20th Century

Soldiers from the Women's Royal Army Corps

Second World War

A brief guide to VE Day

Expelled Germans leaving Poland's western territories

Second World War

“The war without an end”: what happened in Europe after VE Day?

Bird's eye view: An old woman with a 'fortune telling' parakeet in 1920s London. Those who questioned science and reason in postwar Britain were

First World War

The rise of spiritualism after WW1

The Floralia

What is the history behind May Day and why do we celebrate it?

Hillsborough Disaster floral tributes

A brief history of the Hillsborough disaster and justice campaigner Anne Williams, ahead of ITV drama Anne

Sunset at the Chephren Pyramid, Giza, Egypt

Searching for the pharaohs: where are the tombs of Ancient Egypt’s missing kings and queens?

Lieutenant Colonel Percy Fawcett

Percy Fawcett and the search for the ‘Lost City Of Z’

Photo of JFK in the motorcade

Who killed JFK? The case that can never be closed

Troops pictured during the Gallipoli campaign of the First World War

First World War

Gallipoli: 5 reasons why the First World War campaign was a failure

Otto Wächter pictured with his family, 1944. (Photo by Orion Publishing Group)

Second World War

A Nazi mystery

Princess Elizabeth 1939

The young Elizabeth II: life before she was Queen

Coco Chanel photographed in Paris, c1936

Second World War

Chanel and the Riviera

Capone (in the plain white hat) leaves court after being found guilty in 1931. As well as receiving a prison sentence, he was also made to pay his taxes. (Image by Alamy)

Who was Al Capone and how was he convicted of tax evasion?

In writing his classical novel, Orwell drew on the very real horrors of the 20th century. (Illustration by Ben Jones for BBC World Histories Magazine)

Rewriting the past: the history that inspired Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four

A Wall Street speculator tries to sell his car to passersby

In a nutshell: the Great Depression