Explainer

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Harold Godwinson: the story of the last Anglo-Saxon king of England

A fight between two Gladiators, in mosaic

What were the lives of gladiators like in ancient Rome?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The real Boys in the Boat during the Poughkeepsie Regatta

The Boys in the Boat: the real history behind George Clooney's underdog sports movie

A statue of Alice Nutter, one of the 1612 Pendle Witches. The statue is in her home village on Blacko Bar Road, Roughlee. (Image by Alamy)

The Pendle witches: what happened in the infamous Lancashire witch trial?

King George III

The illness and decline of King George III. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Protestors against the Sedition Act outside the White House

What was the 1918 Sedition Act?

Johannes Gutenberg examines a page from the moveable type printing press that he invented

Who invented the printing press?

The future Queen Victoria, aged four

Queen Victoria's unhappy childhood: life under the 'Kensington System'

King Arthur in The Winter King

The Winter King: the true story of the King Arthur drama

Consuelo Vanderbilt reclining for a photograph.

Dollar princessesThe American heiresses who changed the face of British aristocracy

Men in boats on the River Thames survrying swans

General History

Does the Warden of the Swans exist – and does the royal family own all the swans in Britain?

Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown, and the real Queen Elizabeth II

Netflix’s The Crown: the real history behind the royal drama

Illustrated portrait of Greek mathematician and inventor Archimedes

Why Archimedes was the greatest scientist of the Classical age

This illustration shows “Boston boys throwing tea into the harbour” on 16 December 1773

Boston Tea Party: your guide to the protest that ignited a revolution

The marriage of Napoleon Bonaparte to Habsburg Archduchess Marie-Louise

Napoleon’s other wife: who was Habsburg Archduchess Marie-Louise?

Joséphine de Beauharnais

Joséphine de Beauharnais: how Napoleon's muse became empress of France

Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon Bonaparte

Ridley Scott’s Napoleon: how accurate is the movie? The real history explained

Diana and Charles in Canada, 1986

Charles and Diana: a history of their marriage

Soldiers in First World War uniform eat in the trenches

First World War

Life in the trenches during WWI: your essential guide

The War of the Operas: new money vs old in The Gilded Age

Mollie Burkhart.

Who was Mollie Burkhart in Killers of the Flower Moon?

Jesse Plemons as lawman Tom White

Who was Tom White in Killers of the Flower Moon?

Actor Lily Gladstone (left) plays Mollie Burkhart

The real history behind Killers of the Flower Moon: author explains true story of Osage Nation

A portrait of the Duke of Wellington at the battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815) during the Napoleonic Wars. Although Waterloo was "undeniably the most pivotal battle of this campaign", it was not the final battle against France, says Jem Duducu. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

7 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Napoleonic Wars

The taking of Jerusalem by the Crusader

The First Crusade: your ultimate guide

Irsraeli Prime Minister Golda Meir sits at a desk, with one arm on the table

Israel’s Iron Lady: the real story of Golda Meir and the Yom Kippur War

Image of an atrium from ancient Rome. There are people milling around and a fountain.

What were houses like in ancient Rome?

Martin Luther King speaks in front of microphones, during the March on Washtington

"I Have A Dream": the speech that America couldn’t ignore

Hitler and French Marshal Henri-Phillipe Petain

Second World War

Vichy France: your guide to the WW2 regime

A purported portrait of Elizabeth Báthory as a young woman

General Early Modern

Elizabeth Báthory: a 17th-century 'serial killer'