2019 – a busy year for me on history TV programmes!
Tony McMahon calls himself the bearded historian and appears on history TV programmes making the subject fun and accessible to global audiences
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Why I prefer Roundheads to Royalists
As BBC Four broadcasts a new series on King Charles I, Tony McMahon asks whether we should side with Roundheads or Royalists
Victorian movies from the 19th century!
The idea of Victorian movies may seem weird – people in the 19th century able to watch films – and yet it actually happened! We’ve grown up with TV and film so the idea of living in a world were there are no recorded motion pictures would seem bizarre – even more so with our…
Vintage rail disasters that defy belief
For two hundred years we’ve had rail transportation but from the very beginning, there were tragic accidents. These vintage rail disasters were captured on camera as photography became more prevalent in the late 19th century. Some of the images just defy belief. VINTAGE RAIL DISASTERS: Gare Montparnasse Let’s start with the Gare Montparnasse derailment of…
Neolithic statues that look like aliens
I was in the capital of Kosovo – the city of Pristina – last month and saw some incredible 7,000 year old statues from the Neolithic period that quite frankly, looked like aliens. At the Museum of Kosovo in Pristina, I browsed the strange Neolithic sculptures of alien like beings in glass cases. Oblong heads…
Busting Popular Titanic Myths: What Really Happened?
Many myths surround the sinking of the Titanic such as it had been replaced by another ship or a cursed Egyptian mummy was on board
Maddest rulers in history
Tony McMahon investigates some of the maddest rulers in history from Charles VI who thought he was made of glass to George III who lost America.
Was Jesus blond or not?
Jesus is often portrayed as blond and blue-eyed even though he came from the Middle East so Tony McMahon sets out to discover why
Hitler really only had one ball
Adolf Hitler was always rumoured to have one testicle – or ball – and it was the subject of a saucy British army song. It now seems that rumour was true.
How Napoleon lost his virginity
Napoleon Bonaparte may have been known as a great lover but he lost his virginity to a prostitute aged 18 in a very seedy encounter