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Who Was Emmeline Pankhurst?

In 1903, Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women's Social and Political Union, which used militant tactics to agitate for women's suffrage. Pankhurst was imprisoned many times, but supported the war effort after World War I broke out. Parliament granted British women limited suffrage in 1918. Pankhurst died in 1928, shortly before women were given full voting rights.

Early Life

Emmeline Goulden was born in Manchester, England, on either July 14 or 15, 1858. (Her birth certificate said July 15, but the document wasn't filed until four months after her birth, and Goulden always stated she was born on July 14.)

Goulden, the eldest daughter of 10 children, grew up in a politically active family. Her parents were both abolitionists and supporters of female suffrage; Goulden was 14 when her mother took her to her first women's suffrage meeting. However, Goulden chafed at the fact that her parents prioritized their sons' education and advancement over hers.

Marriage and Political Activism

After studying in Paris, Goulden returned to Manchester, where she met Dr. Richard Pankhurst in 1878. Richard was a lawyer who supported a number of radical causes, including women's suffrage. Though he was 24 years older than Goulden, the two married in December 1879, and Goulden became Emmeline Pankhurst.

Over the next decade, Pankhurst gave birth to five children: daughters Christabel, Sylvia and Adela, and sons Frank (who died in childhood) and Harry. Despite her children and other household responsibilities, Pankhurst remained involved in politics, campaigning for her husband during his unsuccessful runs for Parliament and hosting political gatherings at their home.

"Women are very slow to rouse, but once they are aroused, once they are determined, nothing on earth and nothing in heaven will make women give way; it is impossible."

In 1889, Pankhurst became an early supporter of the Women's Franchise League, which wanted to enfranchise all women, married and unmarried alike (at the time, some groups only sought the vote for single women and widows). Her husband encouraged Pankhurst in these endeavors until his death in 1898.

The WSPU Takes Shape

Coping with straitened circumstances and grief consumed much of Pankhurst's attention for the next several years. However, she retained a passion for women's rights, and in 1903 she decided to create a new women-only group focused solely on voting rights, the Women's Social and Political Union. The WSPU's slogan was "Deeds Not Words."

In 1905, Pankhurst's daughter Christabel and fellow WSPU member Annie Kenney went to a meeting to demand if the Liberal party would support women's suffrage. After a confrontation with the police, both women were arrested. The attention and interest that followed this arrest encouraged Pankhurst to have the WSPU follow a more combative path than other suffrage groups.

At first the WSPU's "militancy" consisted of buttonholing politicians and holding rallies. Still, following these tactics led to members of Pankhurst's group being arrested and imprisoned (Pankhurst herself was first sent behind bars in 1908). The Daily Mail soon dubbed Pankhurst's group "suffragettes," as opposed to the "suffragists," who also wanted women to be able to vote in the United Kingdom, but who followed less confrontational channels.

Rise of the Suffragettes

Over the next few years, Pankhurst would encourage WSPU members to rein in their demonstrations when it seemed possible that a bill on women's suffrage might move forward. But when the group was disappointed-as in 1910 and 1911, when Conciliation Bills that included women's suffrage failed to advance-protests would escalate. By 1913, militant actions by WSPU members included window-breaking, vandalizing public art and arson.

"We were called militant, and we were quite willing to accept the name. We were determined to press this question of the enfranchisement of women to the point where we were no longer to be ignored by the politicians."

Throughout these protests, suffragettes were arrested, but in 1909 the women had begun to engage in hunger strikes while in prison. Though this resulted in violent force-feeding, the hunger strikes also led to early release for many suffragettes. When Pankhurst was given a nine-month sentence in 1912 for throwing a rock at the prime minister's residence, she too embarked on a hunger strike. Spared from being forcibly fed, she was soon freed.

Seeking to circumvent the hunger strikes, in 1913 the Prisoners' Temporary Discharge for Ill Health Act was enacted. The law said that prisoners who were released for health reasons could be rearrested and taken back to prison once they'd recovered. It became known as the "Cat and Mouse Act," with suffragette "mice" being pursued by the authorities.

"We shall fight against the condition of affairs so long as life is in us."

