Things you didn't know

c50 BC, Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, the last and most famous of the Ptolemaic dynasty. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Who was Cleopatra? Her life, her love affairs and her children, plus 6 little-known facts

Actor William Gillette playing the detective Sherlock Holmes. (Photo by Gillette/London Stereoscopic Company/Getty Images)

11 things you (probably) didn’t know about Sherlock Holmes

Elizabeth I, shown in a portrait commemorating victory over the Armada

7 things you (probably) didn’t know about Elizabeth I

A fresco from the Villa of the Vettii in Pompeii. Painted before the catastrophic eruption of Versuvius, these frescoes were uncovered from beneath layers of volcanic ash and pumice. (Photo by In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images)

A brief guide to Pompeii, plus 8 fascinating facts about the ancient Roman city

Battle of Bosworth, 22 August 1485

10 things you need to know about the battle of Bosworth

An illustration of King Arthur's coronation, from the 13th-century Flores Historiarum

King Arthur: 6 things you need to know about the warrior king and his legend

Tutankhamun’s golden funeral mask

8 things you (probably) didn’t know about Tutankhamun

Henry VIII portrait

5 things you (probably) didn’t know about Henry VIII

Battle of Culloden

General prehistory

10 things you (probably) didn’t know about Scottish history

Portrait of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII

11 things you (probably) didn’t know about Anne Boleyn

Despite popular misconception, Gladiatorial fighting was not the most popular entertainment in Ancient Rome. (Photo by Alamy)

A brief guide to ancient Rome and the Romans, plus 9 fascinating facts

(Photo by Michele Falzone via Getty Images)

10 things you (probably) didn’t know about ancient Egypt

Charles Cundall’s painting ‘The Withdrawal From Dunkirk, June 1940’

Second World War

9 things you (probably) didn’t know about Dunkirk

A French 15th-century covered market

10 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Middle Ages

Edward the Confessor

10 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Anglo-Saxons