Interesting News

Veteran polar geographer Dr John Shears leading the team and project mounted by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust (FMHT), using a South African icebreaker, Agulhas II has found and filmed one of the greatest ever undiscovered shipwrecks 107 years after it sank.

The Endurance, the lost vessel of Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, was found at the weekend at the bottom of the Weddell Sea.

The ship was crushed by sea-ice and sank in 1915, forcing Shackleton and his men to make an astonishing escape on foot and in small boats.

Video of the remains show Endurance to be in remarkable condition.

Even though it has been sitting in 3km (10,000ft) of water for over a century, it looks just like it did on the November day it went down.

Its timbers, although disrupted, are still very much together, and the name - Endurance - is clearly visible on the stern.

"Without any exaggeration this is the finest wooden shipwreck I have ever seen - by far," said marine archaeologist Mensun Bound, who is on the discovery expedition and has now fulfilled a dream ambition in his near 50-year career.

"It is upright, well proud of the seabed, intact, and in a brilliant state of preservation," he told BBC News.

Read more HERE or Watch the 3 Episode mini series on PBS "Chasing Shackleton"

Picture and article courtesy of the BBC and The National Geographic

Sir Michael Caine, original name Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, Jr., (born March 14, 1933, London, England), celebrates his 90th birthday this week.

He is well known for his strong cockney accent which never tried to hide.

He has starred in more than 130 films as well as many, many TV appearances set all around the world.

Sir Michael made his breakthrough in the 1960s with starring roles in British films. To name a few : Zulu (1964), The Ipcress File (1965), The Italian Job, and Battle of Britain (both 1969). He was known for his thin rimmed glasses and his cockney sense of humour.

In 1952, Sir Michael was called up to do national service. In the early 50s he served in the British Army's Royal Fusiliers, first at the British Army Headquarters in Iserlohn, West Germany, and then he went on to active service in the Korean War.

He says that to curb youth violence "Put them in the Army for six months."

He has starred with or across from many famous actors and actresses. Such as Angelina Jolie, Sir Roger Moore, Stephen Fry, Ewan McGregor, Dame Joan Collins and Joanna Lumley to name but a few.

My favourite film he starred alongside Stanley Baker in Zulu, the true story of the Battle for Rorks Drift where 150 British soldiers, 30 of whom were sick and wounded patients in a field hospital, successfully held off a force of 4,000 Zulu warriors.

Eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded, which remains to this day the most ever given for a single battle.

Images and information thanks to Wikipedia

Buckingham Palace unveils King Charles III's Coronation Emblem.

The Coronation Emblem - which will feature throughout May's historic celebrations - pays tribute to The King�s love of the natural world, depicting the flora of the four nations in the shape of St Edward�s Crown.

The official Coronation emblem is now available for use for all activities associated with the Coronation including community and national events, publications, retail, and merchandising.

You can download the Emblem in English and Welsh, free of charge, by following the text link below:

Emblem Website

For many, the first week of spring offers the opportunity to enjoy seasonal flowers in the garden (and around the home) � and the royal family is no different.

The family offered a look inside the most famous royal residence of all � Buckingham Palace � dressed for the new season with magnolias and camellias and the flower synonymous with spring: daffodils.

'Spring has sprung in the Buckingham Palace garden,' the family says.

Thanks to Diana Fetterman for the inspiration on this Article