In 1913, after an incendiary device went off in an unoccupied house being built for the chancellor of the exchequer, David Lloyd George, Pankhurst received a sentence of three years of penal servitude for inciting the crime. She was released after a hunger strike, but the Cat and Mouse Act led to a series of rearrests and releases-during one furlough, Pankhurst proceeded to the United States for a fundraising and lecture tour-that continued into 1914. But everything changed with the arrival of World War I.

World War I and the Vote

Feeling that suffragettes needed to make sure they had a country to vote in, Pankhurst decided to call for a halt to militancy and demonstrations. The government released all WSPU prisoners, and Pankhurst encouraged women to join the war effort and fill factory jobs so that men could fight on the front.

"We are here, not because we are law-breakers; we are here in our efforts to become law-makers."

The contributions of women during wartime helped convince the British government to grant them limited voting rights-for those who met a property requirement and were 30 years of age (the voting age for men was 21)-with the Representation of the People Act of 1918. Later that year, another bill gave women the right to be elected to Parliament.

Later Years

Though all her daughters had been members of the WSPU at some point, Pankhurst was only able to celebrate the achievement of (limited) suffrage with Christabel, her favorite. As a pacifist, Sylvia had disagreed with Pankhurst's attitude toward the war, while Adela had moved to Australia.

Pankhurst still desired universal women's suffrage, but her politics changed focus after the war. She worried about the rise of Bolshevism and eventually became a member of the Conservative Party. Pankhurst even ran for a seat in Parliament as a Conservative, but her campaign was disrupted by ill health (exacerbated by the public revelation that Sylvia had given birth to an illegitimate child). Pankhurst was 69 when she died in London on June 14, 1928.

Pankhurst did not live to see it, but on July 2, 1928, Parliament gave women voting rights on par with those of their male counterparts.

Voting Rights Centennial

On February 6, 2018, the U.K. commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Representation of the People Act with a speech by Prime Minister Theresa May and a series of public exhibitions. However, some felt the tributes weren't enough, with Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn among those calling for official pardons for more than 1,000 suffragettes imprisoned for their activism a century earlier.

Pankhurst's great-granddaughter Helen also surfaced in the news for the release of her book, Deeds Not Words. An activist in the mold of her famed ancestor, Helen Pankhurst expressed concern that U.S. President Donald Trump was using his position to reverse the tide of hard-fought progress for women: "I think it's really sad that in 2018 we have as the president of apparently the most powerful place in the world someone who has done the things that he has done and speaks the way that he does," she said.

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In 1903, Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women's Social and Political Union, which used militant tactics to agitate for women's suffrage. Pankhurst was imprisoned many times, but supported the war effort after World War I broke out. Parliament granted British women limited suffrage in 1918. Pankhurst died in 1928, shortly before women were given full voting rights.

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Albert Einstein: A life spent re-imagining physics

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A timelines of the life and career of Albert Einstein, including his theories of special and general relativity.

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Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection made us rethink our place in the world. The idea that humans shared a common ancestor with apes was a challenge to the foundations of western civilisation.
Darwin kept silent for 20 years before going public and was only half joking when he described writing his book 'On the Origin of Species' as 'like confessing a murder'. This is the story of one man's struggle with the most radical idea of all time.

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Charles Darwin: Evolution and the story of our species

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The story of Charles Darwin's life. His theory of evolution changed the way we understood our place in the world.

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Isaac Newton changed the way we understand the Universe. Revered in his own lifetime, he discovered the laws of gravity and motion and invented calculus. He helped to shape our rational world view.

But Newton's story is also one of a monstrous ego who believed that he alone was able to understand God's creation. His private life was far from rational - consumed by petty jealousies, bitter rivalries and a ruthless quest for reputation.

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Isaac Newton: The man who discovered gravity

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Isaac Newton changed the way we understand the Universe. Revered in his own lifetime, he discovered the laws of gravity and motion and invented calculus. He helped to shape our rational world view. But Newton's story is also one of a monstrous ego who believed that he alone was able to understand God's creation.

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Pocahontas Matoaka

Pocahontas was named Amonute at birth and went by the name Matoaka. She supposedly earned the nickname Pocahontas, which means "playful one," because of her happy, inquisitive nature.

As the daughter of Chief Powhatan, Pocahontas may have had more luxuries than many of her peers, but she still had to learn so-called women's work such as farming, cooking, collecting herbs, building a house, making clothes, butchering meat and tanning hides.

