Q&A

The Jolly Roger, a black flag showing a skuyll and crossbones. (Photo by Henry Guttmann Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Q&A Did all pirates fly the Jolly Roger?

A pirate uses his cutlass to force a bound and blindfolded man to walk the plank

Q&A Was walking the plank a real pirate punishment?

Pirates burying a treasure chest on a beach as their captain looks on

Q&A X marks the spot: did pirates bury their treasure?

A 17th century sketch of a peg-legged pirate walking with the aid of crutches

Q&A Did any real pirates wear eyepatches or have peg legs?

Nineteenth century engraving depicting raining cats and dogs

General Early Modern

Q&A Why do we say ‘raining cats and dogs’?

Photo of tall ship

Q&A Who do we say 'shot across the bows'?

When were punctuation marks first used? Illustration by Glen McBeth for BBC History Magazine.

General History

Q&A When were punctuation marks first used?

Neville Chamberlain shows off the Anglo-German Declaration at Heston Aerodrome

Second World War

Q&A Peace for our time: what was written on Neville Chamberlain’s piece of paper?

A model of the so-called ‘Piltdown Man’ and a replica of its skull,

Q&A Who was the Piltdown Man?

An 18th-century painting depicts Alexander the Great preparing to hack through the Gordian Knot with his sword

General ancient history

Q&A What was the Gordian Knot?

Sketch of Pytheas of Massalia standing on the deck of a wooden ship. He was a Greek explorer who claimed to have visited the British Isles

Q&A Did any ancient Greeks visit Britain?

Sketch of Lord Richard Rich

Q&A Does Richard Rich deserve his bad reputation?

A group of worshippers praying in a chapel in Ireland, during the Irish famine, c1848. (Photo by Illustrated London News/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Q&A Why do some people call the Irish famine ‘the Great Hunger’?

English-Normans-e92d5aa

The Normans had a profound influence on Britain – so why do we not speak French?

A statue in Kiev showing a Ukrainian player defeating a Third Reich eagle symbol at the Start stadium's entrance

Second World War

Q&A Did Nazis guards really play a ‘death match’ against a Ukrainian football team?