HistoryExtra
type: channel
link: https://www.historyextra.com
description: Home of Britain’s bestselling history magazine and award-winning podcast
date: 2025-09-04T09:15:36.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: 9 things you might not know about Sherlock Holmes
items: Why is Friday 13th unlucky?
items: Was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the US in WW2 justified?
items: The history of VE Day street parties
items: Historical baby names: a guide to baby name trends from the Anglo-Saxons to today
items: D-Day beaches map: where were the D-Day landings?
items: Charles and Diana: a history of their marriage
items: 7 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Napoleonic Wars
items: 10 scandalous moments in Wimbledon’s history
items: What is Juneteenth, and how is it celebrated?

9 things you might not know about Sherlock Holmes
type: item
date: 2025-09-04T08:35:03.000Z
subject: Period
subject: Victorian
subject: TV interest
description: The fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, created by Arthur Conan Doyle, has for more than 130 years been a star of stage and screen, played by actors including Benedict Cumberbatch and Ian McKellen and serialised in countless books. But how much do you know about this famous crime-buster, who made his first appearance in 1887 in Beeton's Christmas Annual? Here, author Martin Davies shares 11 lesser-known facts about Sherlock Holmes...
encoded: 1. The first actor to play Sherlock Holmes was American… The first actor to take on the role of Sherlock Holmes in any official capacity was the American William Gillette. His 1899 stage play was adapted from a script by Arthur Conan Doyle himself. Opening six years after the author had attempted to kill off his creation at the Reichenbach Falls, the play was a huge success on both sides of the Atlantic: between 1899 and 1932, Gillette performed the role more than 1,000 times. Gillette is also credited with introducing the curved briar pipe that was to become synonymous with the great detective – possibly because a straight pipe obscured the actor’s face when he delivered his lines. On the podcast | Sherlock Holmes: the real history that inspired the detective stories On first meeting Sherlock Holmes’ creator, Gillette is said to have appeared in character, complete with deerstalker, and after examining Conan Doyle most minutely, to have opined: “Unquestionably an author!” 2. … who introduced a love interest Gillette was also one of the first to annoy the purists by introducing a love interest for Holmes. When he telegraphed Conan Doyle with the question “May I marry him?” the author is said to have replied: “You may marry him, or murder or do what you like with him!” It’s impossible to count the number of writers who, since then, have taken Doyle at his word. Read more | Real-life Sherlocks: the detectives of Scotland Yard and their curious cases 3. He defied death Holmes, having survived the Reichenbach Falls, refused to die with his creator. By the time of Conan Doyle’s death on 7 July 1930, Holmes was already a star of stage and screen. His film debut, Sherlock Holmes Baffled, came as early as 1900. Just a few seconds long, the film used stop-motion camerawork to show Holmes attempting to grapple with a burglar who repeatedly disappears, then reappears in a different part of the room. 4. A 1940s duo cemented Holmes and Watson's on screen personas One of the olde…

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Why is Friday 13th unlucky?
type: item
date: 2025-06-13T09:09:00.000Z
subject: General ancient history
subject: Medieval
subject: Period
subject: Trends-Anniversary
description: Might Jesus and his 12 apostles have something to do with it? Discover the medieval history behind triskaidekaphobia – the fear of the number 13 – and why it is considered an unlucky number
encoded: Forget the Ides of March and Halloween – for some, a Friday that also happens to be the 13th of the month is scariest and unluckiest day of the year. The fear of Friday 13th is very real. It's even been given a scientific name, paraskevidekatriaphobia, from the Greek words Paraskeví, meaning Friday, and dekatreís, meaning 13. But what is it about this day and date combo that has given millions the heebie jeebies. Here's what we know of we know about Friday 13th's hazy history. When did people start believing Friday 13th was unlucky? It's believed that this superstition began in the Middle Ages. Some think it's related to the Last Supper, when 13 people were present at the meal before Jesus's crucifixion on Good Friday. Others think it's related to the Knights Templar, who were arrested for heresy on Friday 13 October 1307. But fear of 13 predates Christianity. The number 13 has been considered unlucky for millenia, and by many different cultures around the world. Why is the 13th unlucky? The ancient Romans believed that the number 13 was a bad omen, foretelling ill-fortune and death. The Vikings also hated 13, because in Norse mythology a banquet was held for 12 of the Norse gods during which the trickster god, Loki, appeared uninvited, like the wicked fairy in Sleeping Beauty, and as a result the beloved god Balder died. The Mayans thought that the 13th 'baktun' (a period equivalent to almost 400 years) would spell the end of the world – however, this came and went in 2012. For centuries, hosts avoided having 13 people seated around a dining table, convinced that the first person to leave would die within the year. Indeed, 16th-century witch-hunters often tried to claim there had been 13 people at a gathering – proof that the accused were witches in league with the devil. Why is Friday the 13th unlucky? Why Friday the 13th is considered especially unlucky isn't entirely clear. The first written record we have of the number 13 and Friday being unlucky in conjunction…

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Was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the US in WW2 justified?
type: item
date: 2025-05-27T14:00:42.000Z
subject: 20th Century
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: Debate
subject: Evergreen
subject: Hiroshima
description: For years debate has raged over whether the US was right to drop two atomic bombs on Japan during the final weeks of the Second World War. The first bomb, dropped on the city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945, resulted in a total death toll of around 140,000. The second, which hit Nagasaki on 9 August, killed around 50,000 people. But was the US justified? We put the question to a panel of expert historians...
encoded: The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States in August 1945 brought the Second World War to a sudden and devastating close, and sparked a moral and historical debate that has continued since. Well over 100,000 people, most of them civilians, were killed instantly or in the immediate aftermath, with many more suffering from long-term effects of radiation exposure. The decision by US president Truman to authorise the use of nuclear weapons against Japan was unprecedented. It marked the first (and so far only) time that atomic bombs have been used in warfare. The justification offered at the time was that the bombings would force Japan’s surrender and avoid a prolonged and bloody invasion of the Japanese mainland. Yet the question remains: was the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki justified? Historians continue to debate the military necessity, political motivations and moral implications of the bombings. Was it a strategic decision to end the war quickly and save lives? Or a demonstration of power aimed as much at the Soviet Union as at Japan? Here, a panel of historians offers their perspectives on one of the most controversial chapters of the Second World War, and considers whether the US was right to bomb Japan in 1945. Was the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki justified? “Yes. Truman had little choice” – Antony Beevor Few actions in war are morally justifiable. All a commander or political leader can hope to assess is whether a particular course of action is likely to reduce the loss of life. Faced with the Japanese refusal to surrender, President Truman had little choice. His decision was mainly based on the estimate of half a million Allied casualties likely to be caused by invading the home islands of Japan. There was also the likely death rate from starvation for Allied PoWs and civilians as the war dragged on well into 1946. Read more | The Manhattan Project: your guide to the building of the first atomic bomb What Truman did not …

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The history of VE Day street parties
type: item
date: 2025-05-07T07:30:38.000Z
creator: Emma Mason
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: VE Day
subject: Wartime Britain
description: Millions of people took to the streets of Britain on 8 May 1945 to celebrate VE Day – the day when the German armed forces signed an unconditional surrender, and the Second World War in Europe finally came to an end. Hanging bunting, waving flags, drinking and dancing, the streets were crammed with joyous revellers...
encoded: At 2.41am on 7 May 1945, at a schoolhouse near Reims in northern France, General Alfred Jodl, the German chief of staff, signed the unconditional surrender of all German land, sea and air forces wherever they might be fighting. General Eisenhower, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, rang General Sir ‘Pug’ Ismay, Churchill’s chief of staff. “The war is over,” he said. “But no official announcement could be made” said Juliet Gardiner, writing for BBC History Magazine in 2005. “Stalin insisted that victory should not be proclaimed until German troops on the eastern front had surrendered to the Soviet general Zukhov in Berlin and the long-awaited news could be proclaimed simultaneously in London, Moscow and Washington.” Yet rumours that the war had finally ended soon began to filter through to the British public. “The newspapers are full of rumours of surrender… feeling almost excited… everyone is speculating,” wrote Lyn Murphy, who worked for the director of an electrical manufacturer engaged in war production, in her diary for 7 May 1945. “They shouldn’t keep people hanging about waiting like this. The government needn’t be afraid of people going mad, everybody’s very sober about it,” complained a middle-aged man to a member of Mass-Observation, the organisation that compiled reports on British wartime attitudes and morale, which was out in force now that victory was in the air. On the afternoon of 8 May 1945, the British prime minister Winston Churchill made the radio announcement that the world had long been waiting for. He announced that hostilities with Germany would cease at one minute past midnight, and that “our dear Channel Islands”, the only part of British territory to have been occupied, “are to be freed today”. After nearly six long years, the war in Europe was finally over. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2020/05/GettyImages-3432929-4d9bca8-scaled-e1746607596456.jpg" width="619" height="413" alt="Prime Minister Win…

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Historical baby names: a guide to baby name trends from the Anglo-Saxons to today
type: item
date: 2024-10-11T11:25:06.000Z
subject: Norman
subject: Period
description: From biblical names like Noah to those inspired by flowers or cities, personal names in Britain have changed massively over the centuries, reflecting social, economic and cultural shifts. Writer Neil Burdess charts the history of names from the time of the Anglo-Saxons to the present day…
encoded: Anglo-Saxon and Old English names Considering that the Anglo-Saxon period ended nearly 1,000 years ago, there are a surprising number of Old English names still in use. Some have been modernised – for example, Ælfræd became Alfred – but the original names are still recognisable. Other Anglo-Saxon male names include Alwin, Chad, Cuthbert, Edgar, Edmund, Edward, Godwin, Harold and Wilfred. Interestingly, Edward, Alfred and Wilfred are still popular. There aren’t as many recognisable female names, but they include Audrey, Edith, Ethel, Hilda and Mildred. Edith remains a popular name today. Norman names The arrival of the Norman invaders in 1066 had a huge impact on personal names (and everything else). Just before the Norman Conquest, 85 per cent of men’s names were Old English, the favourites being Godwin and Alwin. But 150 years later, only five per cent of names were Old English. By then, the favourite male names were from Normandy, including Albert, Gerald, Henry, Hugh, Leonard, Ralph, Raymond, Richard, Robert, Roger, Walter and William. William, Henry, Albert, Robert and Ralph are all still popular. Women’s names included Matilda, Adelaide, Adela, Gertrude, Ida, Rosalind and Rosamund, with Matilda particularly still enjoying popularity. Read more | When did our kings and queens start using surnames? The reasons for these changes from Anglo-Saxon to Norman names are not hard to find. First, King William replaced virtually all the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy with Norman lords. The remaining prominent Anglo-Saxons – those who had not fled or been sold into slavery overseas – attempted to show loyalty to the new king by giving Norman names to their children. Eventually, even the landless peasants copied the social elite and adopted Norman names. A rising trend for saints' names The influence of the Roman Catholic Church grew considerably in the 12th and 13th centuries, resulting in the greatly increased use of the names of saints. These included saints who appear in the B…

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D-Day beaches map: where were the D-Day landings?
type: item
date: 2024-06-05T10:33:22.000Z
subject: 20th Century
subject: Period
subject: Second World War
subject: Second World War battles
description: How many troops were involved in D-Day? Which country suffered more casualties, Britain or America? And why was Normandy chosen as the location? Our D-Day infographics explain the numbers…
encoded: The invasion of Nazi-occupied France was codenamed Operation Overlord and took place on Tuesday 6 June 1944, having been delayed by 24 hours because of poor weather. Allied forces launched a combined naval, air and land assault in what was the largest seaborne invasion in history. D-Day marked the beginning of the campaign to liberate north-west Europe from German occupation. What were the five D-Day beaches? American, British, and Canadian troops landed on five different beaches across the Normandy coastline. The five D-Day beaches were Utah, Omaha, Gold Beach, Juno, and Sword. The Americans landed at Utah at the base of the Cotentin Peninsular and at Omaha at the western end of the northern Normandy coast; the British were to land at Gold Beach, east of Omaha; then the Canadians at Juno; and the British again at Sword, the easternmost invasion beach. D-Day: Land, Air and Sea | A HistoryExtra podcast series Member exclusive | Discover the story of 6 June 1944 from the perspectives of the soldiers, sailors and airborne troops who served. Featuring interviews with WW2 experts Saul David, Nick Hewitt and Giles Milton, as well as gripping eyewitness testimonies. Listen to all episodes now Why were the Normandy beaches chosen for the D-Day landings? The initial decision to land in Normandy was made by the chief of staff to the supreme allied commander (COSSAC) in 1943, Lieutenant-General Frederick Morgan. His team ruled out the Pas-de-Calais region and saw a landing between the Cotentin peninsula and near to Caen as being the most suitable, says military historian Paul Reed. Brittany, Dieppe and Pas de Calais were all considered as alternative landing locations, but none were as attractive as Normandy. At this stage in the war, due to lack of men and equipment, Morgan recommended landing on three beaches along the Normandy coastline, but this was later expanded to five. The work of the French Resistance had indicated that there were fewer defences in Normandy than in th…