Pocahontas and John Smith

The first English settlers arrived in Jamestown colony in May 1607. That winter, Pocahontas' brother kidnapped colonist Captain John Smith and made a spectacle of him in front of several Powhatan tribes before taking him to meet Chief Powhatan.

According to Smith, his head was placed on two stones and a warrior prepared to smash his head and kill him. But before the warrior could strike, Pocahontas rushed to Smith's side and placed her head on his, preventing the attack. Chief Powhatan then bartered with Smith, referred to him as his son and sent him on his way.

Smith's account of Pocahontas' lifesaving efforts is hotly debated, partly because he wrote different versions of this initial meeting with Chief Powhatan. Many historians believe Smith was never in peril and the placement of his head on the stones was ceremonial.

Even so, if Smith's explanation of the incident is true, he had no way of knowing about Powhatan ceremonial customs and from his terrified point of view, Pocahontas was undoubtedly his benevolent rescuer.

Pocahontas Saves John Smith Again

Pocahontas became known by the colonists as an important Powhatan emissary. She occasionally brought the hungry settlers food and helped successfully negotiate the release of Powhatan prisoners in 1608. But relations between the colonists and the Indians remained strained.

By 1609, drought, starvation and disease had ravaged the colonists and they became increasingly dependent on the Powhatan to survive. Desperate and dying, they threatened to burn Powhatan towns for food, so Chief Powhatan suggested a barter with Captain Smith.

When negotiations collapsed, the chief supposedly planned an ambush and Smith's execution. But Pocahontas warned Smith of her father's plans and saved his life again.

Soon after, Smith was injured and returned to England; however, Pocahontas and her father were told he died.

Kidnapped by the English

It's thought that Pocahontas married an Indian named Kocoum in 1610. Afterwards, she avoided the English until 1613 when she was lured onto the English ship of Captain Samuel Argall and kidnapped during the First Anglo-Powhatan War.

Argall informed Chief Powhatan that he wouldn't return Pocahontas unless he released English prisoners, returned stolen weapons and sent the colonists food. Much to Pocahontas' dismay, her father only sent half the ransom and left her imprisoned.

While in captivity, Pocahontas lived in the settlement of Henricus under the care of a minister named Alexander Whitaker where she learned about Christianity, English culture and how to speak English. Pocahontas converted to Christianity, was baptized and given the name "Rebecca."

Marriage to John Rolfe

During her imprisonment, Pocahontas met widower and tobacco planter John Rolfe. The couple decided to marry, likely for both love and political purposes - although the decision wasn't an easy one for the staunchly Christian Rolfe until Pocahontas converted.

They sent word to Chief Powhatan that they wanted to marry; he consented as did the Virginia governor, Sir Thomas Dale. It's unclear what happened to Pocahontas' first husband, but divorce was allowed in Powhatan culture.

Pocahontas married Rolfe in April 1614. The match was considered an important step towards re-establishing positive relations between the colonists and the Indians. Indeed, the marriage brought a season of peace to the region.

Journey to England

In 1616, Sir Thomas Dale sailed to England to rally financial support for the Virginia Company, the company owned by wealthy Londoners that had financed the Jamestown colony.

The company also wanted to prove they had met their goal of converting Native Americans to Christianity, so Rolfe, Pocahontas, their infant son Thomas (born in 1615) and a dozen Powhatan Indians accompanied Dale on the trip.

In London, Pocahontas was revered as a princess and referred to as "Lady Rebecca Wolfe." She attended plays and balls and was even presented to the royal family.

Much to her surprise, Pocahontas encountered Captain Smith (whom she thought was dead) in London. Although she was overcome with emotion upon seeing him alive and called him "father," she also reportedly chastised him for his treatment of Chief Powhatan and her people.

The Virginia Company commissioned a portrait of Pocahontas dressed in expensive clothes with an engraved label that said, "Matoaka, alias Rebecca, daughter of the most powerful prince of the Powhatan Empire of Virginia." It is the only image drawn of her in person.

How Did Pocahontas Die?

In March 1617, Pocahontas, her husband and son set sail for Virginia. But they had hardly made progress when she became gravely ill and was taken ashore at Gravesend, England.

