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Portrait of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII

Anne Boleyn: your guide to the life and death of Henry VIII's second queen – plus 11 little-known facts

Composite image of famous women: Cleopatra, Marie Curie, Mary Wollstonecraft, Madame CJ Walker, Jane Austen, Emmeline Pankhurst, Ethel Smyth, the Virgin Mary, Rosa Parks, Frida Kahlo, Diana, Princess of Wales, Amelia Earhart.

100 women who changed the world

The unification of Italy: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Hand-coloured engraving of someone being tortured on the wheel.

Stretched, crushed and impaled10 shocking torture methods from medieval history

On this day in history

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

19 May

18 May

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16 May

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From the podcast

Incredible historical stories from the recent episodes of the HistoryExtra podcast

John Kennedy and Barry Goldwater

Was JFK about to be re-elected? An expert weighs in on the president's lost second term

Illustration of soldiers in medieval armour killing peasant women

Why it was more dangerous to steal a loaf of bread than commit murder in medieval England

Engraving of a man standing behind a large dog

General ancient history

The ancient Mesopotamian civilisation’s weirdest job? Meet the veterinary exorcist

Portrait of James III of Scotland

This medieval king was hunted down and brutally murdered — and we still don’t know who killed him

A penis depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry

“I counted the penises in the Bayeux Tapestry and I have no regrets”: what one Oxford professor found when he studied the rudest bits of the embroidery

A hand holding a knife with a rose blooming from the handle

‘She didn’t cry’: how this Tudor woman’s lack of emotion condemned her to death

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Michael Wood on amazing insights into medieval daily life. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

9 May

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer holds a photo of a WW2 veteran as they talk at No 10's VE Day street party

Second World War

“A reminder of my responsibility to ensure the peace we’ve enjoyed for 80 years continues”: Sir Keir Starmer on VE Day

A black and white photo of a line of young people doing the conga around a bonfire

"We sang, we danced and we all held hands": celebrating VE Day. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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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)

QuizHow much do you know about the Vikings?

Flagellants or Brothers of the Cross in Netherlands scourging themselves as they walk through streets

QuizHow much do you know about medieval history?

General History

Quiz of the weekWhich famous poet was born on 15 May 1886?

The effects of the disease known as the Black Death

History quiz: how much do you know about the Black Death?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Popular historic periods

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

Tudor

Illustrated Medieval scene from the Romance of Lancelot

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Victorian

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20th Century

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Painting of Henry VIII

Henry VIII

Portrait of Queen Victoria

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

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

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Military history

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