Period

Prisoners exercise and play sport in the courtyard of the Fleet Prison, circa 1872

Timeline: a history of prisons in Britain

A portrait of Jane Seymour, queen of England from 1536 to 1537 as the third wife of Henry VIII. Jane is remembered for being the only wife to provide Henry with a son and male heir (the future Edward VI). Jane died on 24 October 1537, most likely from puerperal, or childbed, fever. (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)

Jane Seymour: the queen Henry VIII loved most?

Fern RiddellSex: Lessons from History.

A Roman soldier stands on guard during a re-enaction at Birdoswald Roman fort in Carlisle

QuizHow much do you know about the remains of Roman Britain?.

Jodie Turner-Smith as Anne Boleyn. (Photo by Parisa Taghizadeh courtesy of Channel 5)

Jodie Turner-Smith as Anne Boleyn: colour-blind casting and historical accuracy.

William Blake: “artist or genius, or mystic, or madman”.

Illustration of Brunhilda of Austrasia

The real Brunhild? The Visigothic princess behind the Norse saga

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Arrives Japan

Q&AHave the Olympic Games ever been cancelled?

c900 AD, Viking ships invading England. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

5 key Viking discoveries in Britain – and what they reveal about how the Vikings really lived

In partnership with Jorvik Viking Centre

Who was Britain’s greatest prime minister? Episode 7: Lord Salisbury.

QuizHow well do you know your warships?.

The curious tale of an Anglo-Saxon giant.

An aerial view of Tahiti

Jeanne Baret: the first known woman to circumnavigate the globe.

Tulsa race massacre: A man surveys the wreckage of homes in the Oklahoma city of Tulsa, June 1921. Two days of racist violence and destruction left what had been one of the United States’ wealthiest black communities in ruins

The 1921 Tulsa race massacre: the worst single incident of racial violence in US history.

The golden age of piracy: everything you wanted to know.

Why are we living longer than our ancestors?.

Painting the Tudors: Hans Holbein the Younger.

Bust of Germanicus, Roman General

In the footsteps of Germanicus - a Roman General’s journey to Egypt.

A page of the Codex Borbonicus, an Aztec folding book painted around the time of the Spanish invasion

What can the Aztecs tell us about themselves? The secrets of their 'indigenous annals'.

The crew of SMS King in its home port following the battle of the Skagerrak, June 1916. (Photo by A Renard/ullstein image via Getty Images)

First World War

Jutland: the battle that won the First World War

Bodiam Castle. (Getty Images)

How to build a medieval castle: 9 top tips

Alan Turing

Second World War

Your guide to Alan Turing: the man, the enigma

Bretons, Britons, Celts & King Arthur.

Melisende of Jerusalem

Melisende of Jerusalem: the queen of a crusader kingdom

Cat got your tongue? It certainly seems to be the case with this surprised tabby

Why do we say 'cat got your tongue'?

Who was Britain’s greatest prime minister? Episode 6: Winston Churchill.

What the Stasi did next.

A 19th-century engraving depicts a member of the crew of the 'Mignonette'

Cannibalism at sea: the starving Victorian sailors who ate a cabin boy

The Anarchy: everything you wanted to know.

Henry I proclaims Matilda as his heir

Your guide to the Anarchy, the bloody battle between Stephen and Matilda