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Despite popular belief, Gladiatorial fighting was not the most popular entertainment in Ancient Rome. (Photo by Alamy)

10 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Romans

“Nothing could have gone off better”: the wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

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England’s migrant crisis

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The characters Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim, from Charles Dickens's work 'A Christmas Carol'. (Photo by Alamy/Mary Evans)

Did Charles Dickens invent Christmas as we know it today?

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Christmas

The history behind the festive holiday…

Three medieval carol singers, image dated 1911. (Photo by Chronicle/Alamy Stock Photo)

Christmas carols: the history behind 5 festive favourites

How did Henry VIII and Elizabeth I celebrate Yuletide? (Illustration by Becca Thorne for BBC History Magazine)

Tales from a Tudor Christmas

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'Merry Christmas' Victorian illustration of Santa Claus holding toys and blowing on a trumpet, chromolithograph, 1915. (Illustration by GraphicaArtis/Getty Images)

A brief history of Santa Claus

Tudor advent calendar

History advent calendar: 24 facts about Christmas in the Tudor period

Christmas merriment in an old English manor in the 1500s. (Photo by North Wind Picture Archives/Alamy)

How to host a medieval Christmas

British from the 11th Brigade 4th division and German soldiers at Ploegsteert in Belgium on Christmas Day 1914. (Photo by The Art Archive/Alamy)

First World War

Did the First World War Christmas truce football match really happen?

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Brexit

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

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The Library Why has Britain decided to leave the EU?

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(Illustration by Davide Bonazzi for BBC History Magazine)

The big question: Has the European Union been a success?

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

The reluctant Europeans

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EU referendum: how significant is Britain’s vote to leave? Historians debate

Simon Jenkins and Kathleen Burk on the history of Europe

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In the news

Today’s events in historical context…

Illustration by Femke de Jong

Does it always pay to trust the cash in your pockets?

Hampton Court Palace

Where history happened: a history of disability

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Medieval immigrants: moving to England in the Middle Ages

Wood engraving from The Graphic magazine features an illustration of a young man running with the ball during a football match on a grassy field, late 19th century. (Photo by Stock Montage/Getty Images)

5 facts about the history of football

Mary, Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I

As a new film Mary Queen of Scots, starring Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie, airs in the US

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

A c1610 portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots, a "charming and ill-fated woman brought down by forces beyond her control". (DeAgostini/Getty Images)

The Library The downfall of Mary, Queen of Scots

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The Library Elizabeth I's personality: the unfathomable queen

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What did Elizabeth I really look like at 60?

Elizabeth I: the great unifier

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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

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Charles II on the run

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

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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c1540, a portrait of King Henry VIII. An engraving by T A Dean from a painting by Hans Holbein. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

5 things you (probably) didn’t know about Henry VIII

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)

The Library Victoria and Albert: a marriage of misery?

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The Library

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A portrait of Anne Boleyn. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

The Library Did Anne Boleyn crave the crown?

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Our illustration shows King Arthur leading his troops into battle. The legendary warlord's victories over Saxon invaders first appear in a 'history' written in the ninth-century north Wales. (Illustration by Georgie Gozem for BBC History Magazine)

The Library The King Arthur delusion: a case of medieval fake news?

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Second World War

The Library Pivotal points of WWII

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Roman civilization, Relief portraying gladiators and lions fighting in circus

The Library Gladiators in Ancient Rome: how did they live and

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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

Christmas merriment in an old English manor in the 1500s. (Photo by North Wind Picture Archives/Alamy)

How to host a medieval Christmas

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

Queen Victoria’s children

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

Read American history

The Second World War

Everything you need to know...

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

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Second World War

Female flyers in Nazi Germany

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The 1993 film ‘Schindler’s List’. (AF Archive/Alamy Stock Photo)

Second World War

7 must-see Second World War films

Contrasting biographies of iconic leader Winston Churchill show how perceptions of historical figures change with the passing of time, says David Cannadine. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Second World War

The Library Why Churchill’s reputation is still on the line

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A mushroom cloud over Nagasaki after the dropping of the second atomic bomb, 9 August 1945. The dropping of the bomb prompted Japan to agree to surrender unconditionally, as it now seemed likely that the Americans could mount an inexorable process of bombing. (Photo by Time Life Pictures/Us Air Force/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Second World War

WW2 10 of the most important Second World War dates

A Royal Air Force fighter squadron 'scrambles' after receiving the signal to engage the enemy during the Battle of Britain. (Photo by William Vandivert/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Second World War

A brief history of the Royal Air Force

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Women's history

c1935: Beatrice Shilling sits astride her Norton motorcycle. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

5 “bloody brilliant” 20th-century women

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Restoring women’s voices

A fourth to fifth-century AD Roman mosaic shows a woman spinning. The household was considered a woman's natural environment; the political arena certainly was not. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

6 women who changed the course of Roman history

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

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

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?

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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?

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

Letters that changed the world

Malcolm X speaking at a rally, 29 June 1963.(Photo by Bettmann/Getty Images)

Black radicalism with Kehinde Andrews

Adam Zamoyski offers his views on the iconic French leader, Napoleon. (Photo by Imagno/Getty Images)

Napoleon: the insecure emperor

A poverty-stricken migrant mother with three young children by Dorothea Lange, colourised by Marina Amaral. (Photo courtesy of Head of Zeus)

History in colour

Sir Walter Raleigh, 1552–1618 (Photo by Getty Images)

Walter Ralegh: enemy of the state

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Latest articles

A 15th-century miniature from 'La Vraye Histoire du Bon Roy Alixandre'. (Photo by Leemage/Corbis via Getty Images)

6 Christmas party tips from the past

Britons watch Queen Elizabeth II’s Christmas message in 1958. (© Topfoto)

A brief history of the Christmas Speech

Shapes for pies from T Hall, The Queen's Royal Cookery, 1713.

The taste of Christmas past: 4 historical festive recipes

A group of carol singers on a wintry night at Christmas time, c1890. (Photo by William M. Spittle/Fine Art Photographic/Getty Images)

Christmas songs – the oldest ones are the best

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

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

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

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