Historical people

Life of the Week: Mansa Musa.

A portrait of George Robert Twelves Hewes

George Robert Twelves Hewes: the shoemaker who became a patriot

Joséphine de Beauharnais

Joséphine de Beauharnais: how Napoleon's muse became empress of France

Video podcastLife of the week: Genghis Khan.

A black and white photo showing a group of friends having a picnic, including Josef Mengele (third from the right).

Tracking down the Nazi 'Angel of Death': one man's hunt for Josef Mengele

Illustration of a woman with an insect net looking at some larger-than-life butterflies and moths.

General Early Modern

Eleanor Glanville: the butterfly collector

Anglo-Saxon thegns

Q&AWho was Eadnoth the Staller?

A portrait of Chevalier d’Éon presenting as a woma

Chevalièr d’Éon: the tale of an 18th-century gender non-conforming spy

Images of Sidi Mubarak Bombay

Sidi Mubarak Bombay: the unsung African adventurer behind the European explorers.

A photograph of Albert Einstein looking into the camera

Albert Einstein: facts about his life, death, education and work

Oppenheimer: “destroyer of worlds”.

American aviator Bessie Coleman pictured in c1922, around the time she made her debut flight. Her astonishing aerial stunts would earn her the monikers ‘Queen Bess’ and ‘Brave Bessie’ (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Bessie Coleman: a boundary-breaking pilot who fought for her dream

Joseph Chamberlain (far right) pictured with his sons Neville (far left) and Austen, daughter Hilda (front left) and third wife, Mary Endicott (Photo by Three Lions/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Chamberlain and Cadbury of BirminghamThe first families in Britain’s second city.

The fall and rise of Henry III.

Geoffrey Chaucer5 key things to know

Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, born the son of a humble yak farmer, pictured around the time of his Everest triumph of 1953 (Photo by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

Tenzing NorgayThe Sherpa who first conquered the world's highest mountain.

Illustration by Rose Wilkinson

William Douglas: infamous bushranger, prize-fighter and reader of skulls.

A c1780 portrait of Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges and talented composer, violinist and swordsman (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Chevalier de Saint-Georges: how the mixed-race musical maestro Joseph Bologne became a star in 18th-century France

Stained glass in Exeter Cathedral depicting King Æthelstan. (Dreamstime)

The astonishing Æthelstan.

A memorial tomb to King Æthelstan, in Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire. (Photo by Geography Photos/UIG via Getty Images)

If King Alfred was great, was Æthelstan even greater?.

Illustration by Cat O'Neil

David Ingram: the Tudor sailor who hiked across pre-colonial America.

Philip Augustus of France (left) and Richard I of England

Medieval masculinityWhat Richard I can tell us about male friendship in the Middle Ages.

The Romantics: everything you wanted to know.

My history heroSam Naz chooses Noor Inayat Khan.

The Love Letter, 1834.

How to write a love letter6 tips from the historical figures who did it best.

Brian Epstein (centre) with the Beatles, who he managed from 1962 until his death in 1967 (Photo by Harry Benson/Getty Images)

Brian EpsteinThe brilliant but troubled man behind The Beatles

Photograph of Pauli Murray

Pauli MurrayThe Civil Rights and LGBTQ+ icon who fought Jim and Jane Crow

A depiction of Empress Wu Zetian

Empress Wu ZetianThe only woman to rule China

A Japanese tattoo artist at work on a large scale tattoo design on the back of a woman, Japan, circa 1940.

Tattoo historyThe stories of 11 inked individuals.

Edward Tull-Warnock, who qualified as one of the first black dentists in Britain

The forgotten contributions of black Edwardians in Britain.