The history of Sheffield, a city in South Yorkshire, England, can be traced back to the founding of a settlement beside the River Sheaf in the second half of the 1st millennium AD, although the area has seen human occupation since the last ice age. Following the Norman conquest of England, Sheffield developed into a small town. By the 14th century it was noted for the production of knives, and by 1600 it had become the second main centre of cutlery production in England after London. In the 1740s the crucible steel process was improved by Sheffield resident Benjamin Huntsman, allowing a much better production quality. At about the same time, Sheffield plate, a form of silver plating, was invented, and the associated industries caused Sheffield to grow rapidly. It remained a major industrial city throughout the first half of the 20th century, but the downturn in world trade following the 1973 oil crisis and international rationalisation in steel production led to the closure of many of the steelworks from the early 1970s onward. Since the late 1980s, urban and economic regeneration schemes (including the Sheffield Winter Garden, pictured) have transformed the city, but the city centre remains blighted by empty shops and improvements have been halted by the recession. (Full article...)
HMS Hood was a British battlecruiser, the last such ship built for the Royal Navy. Constructed beginning in 1916, Hood was the only Admiral-class battlecruiser to be completed. It was commissioned in 1920 and used generally for showing-the-flag exercises until the onset of the Second World War. After a refit, Hood was sent back into service. On 24 May 1941, early in the Battle of the Denmark Strait, it was struck by several German shells and exploded; only three of the 1,418 crew members survived.
Photograph: Allan C. Green; restoration: Adam Cuerden
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