Explainer

An illustration of Vikings sailing on a longship across the Atlantic

General History

Who owns Greenland? Why the island's history is more complicated than you think

Ancient Egyptian pyramids against a purple starry sky

ConspiracyWere the pyramids built by aliens?

Supplies train for the Russian transported during deportation to Siberia.

Nazino was Stalin’s worst labour gulag. Its inmates knew it by another name: Cannibal Island

The outrageous heretical legend of Pope Joan, history’s only female pope

Paddy Mayne (left), a founding member of the SAS during WW2, and Jack O'Connell (right) who portrays Mayne in BBC drama SAS Rogue Heroes.

The real Paddy Mayne of SAS Rogue Heroes

Second World War

SAS Rogue HeroesThe true story behind the drama

Embalmed figure of Jeremy Bentham

“A wax head with his own hair had to suffice”: the horror of Jeremy Bentham’s ‘auto-icon’

St Paul's Cathedral photographed through the smoke after a night when the German air force bombed London

Second World War

"War's greatest picture"? Inside the night St Paul's Cathedral survived the Blitz

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as William the Conqueror in series King and Conqueror

General History

Upcoming in 2025: historical anniversaries, exhibitions and television

The Narmer Palette

“The first historical document in the world”: what exactly is on the Narmer Palette?

An illustration of the Icelandic Yule Cat

General History

The child-eating Christmas Yule Cat: what are the origins of this Icelandic folklore?

Saint Augustine in His Study. (

Why is taking your own life considered a sin?How a Christian Saint defined suicide. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Thomas Cromwell shown in a c1533 portrait after Hans Holbein the Younger (Photo by Penta Springs Limited/Alamy Stock Photo)

Thomas Cromwell's death – a rapid descent from the pinnacle of power

Pedro Pascal as General Acacius in Gladiator II

Gladiator III: what could happen in a new sequel, according to Roman history

A portrait of Mary I, queen of England

Mary I: your guide to the life and rule of Henry VII's daughter – plus a timeline and 7 little-known facts

A late 19th-century image shows a group of ‘pit lasses’, employed to work at the surface of coal mines. An earlier law had explicitly banned women from working below ground. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Industrial revolution

From family to factory: women's lives during the Industrial Revolution

Smiling teenage man holds a toothbrush with toothpaste up to his mouth, with a towel draped round his shoulders

General History

Oxhooves, mouse brains and urine: the disgusting things we used to use as toothpaste

Fess Parker, an American actor, as Davy Crockett

The man in the coonskin cap: your guide to Davy Crockett

A group of men in front of cannon with a ruined building behind them and rubble on the street

The war Britain won in 38 minutes

Connie Nielsen as Lucilla in Gladiator 2

Was Lucilla from Gladiator real? What her tragically short life tells us about women in ancient Rome

What was Mary Tudor and Thomas Cromwell's relationship – did they plan to marry?

Paul Mescal as Lucius in Gladiator II

Sharks in the arena? Gladiator II's real history and historical accuracy explained

Engraving of Roman emperor Macrinus and Denzel Washington as Macrinus in Gladiator II

The real Macrinus: how Gladiator II’s power broker became a short-lived Roman emperor

Caracalla and Geta: the real lives of the mad emperors of Gladiator II

Russell Crowe as Maximus Decimus Meridius in Gladiator

Was Maximus Decimus Meridius real? These five historical figures inspired Gladiator’s hero

Frozen Charlotte dolls: the Victorian Barbie

London crowds celebrating the signing of the armistice at the end of the First World War.

First World War

Armistice Day: what does it commemorate? Why are poppies worn? Plus 4 more things you need to know

Charlotta Bass, the first black woman to be nominated to the US Vice Presidency

Charlotta Bass: the first woman of colour to run for US vice president

Workhouses were meant to be unpleasant. Inmates worked hard (like these women hanging out laundry c1880). (Photo by Sean Sexton/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Victorian daily life: what was it like for 'ordinary' Victorians?

Statue of Zeus, king of the Greek gods

King of the gods and sex pest: the legend of Zeus and his thunderbolts