It's uncertain what disease struck her down. Some speculate it was tuberculosis, pneumonia, dysentery or smallpox; others believe she was poisoned. According to Rolfe, Pocahontas said on her deathbed, "All must die. But 'tis enough that my child liveth."

Pocahontas was buried at St. George's church in Gravesend on March 21, 1617. Rolfe returned to Virginia, but her son Thomas remained with relatives in England. He returned almost two decades later at age 20 to claim inheritances from his father and grandfather and became a successful gentleman tobacco farmer.

Chief Powhatan was devastated upon learning of his daughter's death. He died about a year later and relations between the Powhatan and Virginia colonists declined rapidly.

Much of Pocahontas' life has been romanticized and sensationalized in movies and books. But written accounts and Native American oral history show she lived a brief yet significant life.

She was instrumental to maintaining relations between her father and the Jamestown colonists and is believed to be the first Powhatan Indian to convert to Christianity. She is remembered as a courageous, strong woman who left an indelible impression on colonial America.

Sources

Ambassador to England. Jamestown Rediscovery.

Captain John Smith. National Park Service: Historic Jamestown.

Marriage. Jamestown Rediscovery.

Pocahontas Biography. Biography.

Pocahontas. Gravesend St. George's.

Pocahontas: Her Life and Legend. National Park Service: Historic Jamestown.

Virginia Company. Jamestown Rediscovery.

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Pocahontas was named Amonute at birth and went by the name Matoaka. She supposedly earned the nickname Pocahontas, which means "playful one," because of her happy, inquisitive nature. As the daughter of Chief Powhatan, Pocahontas may have had more luxuries than many of her peers, but she still had to learn so-called women's work such as farming, cooking, collecting herbs, building a house, making clothes, butchering meat and tanning hides.

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Martin Luther King Jr. - Day, Quotes & Assassination

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Martin Luther King Jr. was a scholar and minister who led the civil rights movement. After his assassination, he was memorialized by Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

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The greatest Briton?

On 8 May 1945 Winston Churchill stood on a Whitehall balcony and addressed the excited crowd below. "In all our long history," he said, "we have never seen a greater day than this." Churchill had stood against Hitler and won – the day was his.

Half a century on from his death, Churchill is considered by many to be the greatest Briton. But his legacy didn't always look so secure. From trouble at school to errors in office, Churchill's path to greatness was often a rocky one.

1874-1893

Birth and childhood

Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace, the seat of his grandfather the 7th Duke of Marlborough, on 30 November 1874.

His father, Lord Randolph, was a prominent Conservative politician and his mother the daughter of a New York financier. Young Winston saw neither of them as often as he would have liked. At 13 he scraped into the lowest class at Harrow. Randolph, believing that his son was academically unsuited for politics or law, had him placed in the army class.

What was Churchill's childhood like? Richard Dimbleby explains. (Clip from 1965 Churchill obituary broadcast by the BBC).

1893-1895

Sandhurst

Churchill enrolled at Sandhurst as an officer cadet in September 1893, though it took him three attempts to pass the entrance exam.

He took to Sandhurst well and his efforts were winning his father’s respect. But before the relationship could blossom Lord Randolph died, aged 45. This had a profound impact on Churchill: it convinced him of the need to make his mark early in life. His first public address came in unexpected surroundings – the Empire Theatre in Leicester Square. Incensed by the newly-erected screens restricting access to the bars, Churchill led fellow cadets to riot before delivering an impromptu speech.

Watch childhood friend Sir Shane Leslie describe how Churchill came of age at Sandhurst. (Clip from 1965 Churchill obituary broadcast by the BBC).

1895-1899

Imperial adventures

Churchill obtained his commission as a cavalry officer in the 4th (Queen’s Own) Hussars in February 1895.

Also employed as a war reporter, he spent his 21st birthday in Cuba, acquiring two lifelong habits – siestas and Havana cigars. The following year Churchill sailed with his regiment for India and in 1898 fought in Sudan. Already determined to pursue a career in politics he hungrily followed political news from home. Concerned by his lack of university education, he read voraciously, even poring over old parliamentary debates and making his own imaginary contributions.

See Churchill's imperial adventures in the 'high, heady days of Empire' (Clip from 1965 Churchill obituary broadcast by the BBC).