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Charles and Diana: a history of their marriage
type: item
date: 2023-11-14T12:10:09.000Z
creator: Emma Mason
subject: 20th Century
subject: Period
subject: Royal weddings
subject: The Crown
subject: The royal family
subject: TV interest
description: Their 15-year marriage began with a fairy tale wedding and saw the birth of two princes, but ended in a public and acrimonious divorce involving infidelity that threatened to rock the monarchy. But what was the real nature of Prince Charles and Diana’s relationship: how did they meet, when did cracks first appear, were they in love, and was Diana really the wronged party? We asked royal biographer Penny Junor to tell us the real story of Charles and Diana…
encoded: Who was Diana, Princess of Wales? Maiden name: Diana Frances Spencer Born: 1 July 1961 at Park House, the home that her parents rented on Queen Elizabeth II’s estate at Sandringham Died: 31 August 1997, in a car accident in Paris (aged 36) Married to: Prince Charles (m. 1981–96) Height: 1.78 m Children: Prince William (born 1982) and Prince Harry (born 1984) Grandchildren: Prince George (born 2013); Princess Charlotte (born 2015); Prince Louis (born 2018); Archie Mountbatten-Windsor (born 2019) Parents: John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer & Frances Roche Siblings: Lady Sarah McCorquodale (1955–present); Jane Fellowes, Baroness Fellowes (1957–present); John Spencer, died within 10 hours of his birth on 12 January 1960; Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer (1964–present) Educated: Silfield Private School in Gayton, Norfolk; Riddlesworth Hall School near Thetford; West Heath Girls’ School in Sevenoaks, Kent; Institut Alpin Videmanette in Rougemont, Switzerland View Green Video on the source website When did Diana Spencer meet Prince Charles? It was in the summer of 1980, at a house party hosted by Diana’s friend Philip de Pass in New Grove, near Petworth, that Prince Charles first saw Diana Spencer as a potential girlfriend. Sitting next to each other on a bale of hay at a post-polo barbecue, an 19-year-old Diana expressed her sympathy for Charles over the loss of his beloved great-uncle, Lord Mountbatten, who had been murdered by the IRA a year earlier. “My heart bled for you when I watched the funeral; I thought, ‘It’s wrong, you’re lonely – you should be with somebody to look after you’,” said Diana. This, says Penny Junor, was exactly what Charles needed to hear. “Mountbatten was a very important figure in Charles’s life and he was in a fragile state at that point,” says Junor. “Diana really touched a nerve in Charles, she said just the right thing to him, at the right moment, and he was moved by her.” This encounter was not, however, the first time Charles and Diana had m…

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7 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Napoleonic Wars
type: item
date: 2023-10-16T09:50:13.000Z
subject: Georgian
subject: Period
subject: Evergreen
subject: Family and parenting
description: Jem Duducu, author of The Napoleonic Wars in 100 Facts, reveals seven things you might not have known about the 25 years (or so) of conflict...
encoded: What were the Napoleonic Wars? The Napoleonic Wars were a series of conflicts that occurred from 1803 to 1815, fought between France under Napoleon and a series of coalitions of European powers. Though the Napoleonic Wars are often seen as a clash of European powers fighting for dominance over the European continent, in many ways they were also an example of a global conflict before the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. The Napoleonic Wars are usually numbered by the coalitions that were raised against Napoleonic France between 1803 and 1815: The War of the Third Coalition, 1805–06 The War of the Fourth Coalition, 1806–07 The War of the Fifth Coalition, 1809 The War of the Sixth Coalition, 1813–14 The War of the Seventh Coalition, also known as the Hundred Days, 1815 What of the wars of the first and second coalitions? These precede the Napoleonic Wars, both being part of the French Revolutionary Wars of the 1790s. Read more | Napoleonic Wars timeline: the key dates you need to know Why did the Napoleonic Wars happen? There are many explanations, but you could consider the Napoleonic Wars to be a consequence of the French Revolutionary Wars, which concluded with the 1802 Peace of Amiens. These wars had left France in a commanding strategic position in Western Europe, “something that no other European power could tolerate, because it appeared to threaten their own strategic security”, says Michael Rapport, reader in modern European history at the University of Glasgow, who spoke to us about the Napoleonic Wars on the HistoryExtra podcast. “Any peace – which occurred in 1802 through the Treaty of Amiens – was going to be really a truce.” That peace broke down in 1803. “The Peace of Amiens wasn't really honoured by either side,” he says. Neither side really trusted each other.” Who was Napoleon? The Napoleonic Wars are named after a single man – Napoleon Bonaparte. How did a young, inexperienced artillery officer from Corsica rise to such a position of military …

