HistoryExtra
type: channel
link: https://www.historyextra.com
description: Home of Britain’s bestselling history magazine and award-winning podcast
date: 2026-01-16T15:18:36.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: Star witness: how the Royal Observatory transformed our understanding of astronomy and time
items: Did our ancestors think the world was flat?
items: The history of the first moon landing: the road to Apollo 11
items: Tim Peake on the human history of space
items: Astronomy history: everything you wanted to know
items: “Nasa has finally been dragged back into the UFO debate”: David Clarke on the history of flying saucers
items: Did NASA fake the Moon landing? The real history that debunks the conspiracy
items: Conspiracy: was the moon landing faked?
items: Animals in space: the creatures who paved the way for human travel beyond Earth

Star witness: how the Royal Observatory transformed our understanding of astronomy and time
type: item
date: 2025-11-26T09:00:37.000Z
subject: General History
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Education
subject: Historical events
subject: Space
subject: The Restoration
description: From the moment it was founded 350 years ago, the Royal Observatory in Greenwich drove our understanding of astronomy, navigation and time. Louise Devoy explores eight milestones in the history of this pioneering scientific institution
encoded: The big bang moment 1675: Charles II sparks a star-gazing revolution In the 17th century, the great maritime nations were vying to solve a puzzle that had confounded philosophers for many centuries: how to determine exact positions on the Earth’s surface. And in Britain, Charles II took a major step to ensure his realm’s position at the head of the pack. On 4 March 1675, the king signed a royal warrant appointing John Flamsteed as the first “astronomical observator”, tasked with “perfecting the art of navigation”. Flamsteed’s specific objective was to devise a method by which sailors could establish their longitude (east–west position) at sea – which involved measuring the positions of celestial bodies – and of knowing the time at a ship’s local position. And Flamsteed would get to carry out this vital research from the surroundings of the country’s first state-funded, purpose-built scientific institution: the Royal Observatory. It was urgent work, because England’s great rival, France, had stolen a march: Louis XIV had established an observatory in Paris nearly a decade earlier. Flamsteed was, in effect, playing catch-up. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2025/11/T809MT-CMYKWeb-Ready-7606aa3.jpg" width="2663" height="1775" alt="an illustration showing a large crowd looking at several artefacts including a globe, a map, and a satellite dish" title="King Louis XIV visits the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris in 1671. The creation of an observatory in the French capital had left England playing catch-up (Image by Alamy)" /> The size of the task facing the astronomer clearly wasn’t lost on Charles II, for the king appointed none other than the celebrated architect Christopher Wren to design the observatory. Wren’s chosen site was the hilltop ruins of Greenwich Castle – and it was here that the foundation stone was laid on 10 August 1675. With its lofty windows, royal portraits and accurate pendulum clocks, the octagonal ‘star chamber…

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Did our ancestors think the world was flat?
type: item
date: 2024-04-07T09:54:25.000Z
subject: General History
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Space
description: From Chinese cosmology to Victorian flat-earthers, James Hannam discusses humanity’s quest to determine the shape of our planet
encoded: When did people first figure out the world wasn’t flat? Well, according to author James Hannam, it was much earlier than you might imagine. James tells Jon Bauckham more about humanity’s quest to determine the shape of our planet – from ancient thinking and Chinese cosmology to Victorian flat-earthers. View Green Video on the source website

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The history of the first moon landing: the road to Apollo 11
type: item
date: 2024-02-23T09:05:00.000Z
subject: 20th Century
subject: Cold War
subject: Period
subject: Space
subject: Trends-News
description: On 20 July 1969, the world watched in anticipation as Apollo 11’s ‘Eagle’ lunar module touched down on the moon’s surface. From the early Apollo 1 tragedy to the social pressures that threatened the 1969 moon landing, spaceflight historian Amy Shira Teitel traces the history and legacy of NASA’s early attempts to put man on the moon…
encoded: Apollo 11's moon landing was a prestigious international coup and a moment of global celebration – but the journey had been far from straightforward, coming at the end of a turbulent decade in American history… On 16 July 1969, at 9.32am local time, the five F-1 engines on Apollo 11’s Saturn V roared to life. Thousands of people spread along the coast of Merritt Island, Florida saw the fire and exhaust a fraction of a second before they heard the rumbling – many pulled over on highways and on beaches, while others looked out from their hotel balconies. Millions more people around the world saw the launch on TV. They watched as the rocket became a dot in the sky and disappeared, taking astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins to the moon for NASA’s first attempted manned lunar landing. For America, this day was nearly a decade in the making. Read more | Back on Planet Earth: what world did Neil Armstrong leave behind in 1969? When did moon landing attempts begin? When President John F Kennedy took office on 20 January 1961, he inherited a country locked in a Cold War with the Soviet Union. But whatever worries the nation might have had about Soviet missile and satellite development, the incoming president tried to put minds at ease. The handsome 43-year-old gave America the impression that it was on the precipice of a golden age in which the government could solve the nation’s biggest problems. On 12 April 1961, the Soviet Union launched Yuri Gagarin into orbit around the Earth, proving that Soviet engineering was far more advanced than anything America possessed. Five days later, Kennedy suffered another embarrassment with the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, when US-backed exiles made a disastrous attempt to overthrow the Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Seeking redemption, the president looked to NASA for a way to save face. The agency’s recommendation was to land a man on the moon. A lunar landing wasn't something America could do right away; at the time …

