Period

Peasants in the Middle Ages at a cattle market. Cows appear to have been difficult to manage in the medieval period, and caused several deaths. (Photo by INTERFOTO /Alamy)

5 strange causes of death in the medieval period. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

1960s model. (Photo by Alamy)

Women in the 1960s. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A Spanish publisher works on cloning the illustrated codex hand-written manuscript Voynich. (Photo by CESAR MANSO/AFP/Getty Images)

How the Voynich manuscript hit the headlines

What was it like meeting Queen Victoria? 6 royal encounters as told by famous Victorians. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A group of household servants photographed in Northumberland, c1860–80. (Photo by SSPL/Getty Images)

What was life like as a 19th-century servant?

Gentleman Jack, Suranne Jones as Anne Lister (Photo by BBC/Lookout Point/Jay Brooks)

Gentleman Jack. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

In 1937, Amelia Earhart, one of the world’s most famous aviators, apparently disappeared without a trace during an attempt to circumnavigate the globe. (Photo by SSPL/Getty Images)

From Jack the Ripper to Amelia Earhart: 17 unsolved historical mysteries. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

After her recovery from smallpox, Queen Elizabeth I started using a ceruse foundation on her face, neck and chest. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

5 weird habits of royals through history

Funeral of Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme

Who killed Olof Palme?

In his native Como, Pliny the Younger's fame is reflected in his statue on the city cathedral's imposing west front, which was built in the 15th century. (Image by AKG Images)

Pliny's Rome: Vesuvius, vice and vestal virgins. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

British troops learn to swim in full kit on a training course in May 1944. "A blind man could see something big was about to happen," said one soldier. (Image by Getty Images)

D-Day: why the training was deadlier than the assault. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A portrait of Fridtjof Nansen, taken after his daring expedition across Greenland. (Image by Alamy)

My history heroPaul Rose chooses Fridtjof Nansen

A 1954 illustration of a woman wearing nylons. Lightweight, easy to conceal and fiercely sought after, stockings were a favourite with smugglers. (Photo by Bridgeman)

Nylon pirates: the postwar craze for cut-price stockings. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A 16th-century woodcut by Albrecht Dürer entitled 'The true and false apostles of Christ'. As the Reformation recast Europe's spiritual landscape, many believers fretted that their religion no longer felt true to them. (Photo by Alamy)

The fury that fuelled the rise of atheism. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Looking out across the Channel, shell craters pockmark Pointe du Hoc – a German artillery position seized by US Rangers. The promontory is one of many reminders of D-Day along the Normandy coastline. (Photo by Getty Images)

History explorer: D-Day beaches. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Historian and geographer Jared Diamond

Books interview with Jared Diamond: “With countries, as with people, crises attract attention”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Jared Diamond (Photo by Jochen Braun)

Jared Diamond on countries in crisis. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Henry, who would would later accede to the throne as Henry VIII, as a baby. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Young Henry VIII: the boy who would be king

Great Pyramid of Giza. Egypt. (Photo by Olgakostenko | Dreamstime.com)

10 of the most surprising numbers in history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Marc Morris at BBC History Magazine's 2017 History Weekend (Photo by Steve Sayers)

Secrets of Britain’s castles. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A Victorian lady washing in the nude

In pictures: erotic postcards of the early 20th century

Winston Churchill making the famed ‘V’ for Victory sign. (Image by Bettmann/Getty Images)

Second World War

Winston Churchill facts: 9 things you might not know about the WW2 prime minister

Jim Sturgess as George Boleyn and Natalie Portman as Anne Boleyn. in the film 'The Other Boleyn Girl' (2008) (Photo by Alamy)

The rise and fall of the Boleyns. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The name Archie was originally a nickname for Archibald, which derived from the Anglo-Saxon name Eorconbeald, and the Old High German name Erchenbald, says Carolyn Harris. (Photo by Dominic Lipinski - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor: the history behind the royal baby name. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

King Edward IV, who used the surname Plantagenet. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Q&AWhen did British kings and queens start using surnames?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Members of Preston Ladies' Football Club (formerly Dick, Kerr’s Ladies) pose while carrying out leg exercises during practice, March 1937. (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

1921: the year when football banned women. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Norman invasion of Ireland took place during the second half of the 12th century. This military intervention had the backing of King Henry II of England and was authorised by Pope Adrian IV. Here you can see Henry II landing at Waterford in 1171. (Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images)

The Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland: 850 years on. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A c1850 bronze statue by Thomas Thornycroft commemorating Boudica and her daughters. (Photo by Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Boudica: scourge of the Roman empire

Rye House in Hertfordshire, which became the Parr family home in 1517, when Katherine was around five years old. (© James Schutte/Alamy Stock Photo)

8 places associated with Henry VIII’s wives. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

HMS Portsmouth, Hampshire. (Getty Images)

History explorerHMS Victory and the Georgian navy. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.