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Watercolor Painting Depicting Battle of Agincourt (Photo by © Historical Picture Archive/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

Turning points1415: The battle of Agincourt. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Peasants' Revolt of 1381 in England began in Brentwood, Essex as a protest at the collection of poll tax and reached a climax at Smithfield, London. Richard II (1367-1800) met the Kentish peasants who, under Watt Tyler (d1381), were demanding the end of serfdom. During the meeting William Walworth (d1385) Lord Mayor of London, wounded Wat Tyler who was taken to St Bartholomew's Hospital but was later dragged out of the hospital and beheaded. 19th century lithograph. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

Turning points1381: The Peasants’ Revolt. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Turning points1348: The Black Death. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Part six in our 20-part series looking at decisive moments of the last 1,000 years in British history explores 1200–1249

Turning points1295: Edward I consolidates English rule. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Part five in our 20-part series looking at decisive moments of the last 1,000 years in British history explores 1250–1299

Turning points1215: Magna Carta. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Part four in our 20-part series looking at decisive moments of the last 1,000 years in British history explores 1150–1199

Turning points1171: The English invasion of Ireland. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Part three in our 20-part series looking at decisive moments of the last 1,000 years in British history explores 1100–1149

Turning points1141: Stephen v Matilda. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Part two in our 20-part series looking at decisive moments of the last 1,000 years in British history explores 1050–1099

Turning points1066: The year of four kings. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Part one in our 20-part series looking at decisive moments of the last 1,000 years in British history explores 1000–1049

Turning points1016: The Danish conquest of England. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Nellie Bly

Around the world in 72 days: how journalist Nellie Bly became the real Phileas Fogg

Photograph of Bass Reeves, the first black deputy US marshal west of the Mississippi River

From slave to real Lone Ranger? The incredible life of black Wild West lawman Bass Reeves

Lindsay Duncan, who plays aristocratic adventurer Jane Digby in the BBC One adaptation of Around the World in 80 Days

Jane Digby: Lindsay Duncan on playing the aristocratic adventurer in Around the World in 80 Days

William the Conqueror was the second king of England to be crowned in 1066

The coronation of William of Normandy on Christmas Day in 1066

The Apollo 8 crew in a capsule during training

Apollo 8: why NASA's Christmas mission to the Moon was a bright end to a dark year. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

This print from 1807 shows John Bull sat between the rival singers Elizabeth Billington (left) and Angelica Catalani, who sing lines adapted from The Beggar’s Opera.

Sex, lies and arias: the prima donnas of Georgian London. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Vintners in an ale house, 1642. From a broadsheet titled ‘Health to All’, artist unknown. (Photo by Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Did Oliver Cromwell ban Christmas? The Puritan assault on Christmas during the 1640s and 1650s

Grigory Yefimovich Rasputin. (Getty Images)

First World War

Did a British agent murder Rasputin?

Three medieval carol singers, image dated 1911

Christmas carols: the history behind 9 festive favourites

St Columba. This Irish patron saint's influence on the Christian church was, and still is, felt much further afield

Medieval miracle worker: how St Columba transformed Christianity in Britain. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A 15th-century manuscript depicts soldiers using crossbows during the Battle of Crecy in 1346

A short history of long-distance warfare. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

John Duval Gluck, Jr, 'the Santa Claus man', pictured left, visiting the General Post Office to promote the Santa Claus Association’s benefit show

The con man who saved Christmas. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The first controlled, powered and sustained human flight on 17 December 1903 by the Wright Brothers. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Flying into history: the Wright Brothers' Flyer and the world's first flight

Black and white image of island prison, taken from the sky

The battle of Alcatraz, 1946: the most violent escape attempt in the prison’s history

Photo of members of the Versailles Conference

First World War

Your guide to the Treaty of Versailles

Anna Whitelock's Talking PointsFriends or enemies?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Tom Smith's Surprise Cosaques, Christmas Crackers 1878. (Image by Getty)

The history of Christmas crackers

A 13th-century fresco showing Isabella of Angouleme, Eleanor of Aquitaine and two squires

Eleanor of Aquitaine: the worst royal mother-in-law?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Emma Dabiri“He dreamed a career that seemed impossible and made it a reality”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Michael Wood on James Bond“Bond’s role grew out of proportion to Britain’s standing in the world”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Schoolchildren in Liverpool have their Christmas party in an air raid shelter built into a railway arch

What was Christmas like in Britain during WW2?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.