1899

Fame and daring

The Boer Republics declared war on Britain on 11 October 1899 and Churchill travelled to South Africa to cover the conflict as a war correspondent.

On 15 November, he was on an armoured train in Natal when it was ambushed. He was captured and imprisoned in Pretoria. On 12 December, when the guards' backs were turned, he took his opportunity to escape and clambered over a prison wall into the night. He jumped on a passing train, hiding among sacks, before alighting and enlisting the help of a Transvaal Collieries manager. Churchill arrived in Durban a hero. Back in Britain, stories of his exploits made him famous.

Richard Dimbleby on Churchill's daring escape from imprisonment (Clip from 1965 Churchill obituary broadcast by the BBC).

1900

Election to Parliament

Churchill's new-found fame allowed him to further his political ambitions. At the 1900 General Election he became MP for Oldham.

Churchill delivered his first speech in Parliament in 1901. He had a lisp and overcame this with diligent preparation. After drying up alarmingly in the House of Commons in 1904, he always used detailed notes when he spoke. Churchill was unafraid to disagree with his party chiefs. Together with his friend, Lord Hugh Cecil, he organised a group of young Tory MPs who specialised in harassing their own party leaders – the 'Hughligans'.

Winston Churchill seated at his desk after becoming MP for Oldham

1904

Crossing the floor

From May 1903 Churchill found himself further at odds with much of his own Conservative Party when he objected to proposed tariff reforms.

Self-confident and supremely assured of his own views, he took a stand against influential politician Joseph Chamberlain. He left the Conservative Party and took a seat on the Liberal benches, flying the flag for free trade. The Conservatives, he said, had abandoned their principles – and he attacked them ferociously. The move paid off. In 1908 he became the youngest cabinet minister since 1866 and the social reforms he pioneered with David Lloyd-George laid the foundations of the welfare state.

Richard Dimbleby explains why Churchill defected to the Liberals. (Clip from 1965 Churchill obituary broadcast by the BBC).

1908

My darling Clementine

Churchill first met Clementine Hozier, who at 19 had recently entered the London social scene, at a ball in 1904.

But, socially awkward and then in love with another woman, he made a poor impression. Despite his successful career, when he met her again at a dinner in March 1908 he had proposed to – and been rejected by – three women. But his luck changed. Later that year, sheltering from the rain together in the Temple of Diana overlooking the lake at Blenheim Palace, Churchill proposed. Clementine accepted and they married in Westminster on 12 September 1908, going on to have five children.

Winston Churchill pictured with fiancee Clementine a week before their wedding

1914

Battle stations

His political career was thriving. In 1911 he became First Lord of the Admiralty and oversaw rapid expansion in the naval arms race with Germany.

After the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in June 1914, Europe was brought to the brink of war. As war drew closer, Churchill was determined that Britain must play her part. The fleet was ordered to battle stations and in crucial cabinet discussions, he argued strongly against wavering colleagues like David Lloyd George. Germany invaded Belgium on 4 August 1914, by 11pm Britain was at war.

See how Churchill prepared the British fleet. (Clip from 1965 Churchill obituary broadcast by the BBC).

1915

Resignation and disgrace

Churchill was heavily criticised for presiding over a number of British naval failures in the early months of the war.

High profile losses put Churchill firmly in the spotlight. In September 1914, three British cruisers were sunk in the North Sea. In December, German battleships shelled Scarborough. Churchill sought to land a decisive blow. His plan was to sail through the Dardanelles and force Germany's ally, Turkey, out of the war. An attack was launched on 18 March 1915. Troops landed on Gallipoli on 25 April. It was a disaster. Pinned down, losses were heavy and Churchill forced to resign in disgrace.

Watch Richard Dimbleby on Churchill's role in the Gallipoli disaster. (Clip from 1965 Churchill obituary broadcast by the BBC).

1924

A Conservative again

By the end of the First World War, Churchill had scrambled back into office but Gallipoli was still a stain on his reputation.

His political affinities now lay increasingly to the right of his Liberal colleagues. When his chief detractor Andrew Bonar Law was replaced by Stanley Baldwin as Conservative leader, Churchill seized the opportunity. Prepared to follow his own mind, in the 1924 General Election Churchill stood for the Conservatives in Epping and won. He was offered the post of Chancellor once held by his father.

