The 'golden age' of piracy
The so-called 'golden age' of piracy lasted for less than 50 years - but its history has shaped centuries of pirate stories and stereotypes
Maritime history
Master of disguise: how a Navy sailor escaped a Napoleonic prison
Discover the true story of Charles Hare, the 19th-century midshipman who used a French officer's uniform to pull off a daring prison break
What can shipwrecks tell us?
Time-capsules of their present and windows of our past, shipwrecks can offer new perspectives into life on board
Greenwich walking tours: enslavement and abolition
Uncover Greenwich and Deptford's connections with the transatlantic slave trade in this self-guided walking tour
D-Day and the Royal Navy: remembering the role of Britain's maritime forces
The largest amphibious invasion of the Second World War took place on 6 June 1944. Curator Andrew Choong Han Lin explores how the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy supported the D-Day landings
Windrush histories: memories of moving to the UK
Shirley Fox shares her memories of moving to the UK, in a special oral history marking 75 years since the Empire Windrush's arrival in Britain
Putting names to faces in the Challenger Expedition archives
Dr Rebecca Martin investigates the photograph albums from the Challenger Expedition, trying to recover the identities of the people the ship encountered on its global voyage
Researching queer histories: a fresh look at 'female sailors'
Queer History Club researcher Ema explores the lives of people raised as women who lived and sailed as men in the 19th century
The ship that never was
The story of a never-commissioned Second World War vessel
Knots: measuring speed at sea
You've most probably heard the term ‘knots’ referring to the unit in which a ship’s speed is measured. Learn more about the origin of the term and how knots are measured.
The beautiful detail of hand-drawn maps
Plot a journey through four special maps in the National Maritime Museum collection
History of Antarctic explorers
From first sighting to reaching the South Pole, discover the history of exploring Antarctica
What happened to the crew of Erebus and Terror?
Sir John Franklin's final voyage in 1845 in HMS Erebus and HMS Terror became the worst disaster in the history of British polar exploration
Space and astronomy
The Sun and the solstice
Find out how the position of the Sun determines the longest and shortest days of the year in this special Royal Observatory Greenwich Illuminates extract
Astronomers and the anarchist bomber
In 1894 international terrorism made its UK debut just outside the Royal Observatory. It created a gory mess and an enduring mystery.
A stellar duo: two young astrophotographers shooting for the stars
Meet the youngest entrants in Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2024: brothers Benjamin and Joshua Lawler
How will the Universe end?
Life on Earth, our Sun and Solar System, the Milky Way – all good things must come to an end. But what about the fate of the Universe itself?
The new space race: a high-stakes competition of politics and power
Competition between the USA, China and Russia will have consequences for all of us here on Earth. But how is this 21st century space race different to the last one?
Beads of sunlight: photographing an annular solar eclipse
Ryan Imperio's spellbinding image of our Sun earned him the top prize in Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2024
Artemis Programme: what you need to know about NASA’s Moon missions
NASA's Artemis missions aim to land the first woman and person of colour on the Moon, create a lunar base, and lay the groundwork for a future trip to Mars!
Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) Mission: All you need to know
How habitable are Jupiter's icy moons? Why is the Solar System's largest moon so unique? How did Jupiter, and other gas giant planets, form? Find out how the European Space Agency's groundbreaking JUICE mission will answer these questions and more.
Finding community through astrophotography
Sophie Paulin and Tom Williams struck up a friendship in an online astrophotography forum. Discover how they combined their expertise to win a prize in Astronomy Photographer of the Year
Guide to meteor showers
Want to see shooting stars? Check the key dates for major meteor showers in the UK in 2025, and how to see them in the night sky
History of the Great Equatorial Telescope
The Great Equatorial Telescope at the Royal Observatory kept Britain at the forefront of astrophysics and greatly expanded our knowledge of stars
How could humans live on Mars?
