Period

A woman on a medieval ducking stool

Q&AQ&A: Were ducking stools ever used as punishment for crimes other than witchcraft during the Middle Ages?

An 18th-century public execution and crowd

Q&AWhen did people stop attending public executions in Britain?

Four soliders of the 36th Sikhs, various ranks, 1896. The regiment was led in January 1897 to occupy the Samana posts, says Captain Jay Singh-Sohal. (Reproduced with permission from australiansikhheritage.com)

The battle of Saragarhi: when 21 Sikh soldiers stood against 10,000 men

Statue of Lady Godiva

Q&ADid Lady Godiva ride naked in Coventry?

The fact that so many cultures have a myth about a devastating flood has led some historians to wonder if there may have been a real event that explains the myths. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

General prehistory

Q&AWas there really a 'Great Flood'?

Great Pyramid of Giza

5 facts about the Great Pyramid of Giza

Photo by Klaus Vedfelt via Getty Images

Top tips for studying history at university

Ladies-in-waiting

General History

Q&AWhat did a lady-in-waiting actually do?

US President John F Kennedy gives his first State of the Union address to Congress at the House of Representatives, Washington DC, 30 January 1961. Kennedy is one of eight presidents to have died during their term in office. (Photo by NASA/SSPL/Getty Images)

Q&AHow many US presidents died in office?

William of Orange at the battle of the Boyne

Q&AWhen was England last successfully invaded by a foreign power?

Mary, Queen of Scots and her ladies-in-waiting. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Mary, Queen of Scots: what happened to her ladies-in-waiting?

A beach scene at an Easter Bank Holiday at Southend, c1927. In 1871, the Bank Holiday Act established the first paid days off for commonworkers in England, while some senior managers could be granted extra leave. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Q&AWhen were Brits first given leave from work to go on holiday?

Soldiers standing on the western front during WW2

Second World War

10 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Second World War

In 1358, women finally gained full knightly acceptance in England when they began to be admitted to chivalric orders. (Photo by Eugene Antonov/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Q&ACould a woman become a knight in medieval times?

Emperor Nero and the fire in Rome

Q&ADid Emperor Nero really play the fiddle while Rome burned?

The leaning tower of Pisa

Q&AWhy does the Tower of Pisa lean to one side?

Brendan Sims, professor of the history of international relations at the University of Cambridge

Books interview with Brendan Simms: “Hitler didn’t see Germany’s main enemy as Soviet communism, but Anglo-American capitalism”

19th-century mugshots

The real Peaky Blinders

Aerial view of Dover Castle

ExploreExplore Dover Castle: Britain’s first line of defence

Taxing the rich to feed the poor in the 17th century: the world's first welfare state

Native American leader Sitting Bull

History heroSteven Knight chooses Sitting Bull (1831–90)

A 16th-century map showing Magellan's ship

A voyage from hell: how Magellan’s circumnavigation of the world changed history

US soldiers in Vietnam

From the Napoleonic Wars to Vietnam and Iraq: a history of war trauma

Changdeokgung Palace in South Korea

TravelSeoul, South Korea: a modern metropolis rising from ruins

Families in a London slum, c1900

From slums to suburbs: Britain’s council house revolution

Cavalry charge into a crowd of protesters at St Peter's Field, Manchester, as depicted in an 1819 engraving. What followed was the worst violence ever to occur at a political meeting in Britain. (Picture by Alamy)

The Peterloo Massacre: what did it achieve?

A sculpture dedicated to King Leonidas of the Spartans in Thermopylae, Greece. (Photo by iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Q&AWere there really only 300 Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae?

Margaretha Geertruida Zelle called Mata Hari (Photo by Apic/Getty Images)

First World War

Mata Hari: exotic dancer, femme fatale, traitor and spy

General Early Modern

Everything you need to know about the Holy Roman Empire

A portrait of Sir Walter Ralegh

Q&ADid Sir Walter Ralegh really lay down his cloak for Elizabeth I?