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Portrait of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband and consort. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

8 fascinating facts about Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert

Mona Lisa heist: how do you steal the world’s most famous painting?

Charles II: Too randy to rule

Cillian Murphy stars in Peaky Blinders. (Photo by Alamy)

The real Peaky Blinders

Latest articles

Jane Austen

The new Jane Austen adaptation Sanditon airs in the UK on ITV on Sunday 25 August

Colour portrait of Jane Austen

8 things you (probably) didn’t know about Jane Austen

Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennet

Jane Austen’s tips for “health and happiness”

A portrait of the romantic novelist Jane Austen. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

The real reason Jane Austen never married

Romance and reality in Jane Austen’s world

Jane Austen and Tudor London

What did Jane Austen really look like?

Read more on Jane Austen

In the news

Today’s events in historical context…

Queen Victoria pictured c1862 during her period of mourning after the death of her husband, Albert, Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Prince Albert: the death that rocked the monarchy

Monument to Alexander von Humboldt

Books interview with Andrea Wulf: “Alexander von Humboldt is the forgotten father of environmentalism”

Addington and Napoleon facing each other across a narrow channel, from a caricature by James Gillray. Illustration from the magazine ‘The Graphic’, 9 July 1881. (Getty Images)

Britain and France: the best of enemies

Crowds flock to the beach at Hastings in August 1938. (Photo by Photo12/UIG/Getty Images)

Holiday revolution: We’re all going on a summer holiday

The history behind Peaky Blinders

How the real gangs of Birmingham, Glasgow and beyond inspire the hit BBC drama…

Billy Fullerton, gang chief of the Glasgow gang the Billy Boys

Who were the real Billy Boys, the Glasgow gang in Peaky Blinders?

The Kray brothers

The A-Z of gangs and gangsters

19th-century mugshots

The real Peaky Blinders

Aidan Turner as Ross Poldark. The BBC television drama is putting Cornwall’s coastline at risk of "over-tourism” as visitors flock to the area to visit the show's scenic filming locations, tourism chiefs have warned. (Photo by BBC/Mammoth Screen/Mike Hogan)

Poldark, Peaky Blinders and 6 other historical TV shows that have tourists flocking to Britain

History Extra Podcast

The latest episodes from the History Extra podcast

Babita Sharma

The corner shop revolution

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The origins of the Tudors

The Vietnam War podcast

The Vietnam War on film

Peterloo Massacre podcast.

Peterloo: the story of a massacre

Simon Sebag Montefiore on letters from history. (Photo by Dreamstime)

Letters that changed the world

Stonehenge

General prehistory

Britain’s key archaeological discoveries

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Trending in the US

Illustration of Isabella of France. From the book ‘Our Queen Mothers’ by Elizabeth Villiers. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Isabella of France: the rebel queen

"For those of noble birth who were condemned to die, execution by beheading (which was considered the least brutal method of execution) was used until the 18th century," says criminologist and historian Lizzie Seal. This illustration depicts the execution of Charles I in January 1649. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A brief history of capital punishment in Britain

A portrait of Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII's first wife. Henry and Catherine's marriage was a happy one, until their failure to produce a male heir began to cast a long shadow. (Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images)

Catherine of Aragon: Henry’s greatest queen

Da Vinci's sketch 'The Vitruvian Man'. Da Vinci's talents ranged from anatomy to military engineering, and many of his innovations were not explored further for several centuries. (Photo by: Photo12/UIG via Getty Images)

Leonardo da Vinci’s genius: 7 of his visions for the future

Read American history

Brexit

The history behind Britain’s decision to leave the European Union…

(Getty Images)

Why has Britain decided to leave the EU?

(Photo by Alamy)

Brexit lessons from history

(Illustration by Davide Bonazzi for BBC History Magazine)

The big question: has the European Union been a success?

“The anglocentric view we have of British history is unsustainable,” says Misha Glenny

Brexit and American independence

The reluctant Europeans

Latest articles

Clothes infected by the Black Death being burnt, c 1340. An illustration from the 'Romance of Alexander' in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

10 facts about the Black Death

Digitally restored vintage photo of the RMS Titantic departing Southampton on 10 April 1912. (Photo by John Parrot/Stocktrek Images via Getty Images)

10 facts about the Titanic

William Wallace on trial in 1305

William Wallace: who was the Scottish rebel who defied Edward I?

Richard III's Yorkist troops fight Lancastrians in the battle of Bosworth, during the Wars of the Roses, 22 August 1485. King Richard was killed by Henry of Richmond, who became Henry VII. Engraving after Philip James de Loutherbourg. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

10 things you need to know about the battle of Bosworth

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History Quizzes

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

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

Medieval quiz

A depiction of a witch on a broomstick. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

History quiz – Halloween

The results of the poll: 100 women who changed the world. (Photos by Getty Images/Alamy)

Quiz: 100 Women Who Changed The World

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Great Fire of London quiz – how much do you know?

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

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