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Taxing the rich to feed the poor in the 17th century: the world's first welfare state. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Native American leader Sitting Bull

History heroSteven Knight chooses Sitting Bull (1831–90). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A 16th-century map showing Magellan's ship

A voyage from hell: how Magellan’s circumnavigation of the world changed history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

US soldiers in Vietnam

From the Napoleonic Wars to Vietnam and Iraq: a history of war trauma. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Families in a London slum, c1900

From slums to suburbs: Britain’s council house revolution. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Cavalry charge into a crowd of protesters at St Peter's Field, Manchester, as depicted in an 1819 engraving. What followed was the worst violence ever to occur at a political meeting in Britain. (Picture by Alamy)

The Peterloo Massacre: what did it achieve?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Margaretha Geertruida Zelle called Mata Hari (Photo by Apic/Getty Images)

First World War

Mata Hari: exotic dancer, femme fatale, traitor and spy

General Early Modern

Everything you need to know about the Holy Roman Empire

Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico's left-wing president who in 1940 legalised drugs. (Photo by Henry Guttmann/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The year Mexico legalised drugs. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An 1824 cartoon depicting the drinking escapades of Oxford students. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The history of student life: 7 things you didn’t know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

One of the earliest and most famous examples of extremism comes from ancient Rome. Starting in 264 BC and continuing for more than a century, Rome engaged in a series of wars with neighbouring Carthage. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A brief history of extremism – from ancient Rome to al Qaeda. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Winchester Cathedral

From King Alfred to Jane Austen: a historical tour of Winchester. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustration by Davide Bonazzi

Have nuclear weapons helped to maintain global peace?

Prime ministers Robert Walpole and Boris Johnson

From Walpole to Boris: a brief history of Eton College and the 20 prime ministers it has produced. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The HMS Victory in Portsmouth

A visit to HMS Victory, Nelson's flagship at Trafalgar. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A late 19th or early 20th-century painting entitled 'Mother and Child'. As fertility rates fell, sentimental idealisations of mothers and babies developed. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

The motherhood revolution: how the great fertility decline affected the lives of women. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

9 notable ambassadors in history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Literary women through the ages: Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf and Charlotte Brontë all enjoyed female friendships which enriched their writing, say Emily Midorikawa and Emma Claire Sweeney. (Getty Images)

From Austen & Brontë to Woolf: literature’s forgotten female friendships. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Making history funny: is any historical topic off-limits?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

For our forebears, the secret to a good night's sleep lay in the contents of your gut. (Photo by Leemage/UIG via Getty Images)

6 sleeping tips and tricks from history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

10 Downing Street, the residence of the prime minister of the United Kingdom. (Photo by Getty Images)

Who was the best 20th-century prime minister?

Henry VIII's Mary Rose (© 19th era/Alamy)

7 things you (probably) didn’t know about Henry VIII's flagship, the Mary Rose

A 15th-century map of the world illustrating a Latin edition of Ptolemy's the 'Geography'. (Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

12 alternative giant leaps for mankind – from carnivorism to Magna Carta. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

NASA’s unknown Welsh hero: the story of Tecwyn Roberts

The last Russian royal family, Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra and their five children, were shot and bayonetted to death by their Bolshevik guards in the early hours of 17 July 1918. (Photo by Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)

The legacy of the Romanovs: how is the last Russian royal family remembered in Russia?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Britain didn't "rule the waves" after the battle of Trafalgar, says historian Sam Willis. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A portrait of 17th-century scholar John Wilkins

Ye final frontier: the 17th-century space race. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Aidan Turner as Ross Poldark. The BBC television drama is putting Cornwall’s coastline at risk of "over-tourism” as visitors flock to the area to visit the show's scenic filming locations, tourism chiefs have warned. (Photo by BBC/Mammoth Screen/Mike Hogan)

Poldark, Peaky Blinders and 6 other historical TV shows that have tourists flocking to Britain

Back down to Earth: the legacy of the 1969 moon landing. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

4 historical cricketing curiosities. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.