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The Eiffel Tower was built by Gustave Eiffel for the International Exhibition of Paris in 1889. (Photo by Underwood Archives/Getty Images)

From ‘eyesore’ to icon: a brief history of the Eiffel Tower

Irena Sendler in 1942

Second World War

Irena Sendler: the Polish heroine who rescued 2,000 children from the Warsaw Ghetto

A woman in riding gear breaks out in a grin in the c1860s

Smiling Victorians: why it’s a myth that our ancestors didn’t smile for pictures

Princess Margaret attends the premiere of Captain Horatio Hornblower, Leicester Square, 1951. (Photo by Ron Burton/Keystone/Getty Images)

The Queen’s “rebel sister”: 8 facts about Princess Margaret

'Self Portrait' by Vincent van Gogh, autumn 1887 (Photo by Marc DEVILLE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

Why did Vincent van Gogh cut off his ear?

The effects of the disease known as the Black Death

Black Death quarantine: how did we try to contain the most deadly disease in history?

The clocks change at South Station in Boston, Massachusetts. (Image by Bettmann/Getty Images)

A brief history of daylight saving time

Photo of the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles

The Palace of Versailles: Sun King Louis XIV’s ultimate power play

American soldiers in Vietnam

The war that America could never win? Opposition, dissent and the Vietnam War

Back in Time for The Corner Shop. (BBC/Wall to Wall Media Ltd/Paul Husband)

History TV and radio: what’s on in March 2020?

Listening in: a doctor uses a stethoscope to examine a patient in 1948. (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)

The birth pains of the NHS: how Britain’s National Health Service was created

Historical book reviews

Want to know what to read next? The latest history books reviewed

The US assault on Okinawa

Second World War

The WW2 battle of Okinawa: the bloodiest assault of the Pacific War

Illustration of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn on their wedding day

The royal weddings of Henry VIII: Alison Weir on what came before divorced, beheaded, died…

Two American soldiers wait for the second wave of combat helicopters of the 1st Air Cavalry Division during Operation Pershing during the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War defined America in the second half of the 20th century. (Photo by Patrick Christain/Getty Images)

Your guide to the Vietnam War – plus 7 surprising facts you might not know