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Tim Peake on the human history of space
type: item
date: 2023-12-13T11:24:28.000Z
creator: Emily Briffett
subject: 20th Century
subject: General History
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Space
description: Astronaut Tim Peake charts the history of humanity in space, from Yuri Gagarin's record-setting venture in 1961 to the 1969 moon landing and beyond
encoded: In the whole of human history, only more than 600 people have left Earth. Speaking to Emily Briffett, European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake chronicles the human experience of space exploration over the last sixty years, from our first forays to the modern day – sharing some of his own experiences of spaceflight along the way. Tim Peake is the author of Space: The Human Story (Century, 2023) View Green Video on the source website

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Tim Peake on the human history of space
type: item
date: 2023-12-13T08:48:25.000Z
creator: Emily Briffett
subject: 20th Century
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Space
description: Astronaut Tim Peake charts the history of humanity in space, from Yuri Gagarin's record-setting venture in 1961 to the 1969 moon landing and beyond
encoded: In the whole of human history, only more than 600 people have left Earth. Speaking to Emily Briffett, European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake chronicles the human experience of space exploration over the last sixty years, from our first forays to the modern day – sharing some of his own experiences of spaceflight along the way. Tim Peake is the author of Space: The Human Story (Century, 2023) Watch a video version of Tim Peake on the human history of space Buy now on Bookshop.org Buy now on Amazon <a href="https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?id=489797&clickref=historyextra-253729&awinmid=3787&p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waterstones.com%2Fbook%2Fspace%2Ftim-peake%2F9781529913507%23%3A%7E%3Atext%3DSpace%253A%2520The%2520Human%2520Story%2520reveals%2520all.%26text%3Dwider%2520audience%2520too-%2CFrom%2520the%2520first%2520moon%2520walk%2520to%2520the%2520future%2520of%2520space%2Clight%2520on%2520what%27s%2520coming%2520next.#:~:text=Space%3A%20The%20Human%20Story%20reveals%20all.&text=wider%20audience%20too-,From%20the%20first%20moon%20walk%20to%20the%20future%20of%20space,light%20on%20what's%20coming%20next." rel="sponsored" target="_blank">Buy now on Waterstones

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Astronomy history: everything you wanted to know
type: item
date: 2023-11-26T07:59:01.000Z
creator: Spencer Mizen
subject: General History
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Everything you wanted to know about history (podcast series)
subject: Space
description: James Hannam responds to your questions on humanity's enduring fascination with celestial objects
encoded: When was it established that the Earth is round? Did the Catholic church help or hinder the practice of astronomy? And how transformative was the big bang theory? Speaking to Spencer Mizen, James Hannam answers your queries on the long history of the study of the heavens. James Hannam is the author of The Globe: How the Earth Became Round (Reaktion Books, 2023) Watch a video version of Astronomy history: everything you wanted to know Buy now on Bookshop.org Buy now on Amazon Buy now on Waterstones

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“Nasa has finally been dragged back into the UFO debate”: David Clarke on the history of flying saucers
type: item
date: 2023-07-24T11:16:46.000Z
creator: David Clarke
subject: 20th Century
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Space
description: When Nasa held a press conference recently detailing its research into sightings of unidentified flying objects – UFOs – headlines proliferated once again about the possibility of extra-terrestrial visitors. But, as David Clarke explains, stories like this are nothing new
encoded: In May 2023, Nasa made public comments on UFO sightings revealing that the Pentagon’s UAP [unexplained anomalous phenomenon] Taskforce is currently investigating hundreds of unexplained sightings reported by military personnel. Back in 2017, a New York Times story claimed that a secret Pentagon-funded project had been looking at reports of UFOs by US Navy pilots and military sources since at least 2007. The official US government line has always been that the Air Force Project Blue Book, which ran from 1947 to 1969, was the last government-funded investigation of odd things in the sky, and that a report from the University of Colorado concluded there was no scientific interest or defence threat. On the podcast | How the idea of extra-terrestrials in flying saucers developed from its Cold War origins into a modern myth Since then, Nasa’s position has been that it isn’t interested in UFOs, so the 2017 story was a big surprise. Nasa has always been very reluctant to discuss the subject of UFOs. That was clear even back in the 1970s, when the US secretary of defense asked the space agency to consider reopening an investigation – long after Project Blue Book had closed – because the then president, Jimmy Carter, reported having seen a UFO [in Georgia in 1969]. Now Nasa has finally been dragged back into the UFO debate – and, as was the case in the 70s, it’s because of a groundswell of public and media fascination about the subject. Keep your eyes on the sky People seeing odd things in the sky is nothing new. If you look at any British newspaper published just before the outbreak of the First World War, for instance, you will find people claiming that they had seen strange lights in the sky, beams of light coming down to the ground, and elongated objects moving around that they were convinced were German Zeppelins sent to spy on the British Isles. People were anxious: they knew there was a war coming and they’d been told that the Germans would be sending airships to drop …

