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Periodic outbreaks of smog would continue for several years – this image shows a London street in late 1953. (Image by Getty Images)

The Great Smog of London: what caused the 1952 crisis?

BBC History Magazine's 2022 Books of the Year 21 best books for history lovers

When and why did the Soviet Union fall? Your history guide to the USSR

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Pod Kate Mosse WL

General History

Warrior queens & quiet revolutionaries: forgotten women from history . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Young woman sitting besides christmas present, smiling, portrait

20 Christmas gift ideas for history lovers

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Behind the news

Russian civil war, 1919

General History

Russia-Ukraine crisis: 9 milestone moments in history that explain today’s invasion

Britain’s harsh winter of 1880–81 depicted as the start of a new ice age, by contemporary cartoonist George du Maurier (Photo by Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

Out of the cold: the slow beginnings of climate change science

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Pod Matthew Taylor WL

World Cup history: everything you wanted to know . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Argentinian midfielder Mario Kempes celebrates a goal in the 1978 football World Cup final between hosts Argentina and Netherlands

Sportswashing: a historical perspective on a current trend

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A medieval depiction of the festival of Candlemas

Medieval church calendar A guide to the holy days

Queen Victoria c1870

What did Queen Victoria really look like?

Anne Boleyn, who was executed by beheading on 19 May 1536 after being found guilty of high treason, was said to have had

The final days of Anne Boleyn: why did she die?

Swastika on a lotus background

Second World War

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

On this day in history

What happened on this day in the past? We round up the landmark events, births, deaths and more...

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6 December

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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…

Perhaps the most charming idea about the origins of the festive tradition of kissing under the mistletoe derives from a Viking myth of Frigg, goddess of love and marriage, and her ill-fated son Balder. (Photo by Jurg Waldmeier/StockFood Creative/Getty Images Plus)

Q&A Why do we kiss under the mistletoe?

Clinic at the School of Dentistry, Paris, 1892. A female student treating a patient under supervision. (Photo by Oxford Science Archive/Print Collector/Getty Images)

General History

Q&A What are the roots of dentistry?

Prime minister and king in black and white photo

General History

Q&A Prior to 2022, has there ever been a new monarch and prime minister in Britain in the same week?

An etching of a 17th-century coal merchant. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)

Industrial revolution

Q&A Why do we say ‘get the sack’?

Photo of Ginger Rogers

Q&A When did people start wearing sunglasses?

Illustration showing woman receiving a caesarean section

General History

Q&A What are the origins of the caesarean section?

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HistoryExtra Podcast

The latest episodes from the History Extra podcast

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Sixties counterculture: everything you wanted to know . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Books of the year 2022 . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Debtors’ prisons: Dickensian horrors or economic successes? . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Dark Age bullies & forgotten kingdoms: busting early medieval myths . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Enslavement, separation & survival: the story of “Ashley’s sack” . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Surgical history: everything you wanted to know . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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American actress Charlotte Cushman and Matilda Hayes

How Georgian and Victorian same-sex couples co-opted marital traditions and made them their own

John Brown leading Queen Victoria on a horse.

Queen Victoria and John Brown: the controversial relationship between sovereign and servant

Pat Smith of Mari Arts and the Mari Lwyd (Photo by Western Mail Archive/Mirrorpix/Getty Images)

General History

Welsh Christmas traditions through history

The British Commonwealth of Nations - Together Poster (Photo by Swim Ink 2, LLC/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

Why we should remember… The Statute of Westminster

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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 history quiz

Front door of No 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the British prime minister

General History

Quiz British prime ministers

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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Illustrated Medieval scene from the Romance of Lancelot

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20th Century

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Painting of Henry VIII

Henry VIII

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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

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

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