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Colourised print of the Lighthouse of Alexandria as imagined in the 18th century

General ancient history

The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World: what were they, and what happened to them?

General ancient history

Your guide to... the Silk Road

Everything you ever wanted to know about the American Civil War, but were afraid to ask

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Documents that changed the world

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?

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In the news

Today’s events in historical context…

This photo dated 1948 shows the devastated city of Hiroshima some three years after the US dropped an atomic bomb on the city on 6 August 1945, at the end of World War 2. Around 140,000 people, or more than half of Hiroshima's population at the time, died in the first atomic bombing – with another 70,000 people perishing in the bomb dropped over Nagasaki 9 August 1945. (Photo credit should read AFP/AFP/Getty Images)

Second World War

In pictures: the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Stonehenge: Not a henge, but certainly a stone circle, and a very long-lived centre of human activity. (Getty Images)

General ancient history

Stonehenge mystery solved: where do the large stones come from?

(Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Why was there a backlash against face masks during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918?

In need of some summer reading inspiration? Check out our list of favourite biographies, era-spanning epics and much else besides. (Photo by Goodluz/Alamy Stock Photo)

Summer reads 2020: the best history books to take on holiday (or staycation)

What's history's greatest mystery?

We count down the top five of our History’s Greatest Mysteries poll…

Stonehenge

General ancient history

History’s greatest mysteries Stonehenge

A replica of Jesus' tomb. (Photo by Alamy)

General ancient history

History’s greatest mysteries The fate of Jesus's body

A c1590 map of English settlers landing at Roanoke Island. (Photo by Alamy)

History’s greatest mysteries The lost colony of Roanoke Island

The Voynich Manuscript is written in a unique alphabet that has thus far defeated some of the world’s greatest codebreakers. (Photo by Alamy)

History’s greatest mysteries The Voynich Manuscript

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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…

King Arthur and his knights return to Camelot (Photo by: Christophel Fine Art/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Q&A Where was Camelot?

St Swithin (or Swithun). (Image by Alamy)

Q&A Who was St Swithin?

Winston Churchill gives his famous v-sign. (Photo by Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Second World War

From Winston Churchill to the Bengal famine: are we in denial about our role in WW2?

Anne Boleyn (left) and her daughter, Elizabeth I. (Photos by Getty Images)

What did Elizabeth I think of her mother, Anne Boleyn? Historian Tracy Borman explains

What was a drunkard's cloak used for? This illustration shows a man wearing the archaic punishment tool designed to punish habitual drinkers. (Photo by Getty Images)

Q&A What was a drunkard’s cloak used for?

A calendar

Q&A Where do the names for days of the week come from?

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HistoryExtra Podcast

The latest episodes from the History Extra podcast

Historian Janina Ramirez

Exclusive podcast Janina Ramirez on extraordinary medieval women

Fasil Ghebbi, a 17th-century fortress city in Gondar, Ethiopia. (Photo by Getty Images)

Peter Frankopan on global history in 2020

Brothers in arms Louis IX on his way to the Seventh Crusade, 1248. The French king kept his three brothers onside – preventing any potential family infighting – by providing them with huge lordships. (Photo by Leemage/Corbis via Getty Images)

Medieval dynasties: how to stay on the throne

Tholos of Delphi in Greece. (Photo by Dreamstime)

Everything you ever wanted to know about ancient Greece, but were afraid to ask

King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain, 1469. (Photo by Getty Images)

Everything you ever wanted to know about medieval queens, but were afraid to ask

Historian Lauren Johnson

Exclusive podcast Lauren Johnson on the life and death of Henry VI

View all podcasts

Trending in the US

A 16th-century painting of the Tower of Babel

General ancient history

Your guide to... the ancient city of Babylon

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?

Alexander the Great

Where is Alexander the Great buried? And other questions about his death…

AFS firemen tackle a blitz fire amidst the rubble surrounding St Paul's Cathedral, London. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Second World War

Your guide to the Blitz, plus 9 places affected by the bombings

Picture galleries

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

VE Day revellers blowing party trumpets

Second World War

In pictures: jubilant VE Day street party celebrations

Keith Granville, managing director of BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation), holding a model of the Boeing 747 jet, with the new aircraft hangars under construction in the background, at Heathrow Airport, 17 March 1969. (Photo by Jim Gray/Keystone/Getty Images)

In pictures: the history of London’s Heathrow Airport

A family at the seaside in the 1960s.

In pictures: English life in the 1960s, photographed by Tony Ray-Jones

Figure of Tutankhamun

In pictures: the glittering treasures of Tutankhamun

Latest articles

An engraving of Margaret Tudor

The forgotten Tudor: Margaret Tudor, sister of Henry VIII

A bust of Roman dictator Julius Caesar

Your guide to Julius Caesar, the Roman general and dictator

Harlots. (Photo by Liam Daniel/BBC)

History TV and radio in the UK: what’s on our screens in August 2020?

A medieval king dining

Pig-chickens, beavers’ tails and turtle soup: 8 fascinating foods through history

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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

Elizabeth I

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

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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Popular historic periods

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

Tudor

Illustrated Medieval scene from the Romance of Lancelot

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20th Century

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Popular people from history

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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Social history

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

Women's history

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Sex and love

The charge of the light, battle illustration

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