BBC History Magazine

The online archive of articles from BBC History Magazine

Edward Jenner

Georgian

Q&AWhen did medical practitioners start to be called ‘doctor’?

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Richard the radical: was Richard III a champion of the people?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Nelson's passion for Emma – with whom he had a six-year affair – is writ large in his letters

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Nelson in his own words. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Georg Elser, a little-known carpenter-turned-assassin whose daring attempt to kill Hitler almost succeeded

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Georg Elser: the man who nearly assassinated Hitler. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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David Olusoga“The Victorians constructed a great empire of abstinence”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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History heroAndrew Marr chooses Charles Darwin (1809–82). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

One of the burial mounds at Sutton Hoo

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How dark were the Dark Ages?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Portchester Castle in Hampshire was intended as a coastal defence against raiders. (Photo by Getty Images)

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The collapse of Roman Britain: what happened, plus 9 places which tell us more. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

George Washington Carver in a laboratory

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History heroGillian Burke chooses George Washington Carver (c1864–1943). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

This 15th-century painting from a manuscript shows men fishing in a river. In medieval England, eels were both meals and de facto currency. (Photo by Bridgeman)

Medieval

Fishing for gold: how eels powered the medieval economy

20th Century

The death of John Lennon: what happened?

Almond Hedgehog: A debonair addition to the hostess’s armoury in the Georgian period. (Illustration by Clair Rossiter for BBC History Magazine)

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What was the best meal in history?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Fern Riddell.

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Fern Riddell"Can we call the suffragettes terrorists? Absolutely". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Rushton Triangular Lodge was ostensibly a warrener's lodge but the biblical references that adorn its three exterior walls tell a different story. (Photo English Heritage/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

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History explorer: Catholic resistance to Elizabeth I. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Alfred Nobel (Bettmann/Getty Images)

General Modern

The history of the Nobel Prizes

This engraving by William Hogarth shows the final instalment of a sequence of artworks called 'The Four Stages of Cruelty' (1751). In it, the fictional Tom Nero is being dissected for anatomical studies at Cutlerian theatre near Newgate prison after being hanged for murder. Nero looks like the Dead-Alive, as though he can see and smell his own executed body on the dissection table. The chief physician sits in the centre on a high-backed chair, resembling a high court judge. He is surrounded by various medical men, including penal surgeons, who did gallows work. The skeletons of dissected criminals were usually refused a Christian burial and so were displayed as specimens, as can be seen top left and top right. (Photo by Guildhall Library/Getty Images)

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Surviving the gallows: the Georgian hangings that didn't go to plan. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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The colonial secrets of Britain’s stately homes. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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

Stuart

Father Christmas and Santa Claus: a brief history of two Christmas champions

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David Olusoga“Desks went from a niche furniture item to the work station of millions”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustration showing Roman Saturnalia banquet. (Photo by Alamy)

Roman

Saturnalia: the origins of the debauched Roman 'Christmas'

A 19th-century engraving of Francis Grose

Georgian

History heroSusie Dent chooses Francis Grose (1731–1791)

Tudor

A brief history of turkeys, plus why we eat a turkey dinner at Christmas

The future King George VI playing at the Wimbledon tennis championships, 1926

20th Century

How George VI's sheer ordinariness made him the darling of the nation

Ian Fleming, British author and creator of the James Bond character

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James Bond in real life: where did Ian Fleming's inspirations come from?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A 14th-century illustration showing medieval butchery. (Photo by Prisma/UIG via Getty Images)

Medieval

The medieval marketplace: a time traveller’s guide to shopping in the Middle Ages

Charles Darwin

Victorian

Charles Darwin vs God: did the 'Origin of Species' cause a clash between church and science?

Boys playing conkers in 1926. Horse chestnuts played an unlikely role in the war effort just a few years earlier. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

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Did conkers help win the First World War?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Claudia Jones at the Brixton offices of 'The West Indian Gazette'

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Black British historyBritain's black trailblazers. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A policewoman gives directions to tourists in London in the 1920s.

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“Sherlock Holmes in skirts”: the world's first policewomen. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Young Belgian refugees wave a British flag during celebrations for Belgian National Day in London during the First World War

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Belgian refugees in WW1 Britain: were they welcome guests?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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