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A 'Thanksgiving Greetings' postcard. (Photo by K.J. Historical/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

A brief history of Thanksgiving

Kings and Queens in profile: Queen Anne

The rise and fall of the Knights Templar

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A depiction of Robin Hood, the heroic archer in English folklore who supposedly robbed the rich and gave to the poor. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)

7 myths about Robin Hood

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In the news

Today’s events in historical context…

A thin section of the Great Wall of China near Beijing disappearing into the distant hills. (Photo by Eye Ubiquitous/UIG via Getty Images)

General ancient history

10 facts about the Great Wall of China

British prime minister Clement Attlee reading a document in his office, 27 July 1946. (Photo by Haywood Magee/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Attlee’s secret war with Stalin

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The First Thanksgiving in 1621, after a painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme; screen print, 1932. (Photo by GraphicaArtis/Getty Images)

7 things you might not know about the history of Thanksgiving

A photograph of Rudolph Hoess during his trial in Warsaw in 1947. (Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

Second World War

Auschwitz: the men behind the mass murder

The Library

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Nazi leader Adolf Hitler sits at a table facing a group of young uniformed National Socialists crowded into a small room in the 'Braune Haus' or Brown House, Munich, Germany, c1935. (Photo by Heinrich Hoffmann/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Second World War

The dark charisma of Adolf Hitler

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An illustration depicting medieval pilgrims. (Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Medieval tourism: pilgrimages and tourist destinations

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John and Jackie Kennedy shaking hands with a crowd. Jackie continued to fight her husband's corner after his death, says Mark White. (Photo by Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

JFK: style over substance?

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Our illustration shows Thomas Boleyn, whose flair for diplomacy and mastery of languages made him one of Henry VIII's most trusted ambassadors. (Illustration by Sean McSorley)

Thomas Boleyn: The father of the bride

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More from The Library

The Second World War

Everything you need to know...

The Pearl Harbour attack, 7 December 1941: sailors at the Naval Air Station, Ford Island, stand amid wreckage watching as the USS Shaw explodes in the centre background. The USS Nevada is also visible in the middle background, with her bow headed toward the left. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Second World War

The 11 most significant battles of the Second World War

The wrecked remains of an Allied glider that participated in Market Garden

Second World War

Arnhem: A disaster in the planning

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A Battle of Britain type 'scramble', circa 1940. An improved Spitfire is pushed onto the runway by a group of pilots from the squadron. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Second World War

The good war?

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

Second World War

Second World War: a timeline

British prime minister Winston Churchill delivering a speech at Westminster College that addressed the Communist threat in 1946, in which he uttered the now-famous phrase 'Iron Curtain'. (Photo by George Skadding/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Second World War

Churchill’s greatest speeches

Reinhard Heydrich’s brutality was shocking, even by Nazi standards. (Photo by ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

Second World War

Killing Hitler’s hangman: the dramatic story of Reinhard Heydrich’s assassination

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Read more on the Second World War

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Women's history

Circa 1565, The Queen of England, Elizabeth I (1533 - 1603), by Marc Gerrarts. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

The 10 best English queens in history

Female aviators Dorothy Spicer and Pauline Gower in a bungalow in Reading, 9 September 1931. Gower later became an officer of the Air Transport Auxiliary's No 5 Ferry Pilots Pool. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Second World War

When women flew Spitfires

Matilda_Flanders_main-ac63806

England’s Norman queens and the power they wielded: an interview with Alison Weir

Historians Joanne Paul, Olivette Otele and June Purvis dissect the results of our recent poll: 100 women who changed the world.

Video: 100 women who changed the world

Podcast Website large Sarah Jackson

Restoring women’s voices

From left to right: Queen Isabella of Castile; French regent Anne de Beaujeu; and Catherine of Aragon. (Photos by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/DeAgostini/Imagno/Getty Images)

Game of Queens: when women ruled Renaissance Europe

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More women's history

History Extra Podcast

The latest episodes from the History Extra podcast

Equestrian statue of Robert E. Lee, Richmond (Photo by Library of Congress)

Who should we commemorate?

A Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP) is approaching Omaha Beach, Normandy, France, 6th June 1944. (Photo by Galerie Bilderwelt/Getty Images)

Second World War

Tales from D-Day

Bernard Cornwell. (Photo by Felix Clay)

Bernard Cornwell on The Last Kingdom

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844–1900), German philosopher, 1934. (Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images)

Nietzsche’s dangerous ideas

Dan Snow on shell shock.

First World War

Dan Snow on shell shock

News of the end of World War I hostilities is joyfully received by the men of the 64th Regiment Infantry, 7th Division. Min de Jaueny, Moselle, France on November 11, 1918. (Photo by Bettmann/Getty Images)

First World War

The end of the First World War

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Latest articles

President John F Kennedy speaking at a press conference, c1963. (Photo by National Archive/Newsmakers)

What if JFK had lived?

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President John F Kennedy, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and Texas governor John Connally ride through the streets of Dallas, Texas, prior to the assassination of JFK, 22 November 1963. Included as an exhibit for the Warren Commission. (Photo by CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

The assassination of JFK: an eyewitness account

A fresco from the Villa of the Vettii in Pompeii. Painted before the catastrophic eruption of Versuvius, these frescoes were uncovered from beneath layers of volcanic ash and pumice. (Photo by In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images)

8 things you (probably) didn’t know about Pompeii

Princess Margaret attends the premiere of Captain Horatio Hornblower, Leicester Square, 1951. (Photo by Ron Burton/Keystone/Getty Images)

The Queen’s “rebel sister”: 8 facts about Princess Margaret

History Quizzes

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

The Romanovs, 1913: Nicholas II with his wife and children. (Photo by Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)

History quiz – The Romanovs

great fire 4

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

Second World War soldiers

Second World War

Second World War quiz

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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Popular historic periods

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

Tudor

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Henry VIII

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Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965) 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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Dockers unloading wine barrels

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

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