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Chaucer reading his work to the court of Richard II

Katherine Swynford: the scandalous duchess and ancestress of royal dynasties

Sathnam Sanghera Britain's Imperial Legacy: “It was painful to realise how my education had colonised me”

St Andrew’s Day: 11 things you might not know about Scotland’s patron saint

Christine Kinealy answers listener questions on the devastating famine that struck Ireland in the mid-19th century. (Image by Getty Images)

The Irish famine: everything you wanted to know

An illustration shows a sailor throwing an enslaved person into the sea, with other enslaved people below drowning

The Zong Massacre: what the dark episode meant for the British slave trade and abolition

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Which woman has had the biggest impact on world history?

100 Women Who Changed the World

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Second World War

Why did Hitler choose the swastika, and how did a Sanskrit symbol become a Nazi emblem?

Colourful illustration of 12 historical figures's heads (Winston Churchill, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Thomas Cromwell, Richard III, Elizabeth I, William Shakespeare, Anne Boleyn, William Marshal, Jane Austen, Hatshepsut, Gandhi and Catherine the Great) shown in a grid pattern.

Historical figures: 100+ of the most famous people through history – in chronological order

Elizabeth I

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

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Behind the news

Today’s events in historical context…

Winston Churchill delivering his famous 'iron curtain' speech at Westminster College

Second World War

8 of Churchill’s greatest speeches

Turkeys, bred in Norfolk, cover the facade of a London butcher's shop, 1929. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Shop ’till you drop: a brief history of Christmas shopping

Queen Elizabeth greets the crowd from the top of a huge elephant minutely decorated during a walk to the gates of the Jaipur Palace, c1961 in Jaipur, India. (Photo by Keystone-FranceGamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

The Queen and the Commonwealth: a force for international change?

Gwrych Castle in Abergele, North Wales

Gwrych Castle: the history of the new home of I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here

On this day in history

What happened on this day in the past? Historian Dominic Sandbrook rounds up the landmark events, births, deaths and more...

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29 November

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28 November

On this day_Numbers_blue27

27 November

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26 November

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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…

Shoppers in Liverpool during the 1960s

Q&A Why is the shopping day after Thanksgiving called ‘Black Friday’?

Weetoomoo Carey, 8, left, and her sister Jackolynn Carey, 5, Wampanoag Nipmucs from Mashpee, looked across to the Mayflower replica anchored near Plymouth Rock, where Native Americans gathered for a day of mourning in counterpoint to the Pilgrims' Thanksgiving. (Photo by Suzanne Kreiter/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Q&A What and when is the National Day of Mourning in the United States?

Gaol fever illustration.

Q&A What is gaol fever and how was it caused and spread?

A modern fireworks display

General ancient history

Q&A How were fireworks made in ancient China?

Kirk Douglas And Burt Lancaster walk with gun drawn in a scene from the film 'Gunfight At The O.K. Corral', 1957. (Photo by Paramount Pictres/Getty Images)

Q&A Was the gunfight at the OK Corral a major gun battle?

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How did pasta come to Europe and when did it first become established in Italy?

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HistoryExtra Podcast

The latest episodes from the History Extra podcast

George Makari examines the history of xenophobia, and the surprising ways in which the term has evolved since the 19th century. (Image by Getty Images)

Stranger danger? Xenophobia’s unexpected history

Roderick Beaton explores 4,000 years of Greek history, on the HistoryExtra podcast. (Image by Getty Images)

How the Greeks changed the world

Dan Jones shares a ghost story from the Middle Ages and explains what it might tell us about medieval attitudes to the afterlife

Medieval ghost stories

A set of Tudor faces laid out on playing cards

Why the Tudors fell for courtly love

Dan Jones explores the similarities and differences between the medieval experience and our lives today. (Image by Getty Images)

The surprisingly modern Middle Ages

Public historians Helen Carr and Suzannah Lipscomb explore how we should make sense of studying the past in 2021

History in 2021, with Helen Carr and Suzannah Lipscomb

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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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History Quizzes

How much do you know about history? Test out your knowledge with our quizzes...

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

Richard III

57 history questions for your home pub quiz

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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20th Century

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Painting of Henry VIII

Henry VIII

Portrait of Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria

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)

Tutankhamun

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Photo of Mabel Capper and Patricia Woodlock advertising a meeting, Manchester, Lancashire, July 1908

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