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The capture of Jerusalem in 1099

On this day in 1099: how the First Crusade captured Jerusalem

Plague, famine and sudden death: 10 dangers of the medieval period

Second World War

The real history that inspired WW2 film Greyhound

The Duke and Duchess of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson, during their first visit to England after the Duke's abdication, September 1939. (Photo by Getty Images)

Edward VIII, Wallis Simpson and the Abdication crisis

Paris rejects the red flag on 25 February 1848. Found in the Collection of Musée Carnavalet, Paris. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

The death of a dream: why Europe’s great year of revolution in 1848 failed

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Today’s events in historical context…

c1656: A plague doctor in protective clothing. The beak mask held spices thought to purify air, while the wand was used to avoid touching patients. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Q&A Why did 17th-century plague doctors wear peculiar beaked masks?

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

Q&A Who was St Swithin?

'Tippoo's Tiger', made for Tipu Sultan. (Photo by Alamy)

General ancient history

Museums and colonialism

A portrait of Alexander Hamilton by John Trumbull, 1806. (Photo by IanDagnall Computing/Alamy Stock Photo)

The dark side of Alexander Hamilton

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The Battle of Britain

Described by prime minister Winston Churchill as the RAF's finest hour, the Battle of Britain (10 July – 31 October 1940) was the first major military campaign in history to be fought entirely in the air. As we mark the 80th anniversary of the campaign, we bring you everything you wanted to know…

German Heinkel HE-111 bombers fly over Britain during a mission in September 1940

Second World War

8 reasons why the Luftwaffe didn’t stand a chance of beating the RAF in the Battle of Britain

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Second World War

The Battle of Britain

A group of fighter pilots of No. 32 Squadron relax beside their Hawker Hurricane Mk I fighters at RAF Hawkinge in July 1940

Second World War

The Few: who exactly were the heroes of the Battle of Britain?

A Hawker Hurricane of Fighter Command on its way to intercept German bombers as they crossed the south coast of England during the Battle of Britain, 1940. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Second World War

6 Battle of Britain myths

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Second World War

Days of destiny: 5 key dates in the Battle of Britain

A Hawker Hurricane in flight over Britain

Second World War

Your guide to the Battle of Britain: how the RAF turned back the Luftwaffe

Read more about the Second World War

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…

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?

John Wilkes Booth leans forward to shoot President Abraham Lincoln as he watches a play at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C, in 1865.

Q&A What play was Abraham Lincoln watching when he was shot?

'The Landing of St Augustine in Kent', AD 597

General ancient history

Q&A When did Christianity first arrive in Britain?

Read more answers from the experts

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HistoryExtra Podcast

The latest episodes from the History Extra podcast

Portrait head of Roman Emperor Nero circa AD 59-64. (Photo by Alamy)

Nero: Rome’s Antichrist?

President Kennedy gives a televised speech, 22 October 1962. (Photo by Getty Images)

Everything you ever wanted to know about the Cuban Missile Crisis, but were afraid to ask

Stained glass window of King Alfred the Great

Exclusive podcast The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles

Wolfson Prize winner 2020 David Abulafia. (Photo by Fran Monks)

Exclusive podcast David Abulafia on The Boundless Sea

Huge sun setting over power lines and palm trees in California. (Photo by Getty Images)

California’s century of change

The bronze equestrian statue of Robert the Bruce looks out over the site of the Battle of Bannockburn, Stirling, where the Scottish fought for their independence from the English in 1314. (Photo by Getty Images)

Everything you ever wanted to know about the Scottish Wars of Independence, but were afraid to ask

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Trending in the US

A portrait of Henry VIII

The surprising place where Henry VIII is buried

Swastika on a lotus background

Second World War

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

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

The ship ‘Jesus of Lübeck’ was used in John Hawkins’ infamous early slaving voyages, some of which were sponsored by Elizabeth I. (Image by Alamy)

Were there slaves in Elizabethan England?

Picture galleries

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

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

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

Latest articles

Portrait of founding father Alexander Hamilton by John Trumbull, c1806. (Photo by National Gallery Of Art/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images)

Your guide to Alexander Hamilton, plus 6 fascinating facts about the founding father

Portrait of Anne of Cleves

Anne of Cleves: Henry VIII’s most successful queen?

York Minster's rose window features 16th-century Tudor Roses white on red (left) and Lancastrian Roses, red

A brief history of the English rose

Left: Hungarian Jews arrive at Auschwitz-Birkenau, in German-occupied Poland, in June 1944. Between May and July that year, more than 430,000 Hungarian Jews were deported to the camp complex. Right: Prisoners at Dachau celebrate the liberation of the camp by US soldiers on 29 April 1945. The camp was used again after the war to house SS personnel awaiting trial, and then German refugees. (Photos by Getty Images and Alamy)

Second World War

Aftermath of the Holocaust: how Europe dealt with the crimes of the Third Reich

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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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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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Painting of Henry VIII

Henry VIII

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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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