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A painting depicting George Washington with British soldiers at Yorktown. In the final battle of the war at the siege of Yorktown, writes Jem Duducu, there were nearlyas many French soldiers and sailors as American rebels fighting for colonial independence. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

American history myths: 7 things people get wrong

The story of the Hurricane

Æthelflæd: iron lady of Mercia

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British prime minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street to attend PMQs, after she suffered a major defeat in parliament over her Brexit deal, 16 January 2019. (Photo by Alberto Pezzali/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The historical significance of Theresa May’s Brexit defeat

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Brexit

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

1st May 1975: Three documents, for and against, published for the referendum on the Common Market. The document 'Britain's New Deal in Europe' (centre) contains a recommendation by the government signed by prime minister Harold Wilson for Britain to stay in the Community. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

Britain decides: the first European referendum

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A half-hour history of Europe

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The Library Why has Britain decided to leave the EU?

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The Library The reluctant Europeans

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Ian Kershaw on postwar Europe

How Europe won the race to prosperity

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In the news

Today’s events in historical context…

A portrait of prime minister Lord Frederick North. His government was the first to be brought down by a vote of no confidence, in 1782. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)

Vote of no confidence: a brief history

Treaty Of Paris, 1783, by Benjamin West (Photo by Granger/REX/Shutterstock)

Brexit and American independence

Men enjoying a drink and a chat in a coffee house, 1674. Coffee houses became known as ‘schools of the wise’, where people would gossip, argue and discuss the breaking news of the day. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A drink for the devil: 8 facts about the history of coffee

While young ladies may have been daydreaming of handsome film stars such as Cary Grant, pictured here kissing the cheek of Ingrid Bergman in a publicity still for the 1946 film ‘Notorious’, agony aunts were keen to bring them back down to earth. (Photo by John Springer Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

How to be a man: tips from 1930s agony aunts

Queen Victoria

Season 3 of the hit drama Victoria is airing now in the US

Queen Victoria of Great Britain with her husband, Prince Albert, and their nine children. (Photo by Rischgitz/Getty Images)

Queen Victoria’s children

Lucy Worsley. (Photo by David Levenson/Getty Images)

Queen Victoria by Lucy Worsley

Portrait of a young Queen Victoria, c1850, by F Winterhalter. (Photo by Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images)

7 things you (probably) didn’t know about Queen Victoria

A portrait of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert with five of their nine children, by Frederick Winterhalter. (Photo by © Historical Picture Archive/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

Victoria and Albert: a marriage of misery?

Queen Victoria. (Photo by Robert Alexander/Getty Images)

Queen Victoria timeline: 9 milestones in the monarch’s life

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Queen Victoria behind closed doors

English cavalry attacking the Sikh at the Battle of Aliwal

Victoria the warrior queen

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Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

Love before Albert: Queen Victoria’s suitors

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The mourning of Queen Victoria

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Queen Victoria with her children and grandchildren

The marriages of Queen Victoria’s grandchildren

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Queen Anne, based on a work by Sir Godfrey Kneller, c1702–10. Anne's reign saw women take centre stage in fierce political debates. (Photo by Bridgeman/National Trust Photographic Library)

The Library Queen Anne's feuding favourites

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Politician and novelist Benjamin Disraeli was twice prime minister, and extended suffrage by introducing the 1867 Reform Act. (Photo by Jabez Hughes/Getty Images)

The Library My history hero: Jacob Rees-Mogg chooses Benjamin Disraeli

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West Indian immigrants arrive at Victoria Station, London, following their journey from Southampton Docks. Originally published in ‘Picture Post’, 1956. (Photo by Haywood Magee/Getty Images)

The Library Clair Wills on immigrants

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The brilliance of Henry James

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History Extra Podcast

The latest episodes from the History Extra podcast

Mary Queen of Scots, after Nicholas Hilliard, 16th century, National Portrait Gallery, London. (Photo by SuperStock)

Mary, Queen of Scots’ tragic life

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British History – the turning points

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Olivia Colman as Queen Anne in the film The Favourite, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. (Photo by Alamy)

The true history of The Favourite

Max Adams. (Photo by Kona Macphee/Royal Literary Fund)

Remarkable women through history

Dramatic view of the sun setting over a megalithic tomb and stone circle. (Dreamstime)

Egypt’s lost tombs

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First World War

First World War special

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Trending in the US

Queen Victoria of Great Britain with her husband, Prince Albert, and their nine children. (Photo by Rischgitz/Getty Images)

Queen Victoria’s children

Queen Anne, based on a work by Sir Godfrey Kneller, c1702–10. Anne's reign saw women take centre stage in fierce political debates. (Photo by Bridgeman/National Trust Photographic Library)

The Library Queen Anne's feuding favourites

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A portrait of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert with five of their nine children, by Frederick Winterhalter. (Photo by © Historical Picture Archive/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

Victoria and Albert: a marriage of misery?

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

Read American history

Mary, Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I

As we eagerly await the release of Mary Queen of Scots in UK cinemas on 18 January…

The British poster for 'Mary, Queen of Scots' (2018). Margot Robbie as Queen Elizabeth I and Saoirse Ronan as Mary Stuart. (© Focus Features / courtesy Everett Collection)

Did Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots really meet?

