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Holbein's portrait of Edward VI

The forgotten Tudor king: why Edward VI had the makings of a monster

To kill the cabinet: the Cato Street Conspiracy

Q&A Did Roman men dodge their military service?

The rise of Hitler. (Photo by Getty Images)

Second World War

The rise of Hitler

US academic Deborah Lipstadt exults the High Court in London after winning a libel case brought against her by British historian David Irving, 11 April 2000. (Photo by Martyn Hayhow/AFP/Getty Images)

Second World War

Holocaust denial on trial: the story of Irving v Lipstadt

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In the news

Today’s events in historical context…

The effects of the disease known as the Black Death

Black Death quarantine: how did we try to contain the most deadly disease in history?

British spy writer Ian Fleming at his home, Goldeneye, in Jamaica. (Photo by Harry Benson/Express Newspapers/Getty Images)

The man behind James Bond

Three monarchs who stepped down through history: Kaiser Wilhem II; Anne of Cleves; and James VII and II. (Images by Getty)

Retiring royals: 9 rulers and royals who stepped down through history

Democratic presidential candidates Birch Bayh, Jimmy Carter, Fred R Harris, Milton Shapp take on the press during the Iowa Democratic Caucus on 11 January 1976. (Photo by NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)

A brief history of the US Democratic Party

LGBT history

February marks LGBT+ History Month in the UK...

The police attempt to quell the crowd, and succeed only in inciting more violence. (Photo by NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)

The Stonewall Riots: the flashpoint that launched the gay rights movement in the US

An Athenian red-figure kylix (cup) dating from around 510–500 BC depicts a young pentathlete pulling his older lover towards him for a kiss. In many of the city-states of ancient Greece, sex between a man and a youth was an accepted – even idealised – form of love, its virtues extolled in works by writers including Plato. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

General ancient history

Pride and prejudice: same-sex relations through history

Gentleman Jack, Suranne Jones as Anne Lister (Photo by BBC/Lookout Point/Jay Brooks)

Gentleman Jack

A Campaign for Homosexual Equality rally held in London’s Trafalgar Square in 1974. The Sexual Offences Act of 1967 helped pave the way for activism such as this in the 1970s, says Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite. (Corbis via Getty Images)

The 1967 Sexual Offences Act: a landmark moment in the history of British homosexuality

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HistoryExtra Podcast

The latest episodes from the History Extra podcast

Michael Wood at BBC History Magazine's History Weekend in Chester (Photo byVictoria Tetley / VJT Photography)

Michael Wood on the Peterloo photograph

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The origins of the Tudors

The Vietnam War podcast

The Vietnam War on film

The ruins of Dresden after the bombing by Allied forces in early 1945. (Photo by Getty Images)

Second World War

The bombing of Dresden

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

Letters that changed the world

Andrew Roberts (Photo by Helen Atkinson)

Secrets of war leadership

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Trending in the US

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

King George VI and his eldest daughter, Elizabeth

The death of King George VI: what happened?

Elizabeth I, shown in a portrait commemorating victory over the Armada

7 things you (probably) didn’t know about Elizabeth I

Princess Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth II, with her husband Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, after their marriage in 1947. (Corbis via Getty Images)

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip: 8 milestones in their marriage

Picture galleries

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

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

A man attacks the Berlin Wall with a pickaxe on the night of November 9th, 1989 as news spread rapidly that the East German Government would now start granting exit visas to anyone who wanted to go to the West. The announcement was misinterpreted as meaning the border was now open and East German border guards were unable to stop the rush of people to the Wall. Within hours people were smashing sections of the Wall with their own hand tools and these first cracks in the Wall led to the complete opening of the border within days. (Photo by robert wallis/Corbis via Getty Images)

In pictures: remembering the Berlin Wall 30 years on

A real Peaky Blinder mug-shot

In pictures: what did the real Peaky Blinders look like?

Latest articles

Confronting Holocaust Denial with David Baddiel (Image by Wall to Wall Media/Laurence Turnbull)

Confronting Holocaust denial: “History is more of a battleground now than ever” says David Baddiel

American athlete Jesse Owens and German long-jumper Carl Ludwig 'Luz' Long.

5 acts of kindness that changed history

Rosa Parks being fingerprinted after her arrest

Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat: what happened next?

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor playing Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII in the 1963 film, Cleopatra. (Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)

The 7 best couples in history

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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)

Halloween history quiz: test your knowledge

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

Quiz: 100 Women Who Changed The World

great fire 4

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

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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

Medieval

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Victorian

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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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Dockers unloading wine barrels

Social history

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

Women's history

Illustration of a couple

Sex and love

The charge of the light, battle illustration

Military history

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