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Meet the reluctant US president who accidentally changed American political norms forever

Did the ancient Romans wear underwear? The truth is surprisingly complicated

This portrait presents Saladin wearing an elaborate headdress, emphasising his status as a ruler of the medieval Islamic world.

Meet the shadowy assassins who were seconds from taking out Saladin – and upending the Crusades

This scene comes from the Bayeux Tapestry, the nearly 70-metre-long embroidered narrative that chronicles the events leading to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066.

The Bayeux Tapestry is beautiful, but what was its purpose? New research might have the answer

Painted in 1540 by Hans Holbein the Younger, this iconic portrait shows Henry VIII at the height of his power. The king’s imposing stance and lavish dress project authority and magnificence, reflecting a reign that transformed England’s religion, politics, and monarchy.

Henry VIII wanted a giant Tudor tomb. So why didn’t he get it?

Emperor Moctezuma II, ruler of the Aztec Empire at the height of its power. His reign oversaw a flourishing capital at Tenochtitlan and an expansive tribute system, but it ended abruptly with the arrival of Spanish conquistadors in 1519.

Did Aztec civilisation really ‘collapse’? The reality isn’t as simple as you might think

This Roman mosaic depicts Orestes and Iphigenia, with Iphigenia holding a small statue of Artemis — imagery drawn from Greek myth and popular across the Roman world. Mosaics like this often decorated the floors of bath complexes and latrines, where vibrant storytelling scenes enlivened communal spaces.

Ancient Roman culture would be baffling to modern eyes – and their toilet habits prove it

This composite image brings together Edmond Halley, the comet that bears his name, and the Bayeux Tapestry’s famous depiction of its 1066 appearance. Halley’s calculations in the 18th century revealed the comet’s regular return, transforming a phenomenon once read as an omen of catastrophe — as it was before the Norman Conquest — into a predictable event governed by celestial mechanics.

Has history’s most famous comet been misnamed for centuries? “The answer is clear,” say historians

This 1835 painting by Daniel Maclise imagines the first meeting between Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Their relationship would set in motion a political and religious upheaval — leading to England’s break with Rome and Anne’s eventual rise and tragic fall as queen.

Want to live like a Tudor? Historian Ruth Goodman did, and here are five crucial lessons she learned

This 4th-century AD mosaic from Terranova near Tuscolo depicts gladiators locked in combat, capturing the drama and choreography of the arena in late Roman Italy. Even as public spectacles waned in some parts of the empire, scenes like this show how gladiatorial fighting remained a potent form of popular entertainment.

Female gladiators shocked the ancient Roman world — but not for the reason you think

This illustration shows the chief of the Taensa people receiving the French explorer René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle on 20 March 1682. Set in what is now Louisiana, the scene reflects the early encounters between Indigenous nations of the Lower Mississippi Valley and Europeans

Step inside the lost Native American city that rivalled medieval London

This 2nd-century AD mosaic from La Chebba, part of a larger scene showing the Triumph of Neptune, includes a boy gathering fruit — a small detail that reflects broader Roman ideas about health and diet. Fresh fruit played an important role in Roman nutrition, valued for its balance, seasonality, and association with natural well-being.

If ancient Romans didn't understand calories, how was their theory of nutrition so accurate?

A statue of an ancient Mesopotamian demon stands before a backdrop of cuneiform text, evoking the richly layered world of ancient Near Eastern religion.

General ancient history

Long before Dracula, an ancient Mesopotamian civilisation raised the world's oldest vampires

This William H. Mumler photograph shows a bearded man seated while a faint female “spirit” appears behind him. Mumler’s images — a blend of portraiture and supposed spirit photography — captivated Victorians eager for proof of the afterlife, even as critics accused him of trickery and photographic manipulation.

Did he photograph the ghost of a president? Meet the scheming Victorian who exploited a grieving America

This Roman mosaic depicts gladiators locked in combat. Created to celebrate the spectacle of the arena, it offers a glimpse into one of the most popular, and most brutal, entertainments of the Roman world.