Astronomer and author Brendan Owens examines the challenges of sending humans to Mars - and what the future holds for our study of the Red Planet
Art and culture
Zeenat Mahal: the exiled queen
Senior curator Victoria Lane explores the stories behind a newly acquired miniature of the last Mughal Empress
Beneath the blue: Alberta Whittle on the making of Feeling Blue
Artist Alberta Whittle shares the inspiration behind Feeling Blue, a tapestry created in collaboration with Dovecot Studios
The Solebay Tapestry
Discover the story behind the largest tapestry in Royal Museums Greenwich's collection
A history of naval portraiture in six artworks
Curator Katherine Gazzard charts the evolution of this complex and creative genre
A Sea of Drawings: the art of the Van de Veldes
Why do artists draw, and what can their sketches teach us about their skills and techniques? Take a closer look with the unique Van de Velde drawings collection
An art lover's guide to the Queen’s House
Royal portraits, seascapes and cutting-edge sculptures are just some of the masterpieces to see
Reunited at last
After nearly 40 years apart, the portraits of a married couple have been reunited at Royal Museums Greenwich
A closer look at Ship of Fools by Kehinde Wiley
From perilous refugee crossings to black history and identity, explore the different meanings contained in artist Kehinde Wiley's work
Knotted histories
Addressing Britain's colonial legacy through crochet
Time
The surprising history of the Greenwich Time Lady
Discover the story behind the media sensation Ruth Belville, who brought the correct time from the Royal Observatory to London for almost 50 years.
What exactly is Greenwich Mean Time?
How did local clock time in Greenwich change the world?
The lost chronometer
Learn more about the marine chronometer that journeyed on board HMS Beagle before being lost at sea during Sir John Franklin's disastrous expedition
The BBC pips: the Royal Observatory and the Greenwich Time Service
Discover the story behind the Greenwich time pips, first broadcast by the BBC 100 years ago in 1924
Why 12 months in a year, seven days in a week or 60 minutes in an hour?
While days and years are (fairly) neat astronomical events, what explains months, weeks, hours and minutes?
Time before Greenwich Mean Time: the confusing case of the traveller's watch
Before time became standardised, different areas of the country all kept their own 'local time'. This gold traveller's watch with two minute hands shows how tricky that could be
The ocean
The peoples of the Pacific: on the 'front line' of climate change
What is the impact of global change change on Pacific communities? And what should the global response be when a person’s homeland is literally ‘going under’?
Pollution in the River Thames: a history
Lifeline, water source, sewer – follow the murky history of London's relationship with the River Thames
Ice cores and climate change
By extracting ice cores from Antarctica, scientists are able to travel more than 800,000 years back into Earth’s climate history
Making Waves
Stories of incredible women at sea
HMS Challenger: a trailblazer for modern ocean science
150 years ago, HMS Challenger departed England on a quest to explore the world’s oceans. Its impact is still felt today
Who owns the ocean?
Are the oceans really free for all? Find out what could be done to protect marine environments – and who has the power to make it happen
Why satellites are critical to fighting climate change
The polar ice sheets are melting six times faster than the 1990s. But thanks to earth observation satellites, we can at least measure the effect that climate change is having
Is Venice flooding getting worse?
Venice has always been at risk of flooding. But with climate change causing more damaging storms more often, is the future of this historic city under threat?
What's it like to camp in Antarctica?
Find out what it's like to live and work in the Antarctic with British Antarctic Survey scientist Joanne Johnson
The end of an oil rig's life
What happens to offshore platforms when they are decommissioned? Follow their final journeys from the North Sea to the breaker's yard
Protecting human rights in the fishing industry
Exploitation, slavery and even murder have been documented on board modern fishing fleets
In photos: life at sea during COVID-19
A photography competition documents the experiences of seafarers who have been stuck at sea due to the coronavirus pandemic
Royal history
History of the Queen's House
The centre of Greenwich for hundreds of years, the beautiful Queen's House has also been at the heart of royal life
Greenwich Palace and the Tudors
Situated beside the River Thames, Greenwich had been a popular royal residence for centuries
Mapping the Theatre of the Stuarts
This month we look at The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine, the first English attempt at a comprehensive survey of these islands, created by John Speed for James VI & I in 1611
Royal portraits in Royal Museums Greenwich’s collection
Come face to face with Kings and Queens, and discover 500 years of royal portraits at the Queen's House in Greenwich
Founding of the Royal Observatory
Find out more about the founding of the Royal Observatory, and how Greenwich came to be known as the 'Home of Time'
Queen Elizabeth's Oak: a tree of legend
Lying on its side within the historic Greenwich Park is Queen Elizabeth's Oak. Myths and legends surround the tree as thoroughly as the foliage which now covers it. We can only imagine what it has seen in its long past...
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