General ancient history

A group of young female Red Army snipers, East Prussia, February 1945 (Photo by Sovfoto/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

General ancient history

Women at war

'The Last Supper', 1803. A copy of the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the 1490s. Some think the superstition about Friday 13th being unlucky is related to the Last Supper, when 13 people were present at the meal before Jesus's crucifixion on Good Friday. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Q&A Why is Friday 13th considered unlucky?

c1955: A child pulls toilet paper from a roll. But what did humans do before toilet paper was invented? (Photo by Mac Gramlich/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

General ancient history

When was toilet paper invented and what did people use before?

Andrew Ziminski pictured at his workshop in Somerset.

General ancient history

Books interview with Andrew Ziminski: “The stonework at Stonehenge is a Gordian knot of mind-bogglingness”

Bottle of 'love potion'

General ancient history

Spanish fly, holy bread and mashed worms: history’s weirdest aphrodisiacs and love potions

An Athenian red-figure kylix (cup) dating from around 510–500 BC depicts a young pentathlete pulling his older lover towards him for a kiss. In many of the city-states of ancient Greece, sex between a man and a youth was an accepted – even idealised – form of love, its virtues extolled in works by writers including Plato. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

General ancient history

Pride and prejudice: same-sex relations through history

Portrait of John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan (Lord Lucan), who disappeared in 1974 following a bloody homicide

The curious case of Lord Lucan + 10 other mysterious disappearances from history

Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector

General Early Modern

Royalists, beards and cowardice: are these the strangest taxes in history?

Three monarchs who stepped down through history: Kaiser Wilhem II; Anne of Cleves; and James VII and II. (Images by Getty)

Retiring royals: 9 rulers and royals who stepped down through history

Ayatollah Khomeini

General ancient history

A brief history of Iran

Rosa Parks rides on a Montgomery bus

From Sutton Hoo to Rosa Parks: 50 giant leaps in history

A stained glass depiction of the nativity.

General ancient history

The history of the nativity: how much is known about the birth of Jesus?

The Trojan Horse – seen in the 2004 film Troy

How much of the legend of Troy is real?

Roman toilet

Tales of the toilet: a historical A–Z

Illustration by Davide Bonazzi

The big question: should museums return their treasures?