Explainer

Photo of a crocodile

Q&AWhy do we say 'crocodile tears'?

Napoleon portrait by Jacques-Louis David shows is perhaps the most famous painting of the French emperor with one hand tucked out of sight

Why do Napoleon’s portraits often show him with one hand inside his shirt? The story of the French emperor’s missing hand…

Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain waves to the crowd at Heston Airport and declaims "Peace in our Time" after returning from signing the Munich Agreement. (Photo by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

Second World War

Did appeasement cause the Second World War?

The decapitation machine now known as the guillotine was not a French invention and wasn't invented by Joseph Guillotin. (Image by Getty Images)

Q&ADid the French invent the guillotine?

Anne Neville was queen consort of Richard III, the last Yorkist king of England

Anne Neville: wife of Richard III, daughter of Warwick the Kingmaker, and a modern enigma

French cuirassiers charging a British infantry square at the battle of Waterloo, 1815 (1906). From Cassell's Illustrated History of England, Vol. V. (Cassell and Company Limited, London, Paris, New York, Melbourne). Artist P Jazet. (Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images)

How the French won the battle of Waterloo (or think they did)

Colour portrait of Jane Austen (1775–1817) drawn by her sister Cassandra. Dated 1810. (Photo by Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

Jane Austen: a guide to her life, books and death – plus 8 fascinating facts

A portrait of Jane Seymour, queen of England from 1536 to 1537 as the third wife of Henry VIII. Jane is remembered for being the only wife to provide Henry with a son and male heir (the future Edward VI). Jane died on 24 October 1537, most likely from puerperal, or childbed, fever. (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)

Jane Seymour: the queen Henry VIII loved most?

Cat got your tongue? It certainly seems to be the case with this surprised tabby

Why do we say 'cat got your tongue'?

Henry I proclaims Matilda as his heir

Your guide to the Anarchy, the bloody battle between Stephen and Matilda

Anne Boleyn, who was executed by beheading on 19 May 1536 after being found guilty of high treason, was said to have had "much joy and pleasure in death". (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

The final days of Anne Boleyn: why did she die?

Play Reading

Anne Hathaway, Hamnet and Judith: who were William Shakespeare's family?

Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte: facts about his life, death and career

The death of Wat Tyler', 1859. Tyler was a leader of the 1381 Peasants' Revolt in England, which saw a group of rebels march on London to oppose the institution of a poll tax and demand economic and social reforms. He was killed by officers loyal to King Richard II during negotiations at Smithfield, London. (Photo by Print Collector/Getty Images)

Your guide to the Peasants' Revolt of 1381

British troops guard a wall during the Irish War of Independence, which bears a nationalist message

The Irish Republican Army: a brief guide

Portrait of King George V of England. (Photo by Getty Images)

Your guide to King George V: facts about his life, reign and death

Q&AWhy do we say ‘white elephant’?

A portrait of William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare: a guide to the life of England's greatest playwright

Peter O’Toole (top) plays Henry II alongside Richard Burton

"Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?" The truth behind Henry II's notorious lament

Aidan Turner as Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo: the real history behind the new Renaissance drama

A 1782 cartoon by James Gillray that depicts Buller as ‘Judge Thumb’. (Photo by Library of Congress)

Q&AWhy do we say ‘rule of thumb’?

The battle of Towton during the War of the Roses, 1461. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The Wars of the Roses: the 15th-century clash of kings that heralded the dawn of the Tudor dynasty

Portrait of John of Gaunt

John of Gaunt: father of England’s medieval monarchy and self-styled Spanish king

The relationship between Anne Boleyn (Natalie Portman) and her brother George (Jim Strugess) is explored in 2009 film 'The Other Boleyn Girl'

George and Anne Boleyn: their real relationship explored

A statue of Tollund Man, a bog body from the Iron Age. (Photo by Getty Images)

General prehistory

Q&AWhat are bog bodies?

Da Vinci's sketch 'The Vitruvian Man'. Da Vinci's talents ranged from anatomy to military engineering, and many of his innovations were not explored further for several centuries. (Photo by: Photo12/UIG via Getty Images)

Your guide to Leonardo da Vinci: his life, inventions and milestones in his career

Richard III: your guide to the last Yorkist king of England

The 'Alexander Mosaic' showing Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great: all you need to know about the empire builder and military genius

The 1815–46 Corn Laws: your guide to the crisis and why they were repealed

A photograph of the battle of Moscow, 1942, first printed in Signal, a magazine published by the German Third Reich from 1940 to 1945. (Photo by Art Media/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Second World War

Operation Barbarossa: why Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union was his greatest mistake