20th Century - Getty Images

20th Century

King George V and his wife, Queen Mary, pictured during a visit to Dublin in 1911. The royal couple were deeply conservative but common sense taught them they had to adapt to the modern world. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

How George and Mary saved the royal family. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A postboy drives a mail coach in a contemporary illustration. Soon after their introduction in 1784, coaches were traversing the country at speeds of up to 10mph. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Red Letter Days: 10 milestones in the history of the Post Office. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

American golfer Bobby Jones practising his swing on the roof of the Savoy Hotel in London. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

My history hero: Robert Tyre Jones (1902–71)

Clarence Harry Willcock MP, who refused to show his identity card to a policeman, 13 June 1951. (Photo by Walter Bellamy/Express/Getty Images)

My history hero: Clarence Willcock. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

British microbiologist and discoverer of penicillin, Alexander Fleming. (Photo by Ipsumpix/Corbis via Getty Images)

A big day in history: Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Anti-capitalist graffiti referencing the Nike slogan ‘Just Do It’. Mayday riots, London, 2001. (Photo by PYMCA/UIG via Getty Images)

Opinion: should historians comment on current affairs?

Keith LoweThe trouble with historical monuments. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Kathleen Kenyon challenged biblical accounts with her pioneering work at the ancient city of Jericho. (Photo by Bettmann/contributor via Getty Images)

My history hero: Kathleen Kenyon (1906–78). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Vasily Grossman with the Red Army in Schwerin, Germany, 1945. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

A war of words. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The front page of the first edition of The Sun newspaper. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)

A big day in history: The Sun first appeared on shelves in newsagents. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Hans Litten (centre) in court while representing communists, 25 August 1932. Litten’s decision to subpoena Hitler a year earlier was to cost him his life. (Photo by ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

Hitler in the dock. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Schoolchildren helping workmen construct a new estate of pre-fabricated houses in Watford, Hertfordshire in 1946 following the devastation of the Second World War. (Photo by Keystone Features/Getty Images)

Postwar squatters: a very British uprising. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Sir Alec Clegg was the founder of Bretton Hall College (pictured), a West Yorkshire college specialising in arts and performance. (Photo by Memitina/Getty Images)

My history hero: Sir Alec Clegg (1909-86). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Does Russia need an iron fist?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

My history hero: Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881–1938). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A big day in history: the debate on whether Britain should join the European Community. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

My history hero: Douglas Bader (1910–82)

A historical image from the iron and steel industry in Teeside

Industrial revolution

175 years of iron and steel

Ruby Sparks: the smash-and-grab gangster. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Toilers of the deep: the lives of Edwardian deep sea fishermen

Rebellion and terrorism. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A bus makes its way down Fleet Street towards Ludgate Hill Circus and St Paul's Cathedral, London, c1888. (Photo by London Stereoscopic Company/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A history of the high street

American author Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910) who wrote under the pseudonym of Mark Twain, standing outside on a porch. (Photo by Time Life Pictures/Mansell/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Mark Twain: America’s historical conscience?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A 'poster parade' of Ealing suffragettes advertising a meeting to be held on Ealing Common, 1 June 1912. (Photo by Museum of London/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

9 historical sites linked to the suffragettes movement. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Dandy Gandhi to naked Fakir: the Indian leader's revolutionary dress code. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

My history hero: Philip Pembroke Stephens (1903–37). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

British soldier, explorer and big game hunter Frederick Selous, pictured in 1914. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The hunter who became a naturalist. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Alfred Jewel: gold, rock, crystal and enamel

Objects of affection

Sunbathers enjoy some fun and games at a tennis court near a lido at Castle Mill, Cheshire, August 1936

The 1930s: When the future looked bright. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Broadcaster Simon Mayo

My history hero: William Trevelyan Richards. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.