Things you didn't know

Stained glass image of King Cnut

Your guide to King Cnut: the fierce Danish warrior who ruled England

Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. (Photo by Getty Images)

Yuri Gagarin: 8 things you (probably) didn’t know about the first man in space

Henry V. (© Lebrecht Music and Arts Photo Library / Alamy)

10 things you (probably) didn’t know about Henry V and the battle of Agincourt

A line-up of girls ready to play football, somewhere in England during the First World War, c1917. (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)

First World War

10 facts you (probably) didn’t know about the First World War

During his time in Oxford, Wilde fully embraced ‘aesthetic flair’: growing his hair long; dressing in flamboyant fashions and assuming exaggerated affectations. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

7 facts you (probably) didn’t know about Oscar Wilde

An illustration of the barons compelling King John to ratify Magna Carta, 1215. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

6 facts about Magna Carta

Turkish artillery of the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. (Buyenlarge/Getty Images)

6 lesser-known facts about the Ottoman Empire

The battleship USS California following the attack at Pearl Harbor

Second World War

12 things you (probably) didn’t know about Pearl Harbor

King John out hunting

8 things you (probably) didn’t know about medieval elections

Four figures in a boat, including the ibis-headed god Thoth and the scarab-headed god Khepri

8 ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses you might not know about

Highclere Castle

Unusable rooms, a lost village and Tutankhamun: the secrets of Downton Abbey’s Highclere Castle

An illustration depicting the Great Fire of London. (Getty Images)

10 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Great Fire of London

Portrait of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband and consort. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

8 fascinating facts about Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert

Soldiers standing on the western front during WW2

Second World War

10 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Second World War

Henry VIII's Mary Rose (© 19th era/Alamy)

7 things you (probably) didn’t know about Henry VIII’s flagship, the Mary Rose