Listicle

A copper engraving of Margaret Pole's execution

General History

Are these the worst botched executions in history?

American athlete Jesse Owens and German long-jumper Carl Ludwig 'Luz' Long.

5 acts of kindness that changed history

6 lesser-known facts about the Ottoman Empire

William the Conqueror (1027–87), king of England from 1066 when he beat Harold II at the battle of Hastings. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

9 surprising facts about William the Conqueror and the Norman conquest

British writer Roald Dahl

Second World War

Roald Dahl11 things you might not know about the children's author

Charles I's great weakness was that he made a strict distinction between his role as king, in which he could not compromise, and his personal role, which was entirely pleasant and courteous, says Sean Lang. (Photo by Imagno/Getty Images)

8 of the nicest kings in history

Soldiers at the battle of Arnhem

Second World War

9 things you (probably) didn’t know about the battle of Arnhem

The Pearl Harbour attack

Second World War

The 11 most significant battles of WW2

A real Peaky Blinder mug-shot

In pictures: what did the real Peaky Blinders look like?

Portrait of Prince Albert

8 fascinating facts about Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert

Soldiers standing on the western front during WW2

Second World War

10 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Second World War

The ‘Surgeon’s Photo’, taken in 1934, which claimed to depict the Loch Ness Monster. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

5 facts about the Loch Ness Monster

Men enjoying a drink and a chat in a coffee house, 1674. Coffee houses became known as ‘schools of the wise’, where people would gossip, argue and discuss the breaking news of the day. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A drink for the devil: 8 facts about the history of coffee

After her recovery from smallpox, Queen Elizabeth I started using a ceruse foundation on her face, neck and chest. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

5 weird habits of royals through history

Winston Churchill making the famed ‘V’ for Victory sign. (Image by Bettmann/Getty Images)

Second World War

Winston Churchill facts: 9 things you might not know about the WW2 prime minister

1949: Clementine with husband Winston Churchill at Epsom racecourse for the Derby. (Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Second World War

6 surprising facts about Clementine Churchill

A counting of goats and rams in cuneiform script, ancient Ngirsu, Iraq, 2360 BC. (DEA / G. DAGLI ORTI/De Agostini/Getty Images)

Cuneiform: 6 things you (probably) didn’t know about the world’s oldest writing system

A portrait of Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln's funniest jokes

The Ripper of our nightmares: 5 theories about Jack the Ripper's identity

Composite image of famous women: Cleopatra, Marie Curie, Mary Wollstonecraft, Madame CJ Walker, Jane Austen, Emmeline Pankhurst, Ethel Smyth, the Virgin Mary, Rosa Parks, Frida Kahlo, Diana, Princess of Wales, Amelia Earhart.

100 women who changed the world

Photograph by Heinrich Hoffmann of Hitler and architects visiting the construction site of the Berghof around Christmas 1935. From left to right: Leonhard Gall, Gerdy Troost, Hitler, and Wilhelm Brückner, Hitler’s chief adjutant. (United States National Archives, College Park, Maryland)

Second World War

Where did Adolf Hitler live? The homes of the führer and how they were used as Nazi propaganda

c1400, English troops use siege towers to capture a French town during the Hundred Years' War between England and France. Original Artwork: An illumination from Froissart's Chronicles. (Photo by Rischgitz/Getty Images)

7 facts about the Hundred Years’ War

Scene depicting rural life in Stuart Britain. (via Getty Images)

Stuart Britain: what was life like for ordinary people?

11 shocking moments in history

Anonymous engraving, master of the garden of love, 15th century, France, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale. (Photo by: Photo12/UIG via Getty Images)

7 ways to say “I love you” in medieval Europe

A brief history of how people communicated in the Middle Ages

A woodcut depicting a witch hanging in England, c17th Century. (Bettmann via Getty Images)

Witches in the dock: 10 of Britain’s most infamous witch trials

Second World War

Pearl Harbor: 3 historical films about the Japanese attack on the US fleet

The 10 worst Britons in history