Charles Spencer

Oct 18, 2023 | telegraph.co.uk | Charles Spencer

Originally known as “Liberty Enlightening the World”, the Statue of Liberty was a gift from France to the United States. In 1865 – at the end of the American Civil War – France wanted to congratulate America on becoming a viable democracy. The statue is based on Libertas, the Roman goddess of Liberty, and in her right hand she holds a torch that lights up the path to freedom. Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi was the sculptor, and he based the statue’s face on that of his mother.

Jul 26, 2023 | telegraph.co.uk | Charles Spencer

Trial by combat was common in Europe in the Middle Ages, when Christian belief supposed that God would ensure that the combatant with right on his side would win the contest. Duelling as we think of it now – with its rituals, such as “seconds” accompanying the combatants, and witnesses on hand to ensure fair play (and medical care) – flourished in the 18th and early 19th centuries.

Jul 5, 2023 | telegraph.co.uk | Charles Spencer

Whether via crosswords, Sudoku or other puzzles, the human brain can gain huge satisfaction from correctly working out what the setters are seeking from their following. My day doesn’t properly start until I’ve cracked Wordle. Imagine the excitement, then, of Jean-François Champollion, who managed to translate the Rosetta Stone, a decree issued in Egypt’s Memphis in 196BC in Ancient Greek, Egyptian hieroglyphics and Demotic. The Rosetta Stone had been found in 1799, 2,000 years after its creation.

Jun 14, 2023 | telegraph.co.uk | Charles Spencer

When given the topic of crack regiments for our podcast, I intended to concentrate on the SAS, Delta Force and the Gurkhas. But I was distracted on finding that rulers have relied on similar elite military units for thousands of years. While they acted as bodyguards, and as a pinnacle of excellence to which other troops could aspire, they also serve now as a manifestation of the society from which they sprung.