Mary, Queen of Scots craved the throne occupied by her cousin Elizabeth I (pictured). Theirs was a relationship defined by plots, massacres, assassinations and ultimately, the executioner's sword. (Photo by Robert Alexander/Getty Images)

Deadly Rivals: Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots

Mary Queen of Scots, after Nicholas Hilliard, 16th century, National Portrait Gallery, London. (Photo by SuperStock)

Mary, Queen of Scots’ tragic life

The Library The downfall of Mary, Queen of Scots

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Inside the mind of Elizabeth I

The Library Elizabeth I: the great unifier

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Queen Anne and her favourites

As The Favourite arrives in UK cinemas…

Sir Godfrey Kneller's portrait of Anne Stuart. Following the 1707 Acts of Union, she would be queen of Great Britain and Ireland. (Photo by Getty Images)

“A charming, popular monarch”: Tracy Borman on Queen Anne

Olivia Colman as Queen Anne in 'The Favourite'. (Photo by Twentieth Century Fox/Entertainment Pictures)

The Favourite: the real history behind the new Queen Anne film

Anne, queen of Great Britain and Ireland from 1702. (Photo12/UIG via Getty Images)

In profile: Queen Anne

Queen Anne, based on a work by Sir Godfrey Kneller, c1702–10. Anne's reign saw women take centre stage in fierce political debates. (Photo by Bridgeman/National Trust Photographic Library)

The Library Queen Anne's feuding favourites

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Kings and queens

Ahead of our Kings and Queens Weekend in March 2019…

BBC History Magazine's Kings and Queens Weekend, March 2019

Kings and Queens Weekend 2–3 March 2019

A portrait of Charles II wearing the robes of the Order of the Garter. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

The Library Charles II: the people’s prince

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Robert the Bruce, famous for beating the English army of Edward II despite having far fewer troops, is commemorated at the 1314 battleground in Bannockburn. (Dreamstime)

Robert the Bruce: champion of Scotland or murderous usurper?

A portrait of the young Elizabeth I. (Photo by Art Collection 2/Alamy Stock Photo)

The Library Elizabeth I's personality: the unfathomable queen

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Mary, Queen of Scots (reigned 1542–67) was “absolutely useless as queen of Scotland”, says historian Sean Lang. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

9 of the worst monarchs in history

Thomas Sully's portrait of Queen Victoria in 1838, the year after she ascended the throne. (Photo by Bridgeman Art Library)

The young Queen Victoria’s struggle to gain the throne

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The Second World War

Everything you need to know...

Atomic bomb damage in the city of Hiroshima, 1945. The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 “razed and burnt around 70 per cent of all buildings”, according to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Second World War

Was the US justified in dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the Second World War? You debate

Charles Cundall’s painting ‘The Withdrawal From Dunkirk, June 1940’. (Photo by IWM via Getty Images)

Second World War

9 things you (probably) didn’t know about Dunkirk

German soldiers with a horse-drawn cart during the retreat from Ukraine in 1943. The idea of Teutonic efficiency was a triumph of Nazi spin, says James Holland. (Keystone/Getty Images)

Second World War

The Library The great misconceptions of the Second World War

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Paddy Ashdown. (Photo by Alamy)

Second World War

The Germans who fought Hitler

Hawker Hurricane in flight, Battle of Britain, World War II, 1940. A Hawker Hurricane of Fighter Command on its way to intercept German bombers as they crossed the south coast of England. Fought between 10 July and 31 October 1940, the Battle of Britain was the first major battle to be won in the air. The RAF's victory in the battle effectively prevented the Germans from attempting an invasion. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Second World War

6 Battle of Britain myths

A woman is carried away on a stretcher following a German bombing raid on London, c1940. (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Second World War

The dangers of the Blitz spirit

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Women's history

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100 Women Who Changed the World: the results

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

Max Adams. (Photo by Kona Macphee/Royal Literary Fund)

Remarkable women through history

English countrywoman (right) with a lady of the court. From ‘Civitates Orbis Terrarum’, 1572. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Tudor women: what was life like?

Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, supervises the removal of fittings from a room at Kensington Palace, which she had occupied as lady in waiting to Queen Anne of England. The wife of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, and a trusted confidante to Queen Anne, she was politically highly influential until her dismissal in 1711. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

5 women who challenged the Westminster boys’ club in the 18th century

A century since women's suffrage. (Illustration by Eleanor Shakespeare for BBC History Magazine)

The Library Female suffrage: A century for women?

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More women's history

Latest articles

Prohibition protesters parade in a car emblazoned with signs and flags calling for the repeal of the 18th Amendment, which outlawed the production and consumption of alcohol in the United States. (Archive Photos/Getty Images)

“A great social experiment”: your guide to prohibition

King Henry VII of England. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images)

Speaker Q&A Nathen Amin on Henry VII

"With this ring..." A young couple say their vows in c1860, watched by bridesmaids and a clergyman – but much about Victorian weddings wasn't quite so familiar. (Photo by London Stereoscopic Company/Getty Images)

How to celebrate a Victorian wedding

Elizabeth I, shown in a portrait commemorating victory over the Armada. (Photo by Photo 12/UIG via Getty Images)

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

History Quizzes

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

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Christmas history quiz 2018

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

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

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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)

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