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Did NASA fake the Moon landing? The real history that debunks the conspiracy
type: item
date: 2023-01-26T06:58:49.000Z
creator: Jonny Wilkes
subject: 20th Century
subject: Period
subject: Evergreen
subject: Space
description: Was Neil Armstrong’s “one small step for man” made not on the surface of the Moon, but on a secret, earth-bound set? In the fifth episode of our podcast series Conspiracy, Rob Attar speaks to Francis French about the claims that NASA duped the entire world – perhaps even with the help of the US’s Cold War rival – and why the conspiracy theory needs to be blasted into space
encoded: It is perhaps the most iconic moment of the 20th century, watched at the time by an estimated 650m people around the world and ubiquitous for every generation since. On 20 July 1969, Eagle, the lunar module of the Apollo 11 mission, landed on the Moon, and American astronaut Neil Armstrong took “one giant leap for mankind”. After nearly 22 hours on the surface, Armstrong and compatriot Buzz Aldrin took off again and reunited with their crewmate, Michael Collins, in the command module Columbia, before returning safely to Earth. By doing so, they were hailed as not just American heroes – with the Moon landing marking the United States as victors in the Space Race, which had gripped the world throughout the Cold War – but as ambassadors of humanity. Read more | The history of the moon landing: everything you need to know The efforts of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) in accomplishing the feat were regarded as a technological, intellectual, political, and cultural phenomenon. Over the next few years, there would be six further Apollo missions to land on the Moon, ending with Apollo 17 in December 1972; humans have not yet gone back. Conspiracy: A HistoryExtra podcast series Member exclusive | Was the moon landing faked? Did Shakespeare actually write his plays? Were the pyramids built by aliens? Expert historians offer their perspectives on history's biggest conspiracy theories. Listen to all episodes now Did Nasa fake the moon landing? What is the conspiracy theory? Some conspiracy theorists would have it that NASA and the US government faked the whole thing. They were, so the idea goes, spurred by desperation to beat the Soviet Union in the Space Race and fulfil US President John F Kennedy’s promise made in a 1961 speech to land on the Moon “before this decade is out”. Such theories hold that Apollo 11 never reached the Moon, and the footage of Armstrong and Aldrin on the lunar surface was actually filmed on an earth-bound set. According to one cl…

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Conspiracy: was the moon landing faked?
type: item
date: 2022-12-26T09:13:24.000Z
creator: Rob Attar
subject: 20th Century
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Space
description: In our new series delving into historical conspiracy theories, Francis French looks at why people continue to doubt NASA’s finest hour
encoded: In the fifth episode of our new series on history’s most well-known conspiracy theories, we revisit a defining moment of the 20th century that many people believe never happened at all. Rob Attar is joined by space flight historian Francis French to examine why people doubt NASA’s greatest triumph and how this conspiracy theory ties in to the paranoia of the Cold War era. Was the moon landing faked? Did Shakespeare actually pen his works? And did aliens build the pyramids? Find out more in our conspiracies series

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Animals in space: the creatures who paved the way for human travel beyond Earth
type: item
date: 2022-04-07T10:27:45.000Z
subject: 20th Century
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Space
description: During the space race, animals paved the way for humans to travel beyond Earth. Stephen Walker shines a light on these largely forgotten creatures and their often fatal journeys
encoded: Within hours of launch, Laika was the most famous dog in history. A mongrel – a dash of husky, a smattering of terrier – and by all accounts a lovable, sweet-tempered animal, she was now travelling in space about 1,000 miles above the surface of the planet. The date was 3 November 1957, the location of her launch a secret missile site in Soviet Kazakhstan, and her rocket a converted nuclear missile – the biggest in the world. It needed to be big, because Laika’s mission was to do something no other organism had achieved in the 3.5 billion years since life began: to orbit the Earth, circling it approximately every 90 minutes at 10 times the speed of a rifle bullet. Laika wasn’t coming back: the technology didn’t yet exist to bring her home. Nobody doubted that the Soviets had scored a stunning success at the very height of the Cold War, but her grisly fate also earned them the condemnation of animal-lovers in the west. As she circled the planet, strapped and sealed in her tiny, windowless capsule with just seven days’ supply of food and oxygen, the National Canine Defence League in the UK called for a daily minute’s silence, and dog-lovers picketed the UN in New York. What the protesters didn’t know was that Laika was already dead: her capsule had overheated just a few hours after launch. The Soviets would hide that truth for decades. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2022/04/GettyImages-3068737-e8b3253-e1649326879604.jpg" width="1024" height="754" alt="Monkeys – including a rhesus monkey named Sam, pictured – were secured in rigid cradles to restrict their movements during experimental US space flights" title="Monkeys – including a rhesus monkey named Sam, pictured – were secured in rigid cradles to restrict their movements during experimental US space flights; this example is from 1959. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)" /> Today, more than 60 years later, Laika is the one space animal most people remember. The astonishing reality,…

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