HistoryExtra
type: channel
link: https://www.historyextra.com
description: Home of Britain’s bestselling history magazine and award-winning podcast
date: 2026-04-05T12:31:06.000Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
items: Famous last words: what did Winston Churchill, Walt Disney and Marie Antoinette say on their deathbeds?
items: Not 1066 again! Should we ditch our obsession with dates?
items: 7 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Napoleonic Wars
items: Admiral Lord Nelson: 10 days that created a legend
items: Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson: a rebel with a cause
items: What killed Napoleon Bonaparte?
items: Napoleon Bonaparte: facts about his life, death and career
items: The orphan hero who fought at Trafalgar
items: The battle of Trafalgar, hour by hour: what happened and why did Britain win?
items: A visit to HMS Victory, Nelson's flagship at Trafalgar

Famous last words: what did Winston Churchill, Walt Disney and Marie Antoinette say on their deathbeds?
type: item
date: 2026-04-05T12:30:45.000Z
creator: Jonny Wilkes
subject: General History
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Death
description: The parting comments of some of history's most famous figures have been recorded for posterity. Here, Jonny Wilkes reveals a selection of the most noteworthy examples – from dying presidents to condemned prisoners
encoded: <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/Oscar-WildeGettyImages-2207162542-7ce61a2-e1775118534122.jpg" width="1500" height="1003" alt="A colourised print of Oscar Wilde, 1882. His unique sense of humour lasted until his death (Image by Getty Images)" title="A colourised print of Oscar Wilde, 1882. His unique sense of humour lasted until his death (Image by Getty Images)" /> 1. “My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or the other of us has to go” Oscar Wilde The Irish author and playwright – best known for The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895) – is an enduring source of witty, pithy adages, such as “I can resist everything except temptation” and “always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much”. Oscar Wilde kept that unique brand of humour until the end: on his deathbed, in a Paris hotel room, he reportedly quipped about the dingy wallpaper. Evidently, the wallpaper won the duel, since 46-year-old Wilde passed away of meningitis shortly afterwards, on 30 November 1900. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2026/04/ChurchillGettyImages-106756722-ecd2b88-e1775118778678.jpg" width="1500" height="1000" alt="An elderly person lies on a stretcher and raises two fingers in a V‑sign while uniformed officers and suited men stand around them" title="Winston Churchill giving the ‘V’ sign as he’s transported to hospital, 1962. Three years later, he would succumb to complications from his eighth stroke (Image by Getty Images)" /> 2. “I’m bored with it all” Winston Churchill Winston Churchill suffered his eighth stroke on 15 January 1965, after a decade and a half of failing health. All the cigars, booze and rich meals had caught up with him. He had been the prime minister who led Britain through the Second World War with impassioned oratory and declarations of “We shall never surrender”, but, if his last words are anything to go by, his battle was f…

21-Famous-last-words-LEAD-603ebea.jpg
width: 1500
height: 1000

Not 1066 again! Should we ditch our obsession with dates?
type: item
date: 2025-11-19T13:00:01.000Z
creator: Dr Rob Blackmore
subject: General History
subject: Magazine
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Historical events
description: From 1066 to 1918, our obsession with battles, elections and even voyages of discovery risks distorting a true understanding of the past
encoded: In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. That, at least, is what the famous rhyme tells us. Memorising such dates is a common experience of being taught history – a cliché superbly lampooned by the witty 1930 book 1066 and All That. “History is not what you thought,” its preface suggested. “It is what you can remember.” Accordingly, as per its subtitle, it offered a “Memorable History of England, Comprising All the Parts You Can Remember, Including 103 Good Things, 5 Bad Kings and 2 Genuine Dates.” Conspicuously, though, “two out of the four dates originally included were eliminated at the last moment” because “they are not memorable.” Though evidently both humorists, the book’s authors – Punch writers WC Sellar and RJ Yeatman – were making a serious point. History has long been thought to be concerned with preserving the past. The 12th-century historian and Byzantine princess Anna Komnene observed how “time in its irresistible and ceaseless flow carries along on its flood all created things and drowns them in the depths of obscurity”. Her solution was the study of history, which “forms a very strong bulwark against the stream of time”. This is a powerful idea – one that perhaps moved King Charles I, moments before his execution in January 1649, to utter a last single word to William Juxon, the former bishop of London, instructing him: “Remember.” <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2025/11/1066-and-all-that-later-edition-CMYKWeb-Ready-dfb5326.jpg" width="2295" height="1530" alt="The cover of a book, with the title 1066 And All That across the top, and two men standing side by side in green and pink clothing" title="The 1930 book 1066 and All That wittily parodied the conventional approach to teaching history in schools at that time (Image by Amazon)" /> But do our efforts to remember really require us to do something so trivial as memorising dates? More radically, do the historical events these dates mark even matter? The Oxford Eng…