Winston Churchill outside a polling booth in 1924

1926

Another setback

Churchill restored the gold standard – a system of currency valuation which fixed the value of the pound to a set quantity of gold.

The move was disastrous. An overvalued pound saw demand in export markets collapse and industry suffered. In 1926, over a million miners were locked out of their mines and prevented from working following a dispute with employers who wanted them to work more hours for less money. The Trades Union Congress called a general strike and the country ground to a halt. In the 1929 General Election, Labour won and Churchill was out of office once again.

Watch Richard Dimbleby on Churchill's attitude to the general strike. (Clip from 1965 Churchill obituary broadcast by the BBC).

1929-1939

The wilderness years

Churchill became an increasingly marginalised voice as his views were out of step with the time.

His opposition to giving Britain's Indian Empire greater powers of self-governance – exacerbated by his support for King Edward VIII in the 1936 abdication crisis – left him sidelined by both Baldwin and then Neville Chamberlain. His dire warnings about the rise of Hitler and the Nazis went unheeded. In September 1938 Chamberlain returned from Munich proclaiming 'peace for our time' after sacrificing Czechoslovakia to Hitler. Churchill was furious.

Why were Churchill's warnings about the Nazis ignored? Richard Dimbleby explains. (Clip from 1965 Churchill obituary broadcast by the BBC).

1939

In time of need

Hitler invaded Poland on 1 September 1939. By the 3rd, Britain was once again at war with Germany.

Churchill was immediately recalled from his political exile, again becoming First Lord of the Admiralty. By May 1940, Britain and her allies were losing the war. In the face of the Nazis' relentless march across Europe, Chamberlain bowed to pressure and resigned as Prime Minister. When Lord Halifax – the man fancied to assume the Premiership – refused the role, Churchill was the only credible alternative to lead. He also took the post of Minster of Defence and responsibility for the war effort.

See how war elevated Churchill to Prime Minister. (Clip from 1965 Churchill obituary broadcast by the BBC).

1940

We shall never surrender

The war was going badly and Lord Halifax, the foreign secretary, urged Churchill to negotiate peace terms with Hitler.

The British Expeditionary Force was facing encirclement in France. Churchill, though, was resolute and overruled Halifax. Hundreds of thousands of allied soldiers were evacuated from Dunkirk. France surrendered. On 22 June, French leader Marshal Pétain signed an armistice with Germany. France would be occupied, forced to pay for the German invasion and her army disbanded. Now standing alone, Churchill's speeches stirred Britain to continue fighting until the US and USSR joined the war in 1941.

See how the fate of the world rested on the Battle of Britain and Churchill's 'finest hour'. (Clip from 1965 Churchill obituary broadcast by the BBC).

1944

Turning the tide

As the war progressed, Churchill sought to delay the invasion of Nazi-occupied France for as long as possible, fearful of a second Gallipoli.

But, as pressure from the US and USSR grew, the date was set. On 6 June 1944, US, British and Canadian forces invaded Nazi-occupied France. D-Day had arrived. More than 150,000 troops were landed on French soil in the biggest ever seaborne invasion. At midday, Churchill was able to report the success of the landings to the House of Commons.

Allied troops approach Omaha Beach on D-Day

1945

Victory and defeat

On 7 May 1945, Germany surrendered. Though Japan would continue fighting until September, the Allies had won. Churchill had led the nation to victory.

But in the July General Election the Conservatives led by Churchill were roundly defeated by Labour. Clement Attlee was the new Prime Minister. After two world wars in little more than a generation, Labour policies to raise employment, establish the NHS and nationalise key industries resonated with an electorate voting for change. After his wife commented that the result may be a blessing in disguise, Churchill retorted: "At the moment it seems quite effectively disguised."

Richard Dimbleby explains how Churchill could lose the 1945 General Election. (Clip from 1965 Churchill obituary broadcast by the BBC).

1945-1951

Writing history

Despite his wife's protestations, Churchill was determined to remain as Conservative leader.

But it was a role he neglected somewhat, staying away from the House of Commons for long periods. Broadly in accord with Attlee's foreign and defence policies, he busied himself with proposals for European unity and a six volume history of the Second World War. In Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union, Churchill also spotted a new enemy. In March 1946, he delivered one of the opening volleys of the Cold War when he denounced Soviet expansion into Eastern Europe.

