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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?

Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico's left-wing president who in 1940 legalised drugs. (Photo by Henry Guttmann/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The year Mexico legalised drugs.

An 1824 cartoon depicting the drinking escapades of Oxford students. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The history of student life: 7 things you didn’t know.

Why black hair matters.

One of the earliest and most famous examples of extremism comes from ancient Rome. Starting in 264 BC and continuing for more than a century, Rome engaged in a series of wars with neighbouring Carthage. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A brief history of extremism – from ancient Rome to al Qaeda.

Q&A'God Save The Queen': how old is the British national anthem?

US infantrymen in snowdrifts

Second World War

Q&AWhy is Hitler's Ardennes campaign called the battle of the Bulge?

Medieval trepanning

General prehistory

Q&AWhat is trepanning?

Winchester Cathedral

From King Alfred to Jane Austen: a historical tour of Winchester.