People watching the Royal Wedding

United Kingdom

Weobley Castle, Swansea

‘Portrait of a Lady’ by Netherlandish painter Rogier van der Weyden, c1460. From the collection of the National Gallery, London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Art Media/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Medieval underwear: bras, pants and lingerie in the Middle Ages

BBC History Magazine

Was there ever an execution where rain saved someone from being burned at the stake?

BBC History Magazine

The Day Parliament Burned Down

Argyll’s Lodging, Stirling

The White Tower, one of the oldest parts of the Tower of London complex, was built by William the Conqueror. (Getty Images)

Castles of the Conqueror

A Victorian drawing room with pictures in heavy frames and ornately covered furniture, c1860. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Where history happened: Victorian collectors.

My history hero: Benjamin Disraeli (1804–81).

North East Aircraft Museum, Sunderland

Scenes of frivolity in the 16th century. (Culture Club/Getty Images)

Bad sports? Puritan attempts to ban games in 17th-century England.

Executed queen

Woodcutting depicting the beheading of Charles I. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Britain’s civil wars: the 15 key moments.

Fort George

BBC History Magazine

Guinness o'clock

An illustration depicting medieval pilgrims. (Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

The LibraryMedieval tourism: pilgrimages and tourist destinations.

The replica of 'The Matthew' arriving at Douarnenez, France in 1998. It was on the original 15th-century vessel that John Cabot travelled to North America. (Getty Images)

Where history happened: Tudor smuggling.

Peover Hall, Cheshire

BBC History Magazine

The BBC Story

Second World War

German bomber insurance

General prehistory

St Fagans, Cardiff

Procession portrait of Queen Elizabeth I. (Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

How Elizabeth I used parties as a weapon against the Catholic threat to her throne.

Arundel Castle, West Sussex

BBC History Magazine

Burst bubble

BBC History Magazine

Circulation: William Harvey’s Revolutionary Idea

A photograph of J Meade Falkner, c1915. He "had an extraordinary mind, the type you don't come across often," says Chris de Burgh of the novelist. (Public Domain)

My history hero: J Meade Falkner (1858-1932).

Durham Cathedral on a sunny day. Taken near to the water of the River Wear. (Dreamstime)

Where history happened: pilgrimage.

Richard I (also known as Richard the Lionheart) frequently dated documents with the 'regnal year'. An example of this might be "Winchester on the 23 day of April in the fifth year of our reign", which would translate to 23 April 1194. (Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

A legacy of the lionheart.

The charge of the Scots Greys at the battle of Waterloo, 18 June 1815, was immortalised in this famous painting of 1881 by Lady Elizabeth Butler (1846-1933). (Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Fighting Scots.

BBC History Magazine

The BBC Story

Pickering Castle, North Yorkshire