Pisa lies at the junction of two rivers, the Arno and the Serchio, which form a laguna at the Tyrrhenian Sea. The origin of the name, Pisa, is a mystery. While the origin of the city had remained unknown for centuries, the Pelasgi, the Greeks, the Etruscans, and the Ligurians had variously been proposed... more

Evidence of continuous habitation has been found since 500 BC, when the site of Vienna on the Danube River was settled by the Celts. In 15 BC, the Romans fortified the frontier city they called Vindobona, to guard the empire against Germanic tribes to the north. Roman ruins at Michaelerplatz Close ties... more

York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence. The city offers a wealth of historic attractions, of which... more

The early history of the site is unknown, although the site was almost certainly settled many years before the medieval castle was built. Histories of the town note that the combination of the navigable river and the strategically placed hill point to the likelihood of continuous human settlement from... more

A Stirling engine is a heat engine operating by cyclic compression and expansion of air or other gas, the working fluid, at different temperature levels such that there is a net conversion of heat energy to mechanical work. Like the steam engine, the Stirling engine is traditionally classified as an... more

The English name for the area derives from Snowdon, which is the highest mountain in Wales at 3,560 ft (1,085 m). In Welsh, the area is named Eryri. One assumption is that the name is derived from eryr (”eagle”), but others state that it means quite simply Highlands, as leading Welsh scholar... more

Oxford was first settled in Saxon times, and was initially known as “Oxenaforda”, meaning “Ford of the Oxen”; fords were more common than bridges at that time. It began with the foundation of an oxen crossing in the early 900 AD period. In the 10th century Oxford became an important... more

The precise extent of the Lake District was not defined traditionally but is approximated by the boundary of the National Park, the total area of which is about 885 square miles (2,292 km2). The Park extends just over 32 miles (52 km) from east to west and nearly 40 miles (64 km) from north to south. The... more

Archaeological evidence from sites in and around Cardiff—the St Lythans burial chamber, near Wenvoe (about four miles (6.4 km) west, south west of Cardiff city centre), the Tinkinswood burial chamber, near St Nicholas (about six miles (10 km) west of Cardiff city centre), the Cae’rarfau Chambered... more

The hills around Bath such as Bathampton Down saw human activity from the Mesolithic period. Several Bronze Age round barrows were opened by John Skinner in the 18th century. Bathampton Camp may have been an Iron Age hill fort or stock enclosure. A Long barrow site believed to be from the Beaker people... more