2RBM7T7cmykWeb-Ready-3cc8350.jpg
width: 1799
height: 1199

7 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Napoleonic Wars
type: item
date: 2023-10-16T09:50:13.000Z
subject: Georgian
subject: Period
subject: Evergreen
subject: Family and parenting
description: Jem Duducu, author of The Napoleonic Wars in 100 Facts, reveals seven things you might not have known about the 25 years (or so) of conflict...
encoded: What were the Napoleonic Wars? The Napoleonic Wars were a series of conflicts that occurred from 1803 to 1815, fought between France under Napoleon and a series of coalitions of European powers. Though the Napoleonic Wars are often seen as a clash of European powers fighting for dominance over the European continent, in many ways they were also an example of a global conflict before the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. The Napoleonic Wars are usually numbered by the coalitions that were raised against Napoleonic France between 1803 and 1815: The War of the Third Coalition, 1805–06 The War of the Fourth Coalition, 1806–07 The War of the Fifth Coalition, 1809 The War of the Sixth Coalition, 1813–14 The War of the Seventh Coalition, also known as the Hundred Days, 1815 What of the wars of the first and second coalitions? These precede the Napoleonic Wars, both being part of the French Revolutionary Wars of the 1790s. Read more | Napoleonic Wars timeline: the key dates you need to know Why did the Napoleonic Wars happen? There are many explanations, but you could consider the Napoleonic Wars to be a consequence of the French Revolutionary Wars, which concluded with the 1802 Peace of Amiens. These wars had left France in a commanding strategic position in Western Europe, “something that no other European power could tolerate, because it appeared to threaten their own strategic security”, says Michael Rapport, reader in modern European history at the University of Glasgow, who spoke to us about the Napoleonic Wars on the HistoryExtra podcast. “Any peace – which occurred in 1802 through the Treaty of Amiens – was going to be really a truce.” That peace broke down in 1803. “The Peace of Amiens wasn't really honoured by either side,” he says. Neither side really trusted each other.” Who was Napoleon? The Napoleonic Wars are named after a single man – Napoleon Bonaparte. How did a young, inexperienced artillery officer from Corsica rise to such a position of military …

GettyImages-511043543-5938298.jpg
width: 800
height: 530

Admiral Lord Nelson: 10 days that created a legend
type: item
date: 2022-01-09T07:06:00.000Z
subject: Georgian
subject: Membership
subject: Period
description: The iconic naval victories of Admiral Lord Nelson (1758-1805) made him a British hero. Quintin Colville and James Davey pick out the moments in Nelson's life that propelled him to greatness
encoded: 9 April 1777: The ambitious teenager shows his potential Passing the lieutenant’s examination was a hurdle that everyone with ambitions to become a commissioned officer in the Royal Navy had to clear. Nelson was 18 years old when he appeared before the panel to be tested on diverse aspects of his service knowledge. Meeting with success, he wrote to his brother soon afterwards with the news that he had been appointed lieutenant on a frigate, the Lowestoffe. “So I am now left in [the] world to shift for myself,” he continued, “which I hope I shall do, so as to bring Credit to myself and Friends.” Perhaps chief among those friends was Nelson’s uncle, Maurice Suckling. A captain himself, and promoted to the important position of controller of the navy in 1775, Suckling had carefully guided Nelson’s youthful footsteps, finding commanding officers who would promote his advancement and broaden his operational experience. Indeed, the two ships in which Nelson began his naval service as a boy in 1771 – Raisonnable and Triumph – were both captained by Suckling. Six years later, this key supporter also sat on the board that examined Nelson for his lieutenant’s commission. Patronage was, of course, part of the bedrock of 18th-century British society, and Nelson was typical of the wider officer corps in seeking to benefit from a powerful contact. However, influence was rarely the sole basis of naval success. It was professional knowledge that the examination was designed to probe, and the patron who backed a dunderhead jeopardised his own reputation in the short or long term. 11 March 1787: Nelson marries into wealth and respectability The 10 years of peace that followed the American War of Independence put Nelson’s naval career on hold. In 1787 he married Frances ‘Fanny’ Nisbet, a young widow from a wealthy plantation family on Nevis (one of the Leeward Islands). Contemporaries described her as pretty and artistic, though intellectually unremarkable. Prince William Henry, the f…

