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History Advent Calendar 2019

Advent calendar 2019: 24 facts about Christmas through history

Charles and Camilla, 1979

Prince Charles and Camilla: a history of their romance

Olivia Colman plays Elizabeth II

Netflix’s The Crown recap: the real history behind the series so far

The 1969 documentary was made amid a feeling that there was an increasing awareness of a need to ‘sell’ the monarchy to the people, writes historian Sarah Gristwood. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

‘Royal Family’: the fly-on-the-wall documentary the Palace doesn’t want you to see

Roman toilet

Tales of the toilet: a historical A–Z

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

5 acts of kindness that changed history

East Germans crowd around and on the Berlin Wall the day after the gates opened for free movement in 1989

What happened after the fall of the Berlin Wall?

Halloween postcard

10 things you didn’t know about the history (and mystery) of Halloween

Simon the cat

10 top cats in history

Harriet Tubman (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad: how one woman saved hundreds from hell

Minamoto fought Minamoto at Uji in 1184, giving the Taira enough time to regroup for a final stand. (Image by Alamy)

Clash of the Samurai: the history of Japan’s Genpei War

An African samurai: the tall, strong African man who acquired the name Yasuke in Japan was at first an object of curiosity but soon became a prized samurai warrior serving a powerful warlord in the violent intrigues that wracked the country during that volatile era. ((Illustration by Lynn Hatzius for BBC World Histories)

Yasuke: an African samurai in Japan

Princess Margaret attends the premiere of Captain Horatio Hornblower, Leicester Square, 1951. (Photo by Ron Burton/Keystone/Getty Images)

The Queen’s “rebel sister”: 8 facts about Princess Margaret

Cardinal John Henry Newman

How to become a saint

Queen Elizabeth II

The differences between UK and US governments: a brief guide