Lord Palmerston. Twice prime minister and three times secretary of state for foreign affairs, the British statesman was a dominant force mid 19th-century foreign policy. One of the many vexing issues in his in-tray was the Schleswig-Holstein question, the issue of the two north German duchies’ relations with Denmark and the increasingly powerful German confederation. The matter was complicated by death, inheritance and complex constitutional precedents, but was eventually settled by the Prussian army.

Bloody Tam. Dalyell served in the royalist army and joined Glencairn’s rising against Oliver Cromwell. He was captured, but escaped to Russia and served for some years under Tsar Alexis I before returning to serve Charles II. The severity of his reprisals for the Pentland Rising earned him his bloody nickname. A cavalry regiment he raised in 1681 would become the Scots Greys.

The Severn Bridge. The bridge between England and south Wales had long been called for in order to shorten the road journey. Work finally began in the early 1960s. In a speech, the Queen hailed the bridge as “the beginning of a new and exciting chapter in the social and economic life of this part of Great Britain.” She drove across the bridge with the Duke of Edinburgh to greet people on the Welsh side. As the royals returned again, members of the public from both sides ran across to greet one another.

A breastplate. Cuirassiers were initially heavily armoured cavalry troops, but down the centuries, elements of their armour were gradually discarded until just the breastplate (usually with a back plate as well) and helmet remained. The best known of all cuirassiers are those of Napoleon’s armies.

A meat market. It was also usually the place where animals were slaughtered in open air. It’s not hard to see how this place of blood, red meat, offal and animals could lead to a word that now means chaos or disorder. The word ‘shambles’ probably derives from older terms for the trestle tables the butchers used. It lives on as a place-name in a few towns, most famously in York, where the old street known as ‘The Shambles’ was home to several butchers as recently as the 1870s.

Give certain women the vote. The bill would have extended the franchise to most women who owned property, which was still a minority of the overall UK female population. It was opposed by many on both sides of parliament, and also failed to satisfy some suffrage campaigners. Prime minister Asquith killed the bill at its second reading, resulting in suffrage campaigners demonstrating outside parliament and allegations of police brutality on 18 November 1910, which became known as ‘Black Friday’.

Lancers. ‘Uhlans’ originated as Polish light cavalry armed with lances in the 18th century. Many armies later adopted their style of dress and fighting, and the British army was comparatively late in adopting the fashion. The most famous British military episode involving ‘Lancers’ was probably the Charge of the Light Brigade.