GettyImages-545962873-28a5846.jpg
width: 3550
height: 2600

Lord Admiral Horatio Nelson: a rebel with a cause
type: item
date: 2021-08-24T10:59:23.000Z
subject: Georgian
subject: Period
description: British naval hero Horatio Nelson was a rebel, a lover and a leader, whose life was marked by victory at sea and scandal on shore. Julian Humphrys charts the course of his life
encoded: Britain has had its fair share of heroes, but very few have commanded the same affection that Nelson did. “We do not know whether we should mourn or rejoice. The country has gained the most splendid and decisive Victory that has ever graced the naval annals of England; but it has been dearly purchased. The great and gallant NELSON is no more.” With these words, The Times summed up the mood of the nation, for the news of Nelson’s death at the battle of Trafalgar was met with an outpouring of public grief that wouldn’t be matched until the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, nearly 200 years later. His loss was felt particularly keenly in the Navy. Admiral Collingwood, Nelson’s normally reserved second-in-command, wept at the news, while a boatswain’s mate on board Victory cried so much that he was unable to pipe the men to quarters. When Nelson’s coffin was taken for burial in St Paul’s Cathedral a few weeks later, huge crowds of mourners showed up to line the streets. Horatio Nelson early life and early career Horatio Nelson was born seven weeks prematurely, on 29 September 1758 in the Norfolk village of Burnham Thorpe, where his father was the parish priest. Although he was hurriedly baptised because nobody expected him to live, Nelson survived, but in 1767, when he was just nine, his mother died. It was an event that would leave a permanent mark on his personality. He developed into an engaging, impulsive boy with a strong religious faith who craved affection, attention and approval – characteristics that he would carry with him to his grave. In 1771, aged just 12, he joined the Royal Navy with the help of his uncle, Captain Maurice Suckling. He spent most of his teenage years at sea, sailing thousands of miles from the Bay of Bengal to the Arctic, and surviving not only a severe bout of malaria but also, if the stories are to be believed, a brush with a polar bear. Promoted to captain at the age of 20, Nelson spent eight years in command of a succession of frigate…

GettyImages-176565332-fa045d3.jpg
width: 620
height: 413

What killed Napoleon Bonaparte?
type: item
date: 2021-05-05T08:02:00.000Z
subject: Georgian
subject: Period
description: Since his death in British custody on the island of St Helena in 1821, the claims that Napoleon Bonaparte was either murdered or spirited off the island have never completely gone away. Siân Rees examines these theories in detail, exploring the many deaths of Napoleon
encoded: “My death is premature. I have been assassinated by the English oligopoly and their hired murderer.” These were the spiteful words of Napoleon Bonaparte when he dictated his last will and testament in April 1821. One of history’s most accomplished manipulators, Napoleon was a man who took his vendettas to the grave. The day after his death in British custody on 5 May 1821, 16 observers attended the autopsy, seven doctors among them. They were unanimous in their conclusion: Napoleon had died of stomach cancer. Nevertheless, the doubts Napoleon had fomented about what ‘really’ happened have never quite gone away: did the British government hasten his death? Did French rivals slip poison into his wine? Was it even Napoleon who died in Longwood House in May 1821? For nearly two centuries, all these questions and more have been discussed, disputed and recycled. Born to a Corsican family of modest means in 1769, by 1811 Napoleon Bonaparte ruled 70 million people and dominated Europe. Four years later, his dynastic, political, imperial and military dreams were shattered and he was exiled to St Helena, a remote island in the South Atlantic, under British guard. There, until his death he and his cooped-up, fretful household lived in a rambling villa called Longwood House. A slow death That death did not come suddenly. For months Napoleon suffered from abdominal pain, nausea, night sweats and fever. When he was not constipated he was assailed by diarrhea; he lost weight. He complained of headaches, weak legs and discomfort in bright light. His speech became slurred. The night sweats left him drenched. His gums, lips and nails were colourless. Briefly, he got it into his head that he was being poisoned, but then he decided he had the same cancer that had killed his father, and that all medical help was useless. On 4 May 1821, he lost consciousness. On 5 May, news went out to a shocked world that the great man was dead – and the questions began. The first conspiracy theorist wa…

