity-as-politician. His autobiography is still in print; if he were alive, he’d be on Drudge’s columnists’ list, and command speaking fees that would turn Hillary Clinton green with envy. A popular T-shirt has a quote erroneously attributed to Franklin: ‘Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.’ But John Witherspoon? He wasn’t a fan of self-promotion, which was no less prevalent then. Today, in D.C., his statue stands at a tiny triangle where Connecticut Avenue intersects with N Street and 18th Street N.W. It is routinely ignored. At...

Buried secrets of life in medieval Leith have been uncovered after the results of a five-year project to analyse bodies discovered during an archaeological dig were unveiled... the remains of almost 400 men, women and children were discovered on the Constitution Street site – previously a section of the South Leith Parish Church’s graveyard – during preparation work for the trams in 2009... bones which have been dated between the 14th and 17th centuries. One skeleton, of a woman aged between 25 and 35 who died anywhere between 1360 and 1435, was found to be 4ft 11in, 1.5 inches shorter...

A MEMBER of popular ska band Bombskare has branded Edinburgh Airport’s security "humourless" after being ordered to cover up a t-shirt bearing the group’s name before boarding a flight to Shetland on Saturday. The group were catching a flight to Sumburgh Airport before headlining Saturday night’s hugely successful MS fundraising concert at Mareel. Keyboardist Matthew Bartlett told Shetland News that two members of security had told him the t-shirt could offend fellow travellers. After putting his hand luggage through the security machine, he walked through a body scanner which did not bleep, and he was not searched. “But the guy...

Children from Newtongrange Primary visited the Central Mosque in Potterrow, but from an original group of 90 pupils, 28 were withdrawn. The trip had been organised to help educate the primary one, two and five pupils about other religions and cultures. But one parent today said they didn’t want their child “mixed up in the hate being preached in mosques”. The incident comes amid heightened tensions in the wake of the killing of soldier Lee Rigby in London, and David Cameron’s pledge to “drain the swamp” of extremism. Religious leaders and Midlothian councillors condemned parents pulling their children out the...

WASHINGTON (CBS DC) – A public health proposal suggests that tobacco smokers should be required to apply and pay for a “smoker’s license” in order to continue buying cigarettes. In this week’s PLOS Medicine medical journal, two leading tobacco control advocates debate the merits of the smoker’s license. Simon Chapman, a professor at the University of Sydney, proposes that users would have to apply and pay for a mandatory license in the form of a smartcard that would be shown when buying cigarettes.