HistoryExtra
type: channel
link: https://www.historyextra.com
description: The official website for BBC History Magazine
date: 2025-12-12T08:56:55.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: Ghosts, gods & sea monsters: a supernatural history of the Atlantic
items: AI: good or bad for history? Our experts weigh in
items: Beyond the Podcast
items: The US 'voodoo' scare: why 19th-century racists spread fake news about Haiti
items: Quiz of the week: which famous novelist disappeared on 3 December 1926?
items: Christmas history myths DEBUNKED | The origins you never knew
items: From goat eyelids to bread: history's 12 strangest sex toys
items: Star witness: how the Royal Observatory transformed our understanding of astronomy and time
items: What causes cultures to decline and fall?
items: Why do ‘wicked’ witches wear pointed hats? The real history explained

Ghosts, gods & sea monsters: a supernatural history of the Atlantic
type: item
date: 2025-12-12T08:56:55.000Z
creator: Jon Bauckham
subject: General History
subject: Membership
subject: Period
description: Karl Bell dives into the eerie and enchanting folklore of the Atlantic Ocean, revealing how supernatural stories helped sailors navigate a perilous world
encoded: For centuries, sailors crossing the Atlantic believed they were not alone – haunted by ghost ships, watched by mermaids, and stalked by sea monsters. Historian Karl Bell talks to Jon Bauckham about the stories that dominated the maritime imagination, and what role these fishy tales might play in our understanding of the ocean today. Karl Bell is the author of The Perilous Deep: A Supernatural History of the Atlantic (Reaktion, 2025). Buy it now from Reaktion

Karl-Bell-Ghosts-gods-and-sea-monsters-WL-AN-5b4fc09.jpg
width: 1500
height: 1000

AI: good or bad for history? Our experts weigh in
type: item
date: 2025-12-10T09:00:39.000Z
subject: General History
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Column
subject: Debate
subject: Holocaust
description: As artificial intelligence penetrates almost every aspect of our lives, six historians debate whether the opportunities it offers to the discipline outweigh the threats
encoded: “We must experiment thoughtfully, push back critically, and make the case that slow, humanistic thinking still matters” Artificial intelligence isn’t inherently good or bad. Like the printing press or the written word itself, AI is a force – and whether it enhances or undermines historical practice will depend on who uses it, how, and why. AI’s most obvious advantage is that it can process vast amounts of data much faster than your regular historian, which turns it into an incredible asset. The trick here is to use it as it was originally meant to be used – not to replace human interpretation but to identify patterns that humans might not notice and, thus, to enable us to come up with better, more nuanced questions. But it goes beyond that. AI is forcing historians to rethink what constitutes evidence, authorship and interpretation. In doing so, it is not just supporting existing historical methods, it’s helping evolve them. Though I am not worried that historians will be replaced by AI any time soon, there is a risk that indiscriminate use might flatten out the practice. Good history requires doubt, contradiction, ambivalence, even uncertainty, but AI models are designed to produce smooth answers even when the data is messy or the past is unknowable. Moreover, history isn’t just knowledge – it’s a method of knowing. If AI shortcuts the method, it threatens the discipline’s integrity. There is little doubt that AI will be part of historical research, but it is crucial that historians shape its use to enhance rather than undermine our craft. We should resist the urge to scale for scale’s sake, and instead use AI to deepen, not dilute, historical understanding. If we do that, and embed AI within the discipline’s values – critical thinking, reflexivity, contextual awareness – then historians will become central in answering the question of whether AI is good or bad for history. We must experiment thoughtfully, push back critically, and make the case that slow, humanist…

Is-AI-good-or-bad-for-history-ver02-c-Hugh-Cowling-e827a20-e1765188954890.jpg
width: 1500
height: 1000

Beyond the Podcast
type: item
date: 2025-12-09T11:57:36.000Z
creator: Kev Lochun
subject: General History
subject: Period
description: Go beyond our Sunday Series podcasts with these curated selections of essential reading from the HistoryExtra and BBC History Magazine archive

BEYOND-POD-banner-6f6c2dd.jpg
width: 1500
height: 1000

The US 'voodoo' scare: why 19th-century racists spread fake news about Haiti
type: item
date: 2025-12-08T09:00:17.000Z
subject: General History
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Historical events
subject: Slavery
description: From sexual orgies to Satan incarnated as a snake, lurid depictions of ‘voodoo’ in North America long titillated and shocked readers. As David G Cox explains, they were also wielded as justifications for racist oppression during the social and political upheavals of the 19th-century US
encoded: On 2 January 1893, the black American abolitionist and reformer Frederick Douglass delivered a lecture on Haiti to an audience in Chicago. It was widely alleged, he reflected, that the Caribbean republic was riddled with “voodooism, fetishism, serpent worship and cannibalism”, and that “little children are fatted for slaughter and offered as sacrifices to their voodoo deities”. Such claims, Douglass declared, were false. He told his listeners that, while serving as US minister (effectively, ambassador) to Haiti between 1889 and 1891, he found no evidence of ritual sacrifice, despite diligent investigation. By the time Douglass spoke in Chicago, the idea of Haitian ‘voodoo’ as a murderous cult was lodged in the American public consciousness. As he noted, the features of this myth would have been familiar to many. According to scores of white writers at the turn of the 20th century, ‘voodoo’ was an imported African religion devoted to the worship of Satan incarnated as a snake. ‘Voodoo’ ceremonies, it was claimed, consisted of frenzied dances, sexual orgies and the ritual sacrifice of animals or humans followed by the consumption of their bodies or blood. The priests and priestesses of this imaginary faith were said to be the real rulers of Haiti, holding all its citizens – from presidents to peasants – in the grip of terror. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2025/12/GettyImages-556636225webready-f31fffd-e1765183494712.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="A painting of a black man dressed in a suit with a small bow tie. He has short hair and a thick moustache" title="Ebenezer Bassett denounced claims that the black-led Caribbean nation was a hotbed of ‘voodoo’ cannibalism and human sacrifice (Image by Getty Images)" /> In 1901, claims about Haitian ‘voodoo’ coalesced in a widely reprinted newspaper report on the “demoniacal orgies” of this purported “devil’s cult”. Supposedly reproducing the findings of the famous American geologist …

LEADVodouwebready-d74c5fb-e1765182301774.jpg
width: 1500
height: 1000

Quiz of the week: which famous novelist disappeared on 3 December 1926?
type: item
date: 2025-12-05T08:30:00.000Z
subject: General History
subject: Period
subject: Quiz
subject: Evergreen
description: How much have you been paying attention to this week's content on HistoryExtra? Test your knowledge with our quiz…
encoded: Test your knowledge with our general knowledge weekly history quiz... View Riddle on the source website More from us Exclusive quizzes for HistoryExtra members from our archives The ultimate Windors quiz The ultimate Second World War quiz How well do you know the history behind everyday inventions? Who's missing from these images? Not a HistoryExtra member? Explore our latest membership offers How did you score? Share your result on social media to see how your knowledge compares with other HistoryExtra readers!

Weekly-Quiz-WL-7ab0a2a.jpg
width: 620
height: 413

Christmas history myths DEBUNKED | The origins you never knew
type: item
date: 2025-12-04T08:04:20.000Z
creator: Lauren Good
subject: General History
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Christmas
description: Who invented Santa Claus? Why do we love Christmas trees so much? And when was Jesus really born? HistoryExtra's Lauren Good explains more
encoded: Who invented Santa Claus? Why do we love Christmas trees so much? And when was Jesus really born? Lauren Good explores the real history behind our Christmas traditions. View Green Video on the source website

YT-Thumb-Lauren-Xmas-AN-1-282aa92.jpg
width: 4000
height: 2250

From goat eyelids to bread: history's 12 strangest sex toys
type: item
date: 2025-11-29T18:00:37.000Z
creator: Hilary Mitchell
subject: General History
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Historical people
description: Our ancestors weren’t quite as prudish as we like to think they were. Hilary Mitchell looks at some of the tools past generations have used in the pursuit of sexual pleasure – from steam-powered vibrators to goat eyelids
encoded: This article contains explicit descriptions of sex and sexual practices throughout – please use discretion 1. The Hohle Fels phallus Around 28,000 years ago, an effigy of a human penis was left inside Hohle Fels cave, southwestern Germany. Made from fine-grained siltstone, the object was meticulously ground, polished and etched with grooves at both ends. Given its polished surface and true-to-life size, some researchers have suggested it may well have been an early masturbatory aid – or the first-ever dildo, to put it bluntly. However, that was not the artefact’s only possible purpose. When University of Tübingen archaeologist Nicholas J Conard first announced the find in 2005, he suggested that it was also used for knapping flints. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2025/11/1D3GB1X-3e0e6f1-e1764240558215.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="A man holds a phallus-shaped object in his hands, while a woman points to it. In the background, a group of people are working on excavating the floor of a cave" title="Archaeologists Nicholas Conrad and Petra Kieselbach pose with the Hohle Fels phallus shortly after its discovery in 2005" /> 2. Bread Yes, that’s right. As well as being a staple food in ancient times, bread may also have been used for less salubrious purposes. A passage from the Babylonian Talmud, for instance, contains a description of what should be done to treat a man afflicted by a puncture in his penis. The suggested solution is that a piece of warm barley bread should be placed on the man’s anus to induce ejaculation, proving whether or not the perforation has properly healed. Notably, the ancient Greeks are also said to have used makeshift sex toys known as olisbokollikes: batons of stale bread that were inserted into the anus, using olive oil as lubrication. It may sound far-fetched (and could have just been a rude joke), but the practice is mentioned in the lexicon of Hesychius of Alexandria, compiled in the fifth or si…

