Q&A

The humble G&T truly sustained the troops of the British Empire. (Photo by ahirao_photo/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Q&A When did people start drinking gin and tonic?

A woman on a medieval ducking stool

Q&A Q&A: Were ducking stools ever used as punishment for crimes other than witchcraft during the Middle Ages?

An 18th-century public execution and crowd

Q&A When did people stop attending public executions in Britain?

Statue of Lady Godiva

Q&A Did Lady Godiva ride naked in Coventry?

The fact that so many cultures have a myth about a devastating flood has led some historians to wonder if there may have been a real event that explains the myths. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

General prehistory

Q&A Was there really a 'Great Flood'?

Ladies-in-waiting

Q&A What did a lady-in-waiting actually do?

US President John F Kennedy gives his first State of the Union address to Congress at the House of Representatives, Washington DC, 30 January 1961. Kennedy is one of eight presidents to have died during their term in office. (Photo by NASA/SSPL/Getty Images)

Q&A How many US presidents died in office?

William of Orange at the battle of the Boyne

Q&A When was England last successfully invaded by a foreign power?

A beach scene at an Easter Bank Holiday at Southend, c1927. In 1871, the Bank Holiday Act established the first paid days off for commonworkers in England, while some senior managers could be granted extra leave. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Q&A When were Brits first given leave from work to go on holiday?

A lithographic Victorian trade card promoting the Forepaugh circus' new white elephant, Buffalo, New York, circa 1880. (Photo by Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images)

Q&A Why do we say ‘white elephant’?

In 1358, women finally gained full knightly acceptance in England when they began to be admitted to chivalric orders. (Photo by Eugene Antonov/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Q&A Could a woman become a knight in medieval times?

A cartoon of Napoleon and King George III.

Q&A How tall was Napoleon Bonaparte?

Emperor Nero and the fire in Rome

Q&A Did Emperor Nero really play the fiddle while Rome burned?

The leaning tower of Pisa

Q&A Why does the Tower of Pisa lean to one side?

A sculpture dedicated to King Leonidas of the Spartans in Thermopylae, Greece. (Photo by iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Q&A Were there really only 300 Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae?