A Red Cross worker in the United States, 1918

Q&A

How did Spanish Flu get its name? When did our ancestors start using toilet paper? Why did the famous Crystal Palace burn down? And where was the WW1 Armistice signed? Here, your most burning questions about history are answered by historians and experts…

General History

Why was Mozart obsessed with poo?

Women at Kappa Kappa Gamma and Gamma Phi Beta Houses of University of California at Los Angeles in 1952

General History

What is Greek life?

Former British prime minister Ramsay MacDonald sitting behind a desk

Where does the term ‘champagne socialist’ come from?

Roman soldiers on the detail of Trajan's Column

Why decimation was the most unfair punishment in the Roman Army

Spanish republican propaganda referring to the term 'fifth column'

General History

Q&AWhere does the term ‘fifth column’ come from?

A Painting of The Grand Canal in Venice

General Early Modern

Q&AThe Grand Tour: a rite of passage for Europe’s elite

A map showing the Cinque ports

Q&AWhat are the Cinque Ports?

The outlaw Johannes Bückler, also known as Schinderhannes

Q&AWho was Schinderhannes and why is he known as the ‘German Robin Hood’?

Margaret Lockwood as Katherine Ferrers

Q&AWere there any real highwaywomen, and did they dress up as men?

Anglo-Saxon thegns

Q&AWho was Eadnoth the Staller?

General History

“That’s the way to do it”: a two-minute history of Punch and Judy

Did Ramesses II really have a passport?

Q&ADid Ramesses II really have a passport?

What was Albert Einstein's involvement in the creation of the atomic bomb?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Q&ADid medieval people have rotten teeth?

Q&AHow did J Robert Oppenheimer react to the first nuclear weapons test?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A Victorian family gathers around a graveside

Q&AWhat were Victorian burial societies and why were they formed?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Scenic view of Cornwall

General History

Q&AWhy is Cornwall called Cornwall?

Inflation hit Britain hard in the 1970s. Here activist Erin Pizz addresses a protest by housewives holdiing placards decrying rising food prices in July 1971

Q&AUK inflation: how does today’s economic crisis compare to the 1970s?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Q&AWhat was the fascination behind Tudor codpieces?

Sex, scandal and slander: who was Messalina?

General History

ChomolungaWhy is Mount Everest called Everest?

Australian bushrangers

General History

Q&AWho were Australian bushrangers?

Junko Tabei and Ang Tsering pictured on the slopes of Everest

Q&AWho was the first woman to climb Everest?

Two women share a tender moment, c1902

Q&AHas it ever been a crime to be lesbian in England?

Q&AWhy did NORAD begin tracking Santa Claus in the Cold War?

The real Wenceslas is that he was not actually a king, but Duke of Bohemia.

Q&AWho was Good King Wenceslas, and was he actually good?

Perhaps the most charming idea about the origins of the festive tradition of kissing under the mistletoe derives from a Viking myth of Frigg, goddess of love and marriage, and her ill-fated son Balder. (Photo by Jurg Waldmeier/StockFood Creative/Getty Images Plus)

Q&AWhy do we kiss under the mistletoe?

Q&AWhat are the roots of dentistry?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Prime minister and king in black and white photo

Q&APrior to 2022, has there ever been a new monarch and prime minister in Britain in the same week?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Photo of Ginger Rogers

Q&AWhen did people start wearing sunglasses?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.