LEAD-Historical-sex-toys-474a7b7.jpg
width: 1500
height: 1000

Star witness: how the Royal Observatory transformed our understanding of astronomy and time
type: item
date: 2025-11-26T09:00:37.000Z
subject: General History
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Education
subject: Historical events
subject: Space
subject: The Restoration
description: From the moment it was founded 350 years ago, the Royal Observatory in Greenwich drove our understanding of astronomy, navigation and time. Louise Devoy explores eight milestones in the history of this pioneering scientific institution
encoded: The big bang moment 1675: Charles II sparks a star-gazing revolution In the 17th century, the great maritime nations were vying to solve a puzzle that had confounded philosophers for many centuries: how to determine exact positions on the Earth’s surface. And in Britain, Charles II took a major step to ensure his realm’s position at the head of the pack. On 4 March 1675, the king signed a royal warrant appointing John Flamsteed as the first “astronomical observator”, tasked with “perfecting the art of navigation”. Flamsteed’s specific objective was to devise a method by which sailors could establish their longitude (east–west position) at sea – which involved measuring the positions of celestial bodies – and of knowing the time at a ship’s local position. And Flamsteed would get to carry out this vital research from the surroundings of the country’s first state-funded, purpose-built scientific institution: the Royal Observatory. It was urgent work, because England’s great rival, France, had stolen a march: Louis XIV had established an observatory in Paris nearly a decade earlier. Flamsteed was, in effect, playing catch-up. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2025/11/T809MT-CMYKWeb-Ready-7606aa3.jpg" width="2663" height="1775" alt="an illustration showing a large crowd looking at several artefacts including a globe, a map, and a satellite dish" title="King Louis XIV visits the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris in 1671. The creation of an observatory in the French capital had left England playing catch-up (Image by Alamy)" /> The size of the task facing the astronomer clearly wasn’t lost on Charles II, for the king appointed none other than the celebrated architect Christopher Wren to design the observatory. Wren’s chosen site was the hilltop ruins of Greenwich Castle – and it was here that the foundation stone was laid on 10 August 1675. With its lofty windows, royal portraits and accurate pendulum clocks, the octagonal ‘star chamber…

LEAD-Greenwichwebreadyopener-a4e3f0d.jpg
width: 1376
height: 914

What causes cultures to decline and fall?
type: item
date: 2025-11-26T09:00:07.000Z
creator: Matt Elton
subject: General History
subject: Membership
subject: Period
description: Islam Issa, Caroline Dodds Pennock and Luke Kemp explore what causes a culture to collapse – and whether history has any lessons for us in the 21st century
encoded: The new BBC TV series Civilisations: Rise and Fall charts the decline of some of history's most famous cultures, from the Aztecs to the ancient Egyptians. Three of its experts – Islam Issa, Caroline Dodds Pennock and Luke Kemp – joined Matt Elton to explore some of the series' major themes, and why stories of a civilisation's decline might be more complicated than we first think.

Islam-Issa-BBC-Civilisations-WL-and-AN-e1b3e34.jpg
width: 3125
height: 2083

Why do ‘wicked’ witches wear pointed hats? The real history explained
type: item
date: 2025-11-21T15:20:39.000Z
creator: Jonny Wilkes
subject: General History
subject: Period
subject: TV interest
subject: Witches
description: There have been many examples of pointed hats in history, but it remains unclear how any of them became a must-wear for the witches
encoded: We’re off to see… the Wicked Witch of the West, as she returns to the silver screen in Wicked: For Good, the second part of the fantasy epic based on the popular stage musical. But where would Elphaba be without her trademark look, including the iconic black, pointed and wide-brimmed hat? Along with a cat, broomstick and black robes, the pointed hat is a required feature of any depiction of the typical ‘evil witch’, and has been for centuries. How it became the headgear of choice, however, remains the subject of numerous theories – as there is no single hat to point the way to the archetypal witch. The myth of the alewives Before getting to the major theories, there is one that can be debunked. The internet is well-populated with the claim that the image of the witch began with alewives, medieval women who brewed ale in their homes and sold it locally. Dominating the brewing industry for a time, these women could achieve a degree of financial independence. In an era where any woman who baulked social norms was suspicious, this autonomy would have been enough to single them out, putting them at risk of being accused of witchcraft. In addition, the fact that they stood over bubbling cauldrons while brewing and wearing pointed hats to be easily spotted at markets, it is clear why some have argued that alewives were the inspiration for the image of the witch. Except, there is just zero historical evidence to back this up. The highly symbolic history of the pointed witch hat Instead, theories have taken in pointy hats from throughout history, some with highly symbolic meaning. The Phrygian cap of antiquity, for instance, came to represent liberty and freedom in the American and French Revolutions of the 18th century, while the ancient Romans presented freed slaves with a special pointed felt cap, called a pileus. In medieval Europe, the hennin came into fashion: an extremely tall cone with flowing material hanging out of the top. Yet while it certainly has a resemblance …

Witcheshat-d940771.jpg
width: 1500
height: 1000