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East German leader Willi Stoph greets West German chancellor Willy Brandt at Erfurt. (Getty images)

Cold War summits: how USA & USSR leaders worked to end the conflict

President Reagan and General Secretary Gorbachev together

What brought a thaw in the Cold War?

Photo of Ginger Rogers

Q&A When did people start wearing sunglasses?

Boris Johnson announces his resignation as leader of the Conservative party

Behind the news Why PMs get the push

A refugee family in a camp in Pakistan after the partition of British India in 1947

Enduring trauma: the legacy of partition

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What to read next The latest history books reviewed

Reverend Spencer Parsons, head of the Chicago branch of the Clergy Consultation Service (CCS), an interfaith group dedicated to helping women obtain abortions before 'Roe v Wade'

The American clergy who helped women get abortions before Roe v Wade

A British poster dated 1917 designed by Bert Thomas. (Photo by Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo)

A brief history of smoking

Flames and smoke are seen billowing from the roof at Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, 15 April 2019. Yet despite the devastation, the fire is “not the worst chapter in its 850-year history”, argues Dr Emily Guerry. (Patrick Anidjar/AFP/Getty Images)

Notre-Dame fire "It's extraordinary what has survived"

The origins of the Conservative Party can be traced to the ‘Tory’ group in parliament which emerged in the last quarter of the 17th century and, led by Lord Bolingbroke (pictured) and Robert Harley, held power during the final years of Queen Anne’s reign. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)

Why are they called Tories? A brief history of the Conservative Party

Montage of five British prime ministers: David Lloyd George, Neville Chamberlain, Anthony Eden, James Callaghan and Margaret Thatcher

Prime ministers Five of the greatest downfalls of the past 100 years

A portrait of Benjamin Franklin. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

The Treaty of Paris 1783: how to negotiate an exit

Woman wearing a bikini

Why we should remember The launch of the swimsuit that scandalised the world

An overturned vehicle on tramlines as a blockage to traffic during the General Strike of 1926

A brief history of strike action

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The life and death of Elvis Presley