GettyImages-600032257-2-57ede45.jpg
width: 800
height: 530

Napoleon Bonaparte: facts about his life, death and career
type: item
date: 2021-05-03T17:13:36.000Z
subject: Georgian
subject: Period
subject: Family and parenting
description: Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) is considered to be one of history's greatest military leaders. He rose to prominence during the French Revolution (1787–99) and served as emperor of France from 1804 to 1814, and again in 1815. Napoleon is remembered today for his role in the Napoleonic Wars (1803–15), and his defeat at the battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815. But how much do you know about him?
encoded: When was Napoleon born? 15 August 1769, in Corsica. When did Napoleon die? 5 May 1821, on the Atlantic island of St Helena | Read more about what killed Napoleon What is Napoleon remembered for? Many things, but in particular his roles, which included Emperor of the French, during the Napoleonic Wars (1803–15), and his defeat at the battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815. Who were his family? Napoleon was the second of eight surviving children born to Carlo Maria Buonaparte (1746–85), a lawyer, and Letizia Ramolino Buonaparte (1750–1836). The Buonapartes were minor Corsican nobility. Napoleon was twice married: to Joséphine de Beauharnais, from 1796–1810, and Marie Louise, [later known as Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma], from 1810–1821. His second wife bore him a son, Napoleon II. Napoleon acknowledged one illegitimate son, Charles Léon (b 1806), but may have had further unacknowledged illegitimate offspring. Napoleon's height: how tall was the French emperor? If there's one thing Napoleon Bonaparte is known for, it's that he was short – and very unhappy about it. But how tall was he really? What was Napoleon's childhood like? Although Napoleon’s parents were members of minor Corsican nobility, the family was not affluent. Educated at French military academies, which he attended on scholarships, Napoleon was poor compared to his classmates, who came from wealthy, well-connected families. Having grown up in Corsica, Napoleon’s first language was Italian, not French, and he was teased for allegedly sounding like a peasant. <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/7/2015/06/Blurry-872a682.jpg" width="620" height="413" alt="General Bonaparte at Arcole, 17 November 1796', (c1797). From the Musee National, Chateau de Versailles. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)" title="General Bonaparte at Arcole, 17 November 1796', (c1797). From the Musee National, Chateau de Versailles. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Im…

GettyImages-544266826-a450a5d.png
width: 620
height: 413

The orphan hero who fought at Trafalgar
type: item
date: 2020-12-05T12:32:24.000Z
subject: Georgian
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Children
description: Helen Berry gives a lecture on the extraordinary story of an 18th-century foundling, George King
encoded: In a lecture she delivered at our 2019 Chester History Weekend, Helen Berry shares an extraordinary story from her book Orphans of Empire: The Fate of London’s Foundlings – of the 18th-century orphan George King, who was abandoned at London’s Foundling Hospital and went on to a remarkable life.

