Historical people

'Pirate queen' Grace O'Malley. (Illustration by Sue Gent for BBC History Revealed)

Grace O’Malley: the fearless pirate queen of Ireland

Mary Seacole is best known for her work during the Crimean War, where she cared for injured soldiers. But she was also well-known as a hotelier, traveller and author – a celebrity of the Victorian era. This is a contemporary painting of her

Mary SeacoleVictorian celebrity, joyful hotelier and Crimean nurse

A 19th-century depiction of HMS Erebus in the ice, by François Etienne Musin. What exactly happened to the ship and its crew remains a mystery. (Picture by Alamy)

The Franklin Expedition: what happened on the ill-fated Victorian voyage?

A painting of Henry IV, housed in the National Portrait Gallery, London. English earls, Scottish kings, French dukes and a Welsh prince all tried to unseat Henry, yet this most resilient of medieval monarchs prevailed over them all. (Photo by Getty Images)

Henry IV: the usurper king

Otto von Bismarck, pictured on horseback, was instrumental in the creation of a unified German state and was among the most influential politicians of late 19th-century Europe.(Photo by ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

Otto von Bismarck: a brief guide to the ‘founder of modern Germany’

Harold Godwinson is proclaimed king of England in the Bayeux Tapestry. It may have been commissioned by a Norman but this magnificent artwork repeatedly acknowledges the English leader’s piety and courage. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Why is Harold Godwinson a hero of the Bayeux Tapestry?.

Volunteers shovel sand in Fulham in 1941, filling bags used to protect windows from bomb blasts. Our clichés of the Blitz don’t tell the whole story, writes Lucy Worsley. (Photo by Mary Evans)

Lucy Worsley on Blitz Spirit: the courageous stories of six Londoners.

Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to receive a medical degree in the US

Elizabeth BlackwellThe ‘first female doctor’, who entered medicine to prove a point

A depiction of Robin Hood, the heroic archer in English folklore who supposedly robbed the rich and gave to the poor. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)

Robin Hood: 7 myths about the legendary outlaw of Sherwood Forest

The Sutton Hoo excavations are the focus of a new film, 'The Dig'. Carey Mulligan stars as Edith Pretty, and Ralph Fiennes portrays Basil Brown

Second World War

The Dig: the real history of the remarkable Sutton Hoo excavation

Harriet Tubman (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad: how one woman saved hundreds from hell.

Statue of Leif Erikson (Leifur Erikssonn) in front of Eric the Red's home. (Photo by Draper White, Getty Images)

Leif Erikson’s voyage to Vinland

9 things you (probably) didn’t know about Helen Keller

(L to R) Isaac Newton, Henry VIII and Bal Gangadhar Tilak

How did people cope with ‘lockdowns’ of the past? And were they really all so productive?.

19th century advert for snuff

Q&AWhat was snuff?

Alexander Ludwig as Bjorn Ironside, son Ragnar Lothbrok and king of Kattegat

Vikings Season 6: plot recap, plus 8 historical questions answered

'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' (2020): Viola Davis as Ma Rainey. (Photo by David Lee/Netflix)

Who was Ma Rainey, “mother of the blues”?

Alex Hogh Andersen as Ivar the Boneless

The real Vikings: the early medieval world behind the hit drama

Marble bust of Nero

Rethinking Nero: was the Roman emperor really so bad?.

The Huguenots vs France: who were the Huguenots and what did they believe?

The Trojan Horse – seen in the 2004 film Troy

How much of the legend of Troy is real?

Ian Fleming, British author and creator of the James Bond character

James Bond in real life: where did Ian Fleming's inspirations come from?.

Marble bust of Caligula

Caligula: murderous and depraved, or a victim of history?

Claudia Jones at the Brixton offices of 'The West Indian Gazette'

Black British historyBritain's black trailblazers.

A portrait of Mary Wollstonecraft

Mary Wollstonecraft: reclaiming the reputation of a feminist icon.

Glamis Castle is said to be the most-haunted castle in Scotland. (Photo by mpalis via Getty Images)

A royal ghost tour: 5 haunted sites around Britain.

Thomas More: saint or sinner?

The ‘Black Terror’: the story of Britain's first black sports star

Grigory Yefimovich Novykh, also known as Rasputin

Rasputin: the 'mad monk' who became a friend to the Romanovs

The African who transformed Anglo-Saxon England.