Step inside the ancient Roman empire's gladiatorial arenas, and witness 24 hours of shocking violence

This 15th-century 'Zodiac Man' illustrates how each sign of the zodiac was thought to govern a different part of the human body. Such images helped shape early modern astrology, which blended medieval medical theory with renewed interest in celestial influence. Astrological medicine guided decisions from diagnosis to bloodletting, reflecting a world in which the heavens were seen as active forces in human health and destiny.

How do you cope with living in a century of chaos? By learning how to predict the future

This 1865 image shows Giuseppe Garibaldi at Caprera, the veteran revolutionary whose campaigns made him a hero of the Italian unification movement. Celebrated across Europe, Garibaldi became the enduring symbol of Italy’s struggle for independence and national unity.

History’s sexiest revolutionary? Meet the mesmerising general whose charms helped win a war

This late 16th-century portrait by John de Critz depicts Sir Francis Walsingham (c.1532–1590), Queen Elizabeth I’s spymaster. A shrewd diplomat and master of espionage, Walsingham built the intelligence network that helped safeguard the Tudor state from plots and foreign threats.

Elizabeth I’s shadowy spy network was tasked with uncovering secret conspiracies. Here’s what it found

On 27 May 1954, Sir Winston Churchill addresses a meeting of the Women’s Conservative Association. Nearly a decade after leading Britain through the Second World War, the prime minister remained a commanding figure in British politics and public life.

Second World War

It was Operation Unthinkable: Churchill's "impossible" plan to start World War 3

This 1876 portrait by shows Frederick Douglass (1818–1895), the formerly enslaved man who became one of America’s leading abolitionists, orators, and reformers.

Frederick Douglass escaped enslavement in 1838 – but here's why he was still far from true freedom

This 3rd-century AD Roman mosaic shows two murmillones — gladiators named Symmachus and Maternus — locked in combat as their trainers watch from the arena’s edge.

Think you know what an ancient Roman gladiator looked like? The reality will make you think again

This 1605 print depicts Guy Fawkes and his fellow conspirators in the Gunpowder Plot, a failed Catholic scheme to blow up the Houses of Parliament during the state opening by King James I.

420 years ago, a deadly conspiracy to kill Britain’s king nearly succeeded. What if it had worked?

A woman looks on in fascination during a visit to the Paris Catacombs in the mid-1930s. (Photo by Getty Images)

General History

Living with the dead? You need to know these 7 gruesome facts about the history of human burial

In December 1929, investigator and ghost hunter Harry Price demonstrates an electric control device he designed to monitor a medium’s movements during séances. (Photo by Alamy)

When a Victorian ghost hunter investigated Britain’s most haunted house, this is what he found

This woodcut from 1521 depicts Martin Luther on his way to Worms, laying down his sword and opening the Bible in prayer as Christ descends to comfort him. The scene reflects Protestant legend surrounding Luther’s defiance before the Diet of Worms, where he refused to renounce his writings.

Why did Martin Luther condemn the “hordes of peasants” fighting the war he helped inspire?

This detailed portrait captures a high-ranking woman of the Tudor court, her rich attire and elaborate jewellery reflecting the wealth and status of England’s ruling elite.

This unassuming accessory gave the poor of Tudor England a vital way to survive

A large marble statue of a woman, with many bulbous growths all over her front

General ancient history

This ancient goddess commanded a Wonder of the World – but why did she have thirty breasts?

A depiction of an ensign and drummer recalls the German Peasants’ War of 1525, when rural rebels rose against feudal oppression.

In 1525, an army of revolting peasants seemed unstoppable – but a brutal end was on the horizon

This 2nd-century AD Roman mosaic from Mérida’s Casa del Anfiteatro depicts workers treading grapes to make wine. Scenes like this captured the rhythms of daily life across the Roman world, celebrating both agricultural labour and the pleasures of wine culture.

The ingenious Roman invention that sparked the ancient empire’s obsession with luxury

A portrait of F Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby who evoked the glamour and restlessness of the Art Deco era in his fiction.

Glitz, glamour and Gatsby? Not quite. Here’s why the Art Deco movement is darker than you think