A Red Cross worker in the United States, 1918

Q&A

How did Spanish Flu get its name? When did our ancestors start using toilet paper? Why did the famous Crystal Palace burn down? And where was the WW1 Armistice signed? Here, your most burning questions about history are answered by historians and experts…

Scenic view of Cornwall

General HistoryvideoQ&AWhy is Cornwall called Cornwall?

Inflation hit Britain hard in the 1970s. Here activist Erin Pizz addresses a protest by housewives holdiing placards decrying rising food prices in July 1971

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Q&AUK inflation: how does today’s economic crisis compare to the 1970s?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Henry II

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What happened at the French court when Henry II died?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

21st CenturyvideoHow should we see the NHS's history on its 75th anniversary?

NHS nurses holding a baby.

20th CenturyvideoWas there ever a golden age of the NHS?

Indiana Jones

General HistoryvideoWas there a real Indiana Jones?

20th CenturyvideoWindrush at 75Why is arrival of Windrush such a key milestone?

TudorvideoQ&AWhat was the fascination behind Tudor codpieces?

RomanvideoSex, scandal and slander: who was Messalina?

General HistoryvideoChomolungaWhy is Mount Everest called Everest?

Australian bushrangers

General HistoryvideoQ&AWho were Australian bushrangers?

Junko Tabei and Ang Tsering pictured on the slopes of Everest

20th Century

Q&AWho was the first woman to climb Everest?

Two women share a tender moment, c1902

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Q&AHas it ever been a crime to be lesbian in England?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

20th Century

Q&AWhy did NORAD begin tracking Santa Claus in the Cold War?

The real Wenceslas is that he was not actually a king, but Duke of Bohemia.

Medieval

Q&AWho was Good King Wenceslas, and was he actually good?

Perhaps the most charming idea about the origins of the festive tradition of kissing under the mistletoe derives from a Viking myth of Frigg, goddess of love and marriage, and her ill-fated son Balder. (Photo by Jurg Waldmeier/StockFood Creative/Getty Images Plus)

Viking

Q&AWhy do we kiss under the mistletoe?

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Q&AWhat are the roots of dentistry?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Prime minister and king in black and white photo

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Q&APrior to 2022, has there ever been a new monarch and prime minister in Britain in the same week?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Photo of Ginger Rogers

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Q&AWhen did people start wearing sunglasses?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustration showing woman receiving a caesarean section

General History

Q&AWhat are the origins of the caesarean section?

Medieval

Q&AWhich king thought he was made of glass

A 1779 cartoon showing the United States as a horse, unseating its rider, George III

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Q&ADid George III read the American Declaration of Independence?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Tudors play real tennis, a precursor to the modern game of tennis

Tudor

Q&AWhat was Real Tennis?

The fourth earl of Sandwich, contemplating a sandwich in a thought bubble

Georgian

Did the Earl of Sandwich invent the sandwich?

A woman reading a vintage thesaurus

Ancient Greece

Q&AWho wrote the first thesaurus?

Medieval

Q&AWere vampires buried with a stake through their heart?

Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, better known to history as the Ladies of Llangollen

Georgian

Q&AWho were the Ladies of Llangollen?

Dancers perform in a Cinco de Mayo celebration

Victorian

Q&AWhat does Cinco de Mayo commemorate?

A wall mosaic of Picasso’s Guernica painting.

20th Century

Q&AWhy did Pablo Picasso paint Guernica?

Photo of Holy Trinity Church

Elizabethan

Q&AWhere is William Shakespeare buried – and is there a curse on his grave?

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