BBC History Magazine

A group of carol singers on a wintry night at Christmas time, c1890. (Photo by William M. Spittle/Fine Art Photographic/Getty Images)

Christmas songs – the oldest ones are the best

'Merry Christmas' Victorian illustration of Santa Claus holding toys and blowing on a trumpet, chromolithograph, 1915. (Illustration by GraphicaArtis/Getty Images)

The changing faces of Santa Claus

Christmas merriment in an old English manor in the 1500s. (Photo by North Wind Picture Archives/Alamy)

How to host a medieval Christmas

Trouble brewing: This illustration shows “Boston boys throwing tea into the harbour” on 16 December 1773. The protestors revelled in the opportunity to make a bold statement that would be felt across the world. (Getty images)

The global origins of the Boston Tea Party

A vintage colour postcard, possibly produced to send Christmas greetings from the frontline, somewhere on the Western Front, during the First World War, c1918. (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)

First World War

Christmas 10 ways Christmas was celebrated during the First World War

Queen Victoria pictured c1862 during her period of mourning after the death of her husband, Albert, Prince of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Prince Albert: the death that rocked the monarchy

The destroyer USS Shaw explodes in a massive fireball at Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941. The attack led almost immediately to Germany declaring war on America, and so brought Stalin an unexpected ally of colossal potential power, says Laurence Rees. (Bettmann/Getty Images)

Second World War

Pearl Harbor and Hitler’s devastating conclusions: why December 1941 was the most important month of the Second World War

Ministers vomit taxes into a large bag labelled 'budget', while the Prince Regent lurks with a list of expenses in this illustration from 1816. (Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

10 terrible taxes in history

Mary, Queen of Scots craved the throne occupied by her cousin Elizabeth I (pictured). Theirs was a relationship defined by plots, massacres, assassinations and ultimately, the executioner's sword. (Photo by Robert Alexander/Getty Images)

Deadly Rivals: Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots

Ada Lovelace “had a unique and farsighted insight into the potential of computers,” says James Essinger. (Photo by Getty Images)

Ada Lovelace: a visionary of computing

Engraved portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images).

In profile: Mary, Queen of Scots

Mary, Queen of Scots (reigned 1542–67) was “absolutely useless as queen of Scotland”, says historian Sean Lang. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

9 of the worst monarchs in history

The 30th Annual Academy Awards, Los Angeles, 1958. (Ralph Crane/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

13 remarkable moments in the history of the Oscars

Captain Lewis Edward Nolan, 15th Hussars, the Crimean War, 1854. (Photo by Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

The Charge of the Light Brigade: who blundered in the Valley of Death?