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Culture

The runners at the two mile mark at the back of Greenwich Park.

A brief history of marathons

Portrait of William Shakespeare by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

7 things you (probably) didn’t know about William Shakespeare

The ancient Greek theatre at Epidaurus, which boasts superb acoustics and aesthetics. (Photo by Alamy)

My favourite place: the Peloponnese, Greece

A c1830 portrait of the scandalous but sublimely talented Lorenzo da Ponte. (Photo by Alamy)

My history hero: Katie Derham chooses Lorenzo Da Ponte

St David painting in stained glass window, Ceredigion, UK. Exact date unknown. (Photo by David Angel/Alamy Stock Photo)

16 things you (probably) didn’t know about St David’s Day traditions

The Pied Piper of Hamelin. Illustration by Kate Greenaway, 1888. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)

In pictures: fairytales through history

The 30th Annual Academy Awards, Los Angeles, 1958. (Ralph Crane/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

13 remarkable moments in the history of the Oscars

The regions of Britain in 1635, before the 1707 Acts of Union that united England and Scotland. (Photo by Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

“The anglocentric view we have of British history is unsustainable,” says Misha Glenny

Married architects Alison and Peter Smithson at work, October 1961. The pair were architect members of the Independent Group and had an impact on the British urban scene via what became known as ‘New Brutalism’. (Photo by Davies/Evening Standard/Getty Images)

Who were the original Independent Group?

A portrait of the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer (c1340-1400), who modern literary scholars credit for turning Valentine into the patron of love. Chaucer was a major influencer in his day – after him, everyone began calling their beloved “Valentine” and writing love poems on 14 February, says Lisa Bitel. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A brief history of Valentine’s Day – from the patron saint of epilepsy to Chaucer’s love tales

York Minster's south transept rose window features 16th-century Tudor Roses white on red (left) and Lancastrian Roses, red. The Tudor Rose became known as “the flower of England” and is today England's national flower. (Angelo Hornak/Alamy Stock Photo)

A brief history of the English rose

In 1877, a major rebellion in Kyushu concentrated the opposition of conservative elements to the westernization of Japan. (Photo by Asian Art/Getty Images)

The story of modern Japan

British mystery writer Agatha Christie, c1926. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The mysterious disappearance of Agatha Christie

Actor Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's Monster in James Whale’s classic 1931 film. (Bettmann/Getty Images)

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: the birth of a gothic monster

Lithograph portrait of Scottish poet Robert Burns. (Photo by Stock Montage/Getty Images)

7 facts about Robert Burns, Scotland’s national bard