Weird and Wonderful History Week

People gather around the Mona Lisa painting on January 4, 1914 in Paris France, after it was stolen from the ouvre by Vincenzo Peruggia in 1911. (Photo by Roger-Viollet/Getty Images)

6 weird things that have happened in August through history

German women carrying children believed to be part of the Lebensborn programme, which aimed to raise the birth rate of blonde-haired, blue-eyed ‘Aryan’ children through interbreeding. (Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

Second World War

The woman who gave birth for Hitler

Coca cola bottles from the 1990s

From Velcro to Viagra: 10 products that were invented by accident

While young ladies may have been daydreaming of handsome film stars such as Cary Grant, pictured here kissing the cheek of Ingrid Bergman in a publicity still for the 1946 film ‘Notorious’, agony aunts were keen to bring them back down to earth. (Photo by John Springer Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

How to be a man: tips from 1930s agony aunts

A woodcut print depicting the stocks, a form of Elizabethan punishment. Dated 16th century. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

“Damn your blood”: Swearing in early modern English

Chastity belt decorated with a flower design and a heart pierced with arrows. (SSPL/Getty Images)

13 weird historical facts

Illustration by Owen Davey

A brief history of human filth

c1916: British soldiers sitting around a lamp in their trench. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

First World War

10 First World War slang words we still use today

In this painting from c1650, a witch wields a broomstick as demons and 'familiars' (helpers of witches) congregate before her. (Photo by Rischgitz/Getty Images)

History quiz – witchcraft and superstition

King Ludwig II of Bavaria. (Photo by Roger Viollet/Getty Images)

9 eccentric monarchs through history

The reconcilliation between Thomas Becket and Henry II. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

From the handshake to the high-five: a brief history of gestures

The arrival of Sir Walter Raleigh (1552-1618), in Virginia, leading to the settlement established on Roanoke Island under John White (c.1540-93 (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

What happened to the lost colony of Roanoke Island?

Biddenden Maids Cake. (Public Domain)

Sisters of mercy: the Biddenden Maids

c1930: a man wrestles his tamed bear. (Photo by Imagno/Getty Images)

Bizarre England: 11 of the strangest attractions and traditions in history