Podcast-Helen-Berry-WL-2537590.jpg
width: 620
height: 413

The battle of Trafalgar, hour by hour: what happened and why did Britain win?
type: item
date: 2020-10-20T12:40:31.000Z
subject: Georgian
subject: Period
description: Admiral Nelson spent 10 months hunting the French fleet. Finally, as it left Cadiz, he had his chance to destroy forever Napoleon's hopes of invading Britain. Tim Clayton describes the dramatic clash between 60 warships when in October 1805 the two sides met at last
encoded: Trafalgar was fought against a background of fear. An eight-year struggle with revolutionary France had ended in 1802 but war had broken out again in 1803. The undefeated French General Napoleon Bonaparte had been building up forces and constructing barges on the Channel coast. Spain reluctantly entered the war as an ally of France late in 1804. By spring 1805 Napoleon, newly crowned Emperor, had his Armée d’Angleterre poised for conquest. He launched an elaborate plan to lure British ships to the West Indies before massing his fleet in the Channel. The admiral entrusted with the operation, Pierre Villeneuve, succeeded in losing Nelson, then fought an inconclusive battle with a British squadron sent to intercept him off northern Spain. 7 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Napoleonic Wars Judging his ships too frail to continue on to Boulogne where Napoleon was waiting impatiently, Villeneuve fell back on Vigo and then to the Spanish naval base of Cadiz, a strongly fortified harbour where the fleet might be refitted. His decision was influenced by Admiral Gravina, his more experienced Spanish colleague, who had secret orders forbidding him from taking part in an invasion of Britain. Furious at the admiral’s failure to appear, Napoleon decided to strike instead against the Austrians and Russians who had made an alliance with Britain. In late August he commenced a lightning march that culminated in the tremendous French victory at Austerlitz on 2 December. By 28 September, when Nelson took command of the British fleet blockading Cadiz, the threat of immediate invasion no longer existed. Villeneuve’s fleet received new orders to sail into the Mediterranean. Even at Cadiz men and supplies were hard to find and it was October before the ships were ready to leave. Villeneuve knew that the Emperor was displeased with him and rumours of his imminent replacement had reached the press. However, the Spanish view and that of the French officers was to wait behind the de…

GettyImages-629457381-0d82b6a.jpg
width: 4643
height: 3058

A visit to HMS Victory, Nelson's flagship at Trafalgar
type: item
date: 2019-08-01T11:00:54.000Z
subject: Georgian
subject: Membership
subject: Period
subject: Naval battles
description: Laid down in the 18th century, Nelson’s flagship at the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar is the oldest naval vessel still in commission. Take a glimpse inside with BBC History Revealed…
encoded: Portsmouth’s Historic Dockyard houses a wealth of treasures for naval fans – from the Victorian battleship HMS Warrior to the National Museum of the Royal Navy. One of its most treasured attractions holds the btitle of the world’s oldest naval ship still in commission as well as arguably being the most famous British warship: HMS Victory. The Victory was ordered in 1758 as part of a plan by British Prime Minister William Pitt the Elder to create a new fleet of ships, of which the Victory would be the largest. Designed to carry 100 guns, the name was chosen with some apprehension – the previous Victory had been wrecked in the English Channel in 1744. Around 6,000 trees were used to build the Victory, which was launched on 7 May 1765 from Chatham Royal Dockyard. The dock gates had to be hewed down as the ship, at 51 feet wide, was too big to fit through. Britain didn't "rule the waves" after the battle of Trafalgar, says historian Sam Willis History explorer: HMS Victory and the Georgian navy What is the significance of Waterloo? The ship was put in reserve, as Britain was not involved in any conflicts at the time. That changed when France became involved in the American War of Independence in 1778. The vessel was swiftly mobilised and, in March 1778, put into active duty as the flagship of Admiral Augustus Keppel for the First Battle of Ushant – a skirmish between British and French forces, just off the island of Ushant, close to Brittany. The clash ended indecisively. The Second Battle of Ushant in 1781, in which the Victory also took part, was more successful: in that instance, the British fleet managed to capture 15 French ships and more than 1,000 soldiers who were part of a convoy sending supplies to the West Indies. The following year, the ship successfully escorted a supply convoy through a French and Spanish blockade during the Great Siege of Gibraltar. The Anglo-Spanish War – part of the French Revolutionary Wars – would see the Victory’s next battle as the …

39.-Victory-New-Colours THE-NATIONAL-MUSEUM-OF-THE-ROYAL-NAVY-86cdcc7.jpg
width: 1024
height: 734