20th Century - Getty Images

20th Century

"She was like an angel – albeit one with claws": Zandra Rhodes chooses Adel Rootstein (1930–62) as her history hero. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Thomas Edison: life of the week. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A photo collage featuring three images. On the top left is a black and white photograph of a group of men and women pulling an aeroplane. On the bottom left is a black and white photograph of five men, three in military uniform, standing outside a hut that is advertising fish and chips. On the right is an image of a large group of soldiers walking through a city, holding large flags.

Fascism? No thanks! Why Britain rejected extremism in the 1930s. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A black and white photograph of three men wearing striped helmets sitting in a bob sled. Behind them, a large crowd of men, wearing white jumpers and caps and helmets

London 1908 was the weirdest Winter Olympics in history – and here's why. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A coloured engraving showing a large group queuing up to go into a dance ball. Each couple is holding hands, and the men are wearing high necked suits and the women are in long colourful gowns

Lonely hearts and holiday flings: a brief history of dating. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Two men sat outside a cafe with drinks on a table

First World War

How the work of American folk song collectors inspired The History of Sound

Francisco Franco: life of the week. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Robert McNamara: life of the week. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The hidden history of US immigration detention. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Emperor Hirohito: life of the week. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Marty Reisman and Timothee Chalamet as Marty Mauser in the 2025 film Marty Supreme.

No, Marty Supreme isn’t a true story. But the history of the real Marty Reisman is just as exciting

The summer that changed everything for the Kennedys. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Idi Amin's willing helpers. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A British government poster highlighting the dangers of Aids, 1987

Aids: the epidemic that changed Britain. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

WW2's Tunisian campaign: the Stalingrad of Africa. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Forgotten female secret agents of WW2. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

What does Hitler’s DNA really tell us?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

After Franco: Spain's miraculous transition to democracy. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A new history of multicultural Britain. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The librarian who stole KGB secrets. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

On 27 May 1954, Sir Winston Churchill addresses a meeting of the Women’s Conservative Association. Nearly a decade after leading Britain through the Second World War, the prime minister remained a commanding figure in British politics and public life.

Second World War

It was Operation Unthinkable: Churchill's "impossible" plan to start World War 3

The improbable alliance that defeated Hitler. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A black and white photograph showing a young boy playing with two girls in the sand

"Imagine starting a life with so little": the stories of South Asians in Britain. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Five partitions that shaped South Asia. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The REAL history behind 'All Creatures Great and Small'. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

In December 1929, investigator and ghost hunter Harry Price demonstrates an electric control device he designed to monitor a medium’s movements during séances. (Photo by Alamy)

When a Victorian ghost hunter investigated Britain’s most haunted house, this is what he found

Malcolm X: life of the week. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Frogmore Cottage and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Your history guide to Frogmore Cottage: who has lived there before?

A portrait of F Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby who evoked the glamour and restlessness of the Art Deco era in his fiction.

Glitz, glamour and Gatsby? Not quite. Here’s why the Art Deco movement is darker than you think

Reagan's plan to 'make America great again'. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.