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Dancers in a nightclub

Aids: the epidemic that changed Britain

Your guide to Ancient Greece: everything you wanted to know

Q&A How dangerous was the penny-farthing?

Empress Maria Theresa, a portrait

Maria Theresa: empress, warrior, matriarch

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16 September

Latest articles

In the news

Today’s events in historical context…

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“A dead whale or a stove boat”: whaling in the 19th century

Gareth Williams explores previous efforts to combat lethal diseases, from smallpox to polio. (Image by Getty Images)

The race for vaccines: lessons from history

Joep de Beer of Holland throws a javelin at the Stoke Mandeville Games

Q&A When and where were the first Paralympics held?

Alex von Tunzelmann explores the stories behind some of the world’s most controversial statues – and gives her take on whether they should stand or fall. (Image by Getty Image)

Should they stand or fall? The great statue debate

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Historical Q&As

How did Spanish Flu get its name? When did our ancestors start using toilet paper? Why did the famous Crystal Palace burn down? And where was the WW1 Armistice signed? Here are the top questions about history, answered by historians and experts…

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Did the Scottish mass-murdering cannibal Sawney Bean actually exist?

A Peep at St. Peter or The Poet in a Pickle

Q&A Why do we say 'Peeping Tom'?

The Statue of Liberty against a blue sky

Q&A Was the Statue of Liberty designed specifically for the United States?

Illustration of German Dominican preacher Johann Tetzel selling indulgences inside a church

Q&A What are indulgences, how were they abused in medieval times, and what do they have to do with the Reformation?

The Byzantines and a flamethrower

General ancient history

Q&A What was Greek fire?

A portrait of Katherine Parr in a jewelled head dress and finery

Q&A What happened to Katherine Parr’s daughter, Mary Seymour, after her mother’s death?

Read more answers from the experts

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HistoryExtra Podcast

The latest episodes from the History Extra podcast

An archetypal country house in its grounds, in the mist

From Roman villas to Downton Abbey: Britain’s country houses

Charlie English discusses what an extraordinary art collection reveals about Nazism’s impact on modernist art and people with mental illnesses. (Image by Getty Images)

Hitler’s war on “degenerate art”

A portrait of a member of the Borgias family

The Borgias: everything you wanted to know

King Arthur and a hand holding the sword Excalibur.

The legends of King Arthur: everything you wanted to know

Pectoral ornament in the form of a double headed serpent, Aztec/ Mixtec, c 1400/1521 (Photo by Getty Images)

The Aztecs: everything you wanted to know

A set of Tudor faces laid out on playing cards

Why the Tudors fell for courtly love

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Elizabeth I

History quiz: how much do you know about Tudor Queen Elizabeth I?

Atomic bomb damage in the city of Hiroshima, 1945. The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 “razed and burnt around 70 per cent of all buildings”, according to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Second World War

Was the US justified in dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the Second World War?

This 16th-century woodcut depicts King James VI at the North Berwick witch trials, the case that first sparked his obsession with hunting. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

James VI and I: the king who hunted witches

A portrait of Henry VII, the first Tudor king of England, by Michiel Sittow. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Medieval monarchy timeline: from the Norman Conquest to the Tudors

Picture galleries

Explore our historical galleries covering a wide range of historical periods and topics…

England's World Cup-winning captain, Bobby Moore (1941–93) kisses the Jules Rimet World Cup trophy after England's 4-2 win over West Germany in the 1966 World Cup final at Wembley Stadium, London. Also pictured are Moore's team-mates George Cohen, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

In pictures: when England won the football World Cup

'The Last Supper' by Leonardo da Vinci.

Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings: a guide to 8 famous works

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In pictures: 150 years of the British Red Cross

Emma Corrin as Princess Diana in season 4 of 'The Crown'. (Photo by Netflix)

The Crown S4 news: Netflix releases first images of Princess Diana and Margaret Thatcher

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On this day_Numbers15

15 September

A Hawker Hurricane of Fighter Command on its way to intercept German bombers as they crossed the south coast of England during the Battle of Britain, 1940. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Second World War

6 Battle of Britain myths

An illustration showing a woman 'Arib al-Ma’muniyya, playing an instrument while four men listen. A chess board is in the foreground

‘Arib al-Ma’muniyya: the enslaved medieval woman who sang her way to wealth

On this day_Numbers14

14 September

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History Quizzes

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How much do you know about the Vikings? Test your knowledge with our quiz. This mid-19th century painting shows Viking ships on the River Thames. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

History quiz: How much do you know about the Vikings?

People praying for relief from the bubonic plague, circa 1350. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Medieval quiz

A medieval illustration showing a doctor bleeding a patient

Kill or cure: can you spot the real historical remedies?

The effects of the disease known as the Black Death

History quiz: how much do you know about the Black Death?

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Portrait of King Henry VIII, Jane Seymour and Prince Edward. (Photo by Getty Images)

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Winston Churchill gives his famous v-sign as he opens the new headquarters of 615 (County of Surrey) Squadron of the RAAF (Royal Auxiliary Air Force) at Croydon, 1948. (Photo by Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Winston Churchill

Golden funerary mask of Tutankhamun, inlaid with lapis lazuli, obsidian and turquoise. (Photo By DEA / G. DAGLI ORTI/De Agostini/Getty Images)

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Military history

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