1951-1955

Return to Downing Street

On 26 October 1951, little more than four weeks shy of his 77th birthday, Churchill led the Conservatives to electoral victory once again.

He was, however, an ailing force. In 1953 Churchill was left partially paralysed after suffering a stroke which government officials and the press colluded in concealing. He had repeatedly pressed for discussions with the USSR but, even after Stalin's death, failed to convince the US of the need for a common approach. Churchill authorised Britain's nuclear weapons programme in 1954 and his final major speech to the House of Commons in 1955 tackled the threat of nuclear destruction.

1955-1965

Retirement

Throughout his life Churchill had fought against depression, his 'black dog'. After his resignation on 5 April 1955, it was a battle he began to lose.

He remained an MP until 1964 but for those last nine years never again spoke in the House of Commons. He spent much of his time at his home, Chartwell, or on holiday in the French Riviera. As one daughter, Sarah, fell into alcoholism another, Diana, committed suicide. His relationship with his son, Randolph, was turbulent. Churchill's physical health was also failing, and he suffered a series of further strokes. Planning began for his own state funeral – termed Operation Hope Not.

See Churchill greet the Royal Family on the eve of his resignation. (Clip from 1965 Churchill obituary broadcast by the BBC).

1965

The nation's farewell

On 24 January 1965, 70 years to the day since the death of his father, Churchill died. He was 90 years old.

World leaders and dignitaries gathered for his funeral service on 30 January. Huge silent crowds lined the streets to pay their respects as his coffin travelled slowly through central London to St Paul's Cathedral. Millions more around the world watched as the BBC broadcast the events live. Churchill was laid to rest in Oxfordshire, close to his family's ancestral seat at Blenheim Palace, where he had been born 90 years before.

Watch coverage of Winston Churchill's state funeral, broadcast by the BBC in 1965.

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Sir Winston Churchill: The greatest Briton?

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From schoolboy failure to wartime hero, Winston Churchill’s astonishing life has made him a British icon. Discover how he came to be the man we remember.

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Florence Nightingale: Saving lives with statistics

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Brunel was one of the most versatile and audacious engineers of the 19th century, responsible for the design of tunnels, bridges, railway lines and ships.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel was born on 9 April 1806 in Portsmouth. His father Mark was a French engineer who had fled France during the revolution. Brunel was educated both in England and in France.

When he returned to England he went to work for his father. Brunel's first notable achievement was the part he played with his father in planning the Thames Tunnel from Rotherhithe to Wapping, completed in 1843. In 1831, Brunel's designs won the competition for the Clifton Suspension Bridge across the River Avon. Construction began the same year but it was not completed until 1864.

The work for which Brunel is probably best remembered is his construction of a network of tunnels, bridges and viaducts for the Great Western Railway. In 1833, he was appointed their chief engineer and work began on the line that linked London to Bristol. Impressive achievements during its construction included the viaducts at Hanwell and Chippenham, the Maidenhead Bridge, the Box Tunnel and Bristol Temple Meads Station. Brunel is noted for introducing the broad gauge in place of the standard gauge on this line. While working on the line from Swindon to Gloucester and South Wales he devised the combination of tubular, suspension and truss bridge to cross the Wye at Chepstow. This design was further improved in his famous bridge over the Tamar at Saltash near Plymouth.

As well as bridges, tunnels and railways, Brunel was responsible for the design of several famous ships. The 'Great Western', launched in 1837, was the first steamship to engage in transatlantic service. The 'Great Britain', launched in 1843, was the world's first iron-hulled, screw propeller-driven, steam-powered passenger liner. The 'Great Eastern', launched in 1859, was designed in cooperation with John Scott Russell, and was by far the biggest ship ever built up to that time, but was not commercially successful.

Brunel was also responsible for the redesign and construction of many of Britain's major docks, including Bristol, Monkwearmouth, Cardiff and Milford Haven.

Brunel died of a stroke on 15 September 1859.

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Brunel was one of the most versatile and audacious engineers of the 19th century, responsible for the design of tunnels, bridges, railway lines and ships. Isambard Kingdom Brunel was born on 9 April 1806 in Portsmouth. His father Mark was a French engineer who had fled France during the revolution.