Period

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&A Were 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

(© Public Domain)

General Early Modern

Everything you need to know about the Holy Roman Empire

A portrait of Sir Walter Ralegh

Q&A Did 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

Atomic bomb damage in the city of Hiroshima, 1945. The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 “razed and burnt around 70 per cent of all buildings”, according to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Second World War

Was the US justified in dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the Second World War? You debate

Emma Dabiri. (Photo by Fran Monks)

Why black hair matters

A customer shops for a pistol at Freddie Bear Sports sporting goods store in Tinley Park, Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The historians’ view: what are the real issues in the US gun control debate?

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

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Building RMS Titanic: exploring Belfast’s “world-leading” shipbuilding heritage

1935: Two men making a fireworks set piece with the slogan 'God Save The King' for despatch abroad, for the Silver Jubilee celebrations of King George V. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Q&A How old is the British national anthem?

Greek pottery featuring swastikas

Second World War

Q&A How did a Sanskrit symbol become the Nazi swastika?