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10 scandalous moments in Wimbledon’s history
type: item
date: 2023-07-03T14:00:00.000Z
subject: 20th Century
subject: General Modern
subject: Membership
subject: Period
description: We look back at some of the most memorable moments in the history of the tennis championships – from ignored outfit regulations and bad weather to celebrity spectators and streaking
encoded: Here, we bring you 10 scandalous Wimbledon history facts… 1926: Royalty playing at Wimbledon Members of the royal family have long taken their seats in the royal box on Centre Court, but in 1926 George VI decided to break with tradition: the then Duke of York took to the court in the men’s doubles tournament with wing commander Louis Greig. The duke faced Arthur Gore (aged 58) and H Roper Barrett (aged 52). 10 things you didn’t know about London’s sporting history Experience triumphed over youth in this match, however – the future monarch was defeated in three straight sets. George VI is the only member of the royal family to have played at Wimbledon. 1949: Knickers in a twist Over the decades, female tennis players have donned small skirts and shorts during their matches. However, ‘Gorgeous Gussie’ Moran caused scandal during the 1949 championships when she wore ruffled lace knickers underneath her tennis skirt. Her choice of attire prompted some members of the All England Club to argue that Moran was causing “vulgarity and sin” in tennis, and questions about the issue were even raised in parliament. Despite being seeded as seventh out of the women’s American players, Moran shot almost overnight to celebrity status, and went on to make it to the doubles final. In her later competitions, Moran chose to wear shorts rather than skirts. Read more | 1921: the year when football banned women 1957: Protests during Queen Elizabeth II’s visit to Wimbledon During the men’s doubles finals between Neale Fraser and Lew Hoad against Gardnar Molloy and Budge Patty, a protester jumped over the courtside wall and got onto the Centre Court while holding a sign that read ‘Save Our Queen’. Protester Helen Jarvis was campaigning for the ‘Life, Love and Sex Appeal Party’, and she declared that she wanted a new banking system in the UK. Policemen and the match’s referee, Col Legg, quickly escorted Jarvis off of the court. This did not put off Queen Elizabeth II from returning to Wimbledo…

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What is Juneteenth, and how is it celebrated?
type: item
date: 2023-06-19T09:01:53.000Z
creator: Emma Mason
subject: General Modern
subject: Period
description: Celebrated annually since 1865, Juneteenth is considered the longest-running African-American holiday. But as many as 60 per cent of Americans know “nothing at all” or only “a little bit” about the holiday marking the end of slavery in the United States. Here, we explore the history of Juneteenth and explain its significance
encoded: What is Juneteenth? Juneteenth – short for ‘June nineteenth’ – is a celebration marking the moment in 1865 when enslaved black people in Galveston, Texas, found out they were freed – more than two years after President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. It is also known as Emancipation Day, Juneteenth Independence Day, and Jubilee Day. Juneteenth has been celebrated annually in the African-American community since 1865 and is considered the longest-running African-American holiday. But it only became a federal holiday in the United States in 2021. Texas became the first state to designate Juneteenth as an official state holiday back in 1980. All other 49 states (and the District of Columbia) have since recognised the day. Former president Barack Obama co-sponsored legislation to make Juneteenth a national holiday when he was senator of Illinois, but the law was never passed. It was President Joe Biden who last year signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act, formally recognising Juneteenth as a national holiday. The federal legislation was signed into law after passing unanimously in the US Senate and by a vote of 415–14 in the House of Representatives. President Biden signed the Act in the White House on Thursday 17 June 2021. “Great nations don't ignore their most painful moments,” he said. “We come to terms with the mistakes we made. And remembering those moments, we begin to heal and grow stronger.” Juneteenth is the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr Day was established in 1983. What happened on Juneteenth? On 19 June 1865, around 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas, to inform enslaved African-Americans of their freedom and to tell them the Civil War had ended. Led by Major General Gordon Granger, who had fought for the Union, the troops took control of the state and announced that the 250,000 enslaved black people in the state were free by executive decree. Why did the South lose the American Civil War? Upon…

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