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Martin Luther King waves to supporters on the Mall in Washington DC during the March on Washington, 28 August 1963. (Photo by AFP/Getty Images)

Martin Luther King’s unfinished dream: the historians’ view

In profile: Prince Philip

The decline and fall of the British Empire

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

Brexit and American independence

Latest articles

Martin Luther King

As America marks Martin Luther King Jr Day on 21 January…

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The global legacy of Martin Luther King

Civil rights leader Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King: A drum major for justice

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Rosa Parks rides an integrated bus

From Rosa Parks to Martin Luther King: the boycott that inspired the dream

Black American civil rights leader Martin Luther King (1929 - 1968) addresses crowds during the March On Washington at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC, where he gave his 'I Have A Dream' speech. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)

Is Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ the greatest speech in history?

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In the news

Today’s events in historical context…

Clay soldier statues of the Chinese Qin dynasty. (Photo by Getty Images)

General ancient history

The six ages of China

Miniature from an Apocalypse of Cambrai depicting the opening of the sixth seal: an earthquake occurs and the sun becomes black. Municipal library, Cambrai, France. (Photo by Leemage/Corbis via Getty Images)

General ancient history

Written in the stars: 7 celestial events that may have changed history

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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

Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II) and her fiance, Philip Mountbatten at Buckingham Palace, after their engagement was announced, 10th July 1947. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Prince Philip: a life of duty and devotion

Queen Victoria

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

As Queen Victoria ended the 19th century, she was not her usual self. She was visibly fading: her voracious appetite had disappeared and she had lost almost half her body weight. (Photo by Time Life Pictures/Mansell/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

The final days of Queen Victoria

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Victoria the matchmaker

In December 2018, the BBC's 'Victoria and Albert: The Royal Wedding' will restage the wedding of Queen Victoria and her beloved Prince Albert. (Image Credit:
BBC)

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

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

Queen Victoria’s children

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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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

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

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

Left: Historian Lucy Worsley at Kensington Palace, the childhood home of Queen Victoria, ahead of her interview for the History Extra podcast. Right: Queen Victoria sits for a portrait photograph. (Photo by W&D Downey via Getty Images)

Lucy Worsley on Queen Victoria: your questions answered

"Queen Victoria was more than just a token ruler of India. Passionately interested in its people and culture, she intervened frequently in Indian politics," says Miles Taylor. (Photo by Time Life Pictures/Mansell/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Queen Victoria’s Indians

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Queen Victoria with her daughter Princess Beatrice at Balmoral Castle. Dogs seem to have been Victoria's favourite animal, writes Richard Sugg. (De Agostini Picture Library)

Queen Victoria’s animals and pets

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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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The Saint-Quentin canal, part of the Germans’ Hindenburg Line, which the Allies broke through on Sunday 29 September 1918. (Photo by 2nd Lt. D McLellan/ IWM via Getty Images)

First World War

Why didn’t the Allies march on Berlin in 1918?

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Illustration by Femke De Jong

The medieval longing for the good old days

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Portrait of a young Queen Victoria, c1850, by F Winterhalter

The killing of Queen Victoria’s personal chef

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Mary, Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I

As Mary Queen of Scots is released in UK cinemas…

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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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

Mary, Queen of Scots: the real history behind the new film

Inside the mind of Elizabeth I

The Library Elizabeth I: the great unifier

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History Extra Podcast

The latest episodes from the History Extra podcast

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The story of the Hurricane

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Medieval petitions and 17th-century astronomers

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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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Voices of the Cold War

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Brexit

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

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

(Photo by David Hampton)

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

The Library How Europe won the race to prosperity

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Trending in the US

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

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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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

The funeral procession of Queen Victoria. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

History on film: Queen Victoria’s funeral

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Read American history

Queen Anne and her favourites

Everything you need to know about the last Stuart monarch and The Favourite, the new film set in Queen Anne's court…

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 statue of Robert the Bruce Statue at Stirling Castle, Scotland. (Dreamstime)

The battle of Bannockburn: Robert Bruce’s fight for freedom

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Charles II and his parties

Charles II: Too randy to rule

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Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

Love before Albert: Queen Victoria’s suitors

King William II is often overshadowed by his Norman father, William the Conqueror. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

7 forgotten monarchs

This c1610 painting shows an elderly Elizabeth. The queen used "gems and pearls" to divert attention from her decaying body, says Anna Whitelock. (The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

The Library Elizabeth I: the monarch behind the mask

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More kings and queens history

The Second World War

Everything you need to know...

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

Second World War

7 must-see Second World War films

The maquis du Vercors were a rural group of French resistance fighters who converged on the Vercors plateau in south-east France. (Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

Second World War

The cruel victory: Paddy Ashdown on the French resistance during the Second World War

In his last official photo, Adolf Hitler leaves the safety of his bunker to award decorations to members of Hitler Youth. (Photo by Keystone Features/Getty Images)

Second World War

Why did the Nazis fight to the death?

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An aerial view showing the courtroom during the Nuremberg Trials, November 1945. (Photo by Walter Sanders/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Second World War

Forgotten trials: the other side of Nuremberg

The Pearl Harbour attack, 7 December 1941: sailors at the Naval Air Station, Ford Island, stand amid wreckage watching as the USS Shaw explodes in the centre background. The USS Nevada is also visible in the middle background, with her bow headed toward the left. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Second World War

The 11 most significant battles of the Second World War

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Second World War

The Library Pivotal points of WWII

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Women's history

Pragmatist or heartless? A portrait of the young Elizabeth Woodville (1437-1492). The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

The power behind the throne: women in the Wars of the Roses

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100 women who changed the world

Woodcut of a woman who may be stoking a furnace or baking bread, printed in the 15th century. (SSPL/Getty Images)

What was life like for a medieval housewife?

Top ( l-r) Agrippina the Elder, Julia, and Livia. Bottom (l-r) Messalina and Agrippina the Younger

The women who built the Roman Empire

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Vienna Plague Hospital, 1679. (Getty Images)

The Library Women of the plague

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Two members of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps find another use for discarded helmets in France during the First World War. (Alamy)

First World War

Female Tommies: women in the First World War

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Latest articles

Elizabeth of York has been overshadowed by more vigorous, proactive queens – unfairly so, in the eyes of Alison Weir. (Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Elizabeth of York: a Tudor of rare talent

Heck cows, the result of Nazi breeding experiments. Seven Heck cows had to be put down in January 2015 after they tried, on multiple occasions, to attack Devon farmer Derek Gow. (Photo by Jim Wileman/Alamy Stock Photo)

Nazi super-cows and defamed Gods: 7 strange and forgotten moments in history

A 19th-century illustration showing interior of the House Commons while in session. (Photo by Time Life Pictures/Mansell/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

9 things you didn’t know about the history of parliament

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?

History Quizzes

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

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

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