Doctor bleeding a patient

Medicine and health

St. Pancras Smallpox Hospital.

QuizHow much do you know about the history of disease?

A cartoon depicting an ancient Assyrian king sitting upright in bed. His eyes are wide open and he has an anxious expression on his face. An open window to the right of the scene shows the moon and stars

Give away your worries, like an ancient Mesopotamian. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustration of Adolf Hitler perfroming the Nazi salute with one testicle on the floor

Second World War

Did Adolf Hitler really only have one testicle?

The Victorians’ cocaine habit: why 19th-century Britain couldn't get enough of the 'miracle' drug. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A history of happiness: 5 life lessons from the past. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The 'Blue People' of Kentucky

Blue Fugates: the rare blood disorder that turned the ‘Blue People of Kentucky’ blue

How medicine became a moneymaker. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Women's bodies: an unreliable history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Secret forceps & pig bladders: medical objects through time. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Leper Crusaders: how disease-stricken knights forged an army in the Holy Land. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

'Monster soup commonly called Thames water, being a correct representation of that precious stuff doled out to us!!!', 1828; showing an ugly woman holding a spy glass which touches the circumference of a large circle representing a magnified drop of water filled with grotesque aquatic creatures. A satire on the Metropolitan Water Supply.

From murder bottles to arsenic wallpaper: 5 hidden killers in Victorian Britain. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Victorian healthcare | HistoryExtra Academy video lecture. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Week four quiz: medicine and health in Victorian Britain. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The opthalmoscope revolutionised ophthalmology, allowing physicians to examine the inside of the human eye. (Image by Getty Images)

Victorian medicine: why the 19th century was a time of seismic medical change

The surgeon Robert Liston prepares to cut open a patient in the first half of the 19th century. Known as the “fastest knife in the west end”, Liston could remove a leg in less than 30 seconds. For most patients, however, the agony was more prolonged. (Wellcome Library, London)

An appointment at the house of death: the horror of the early Victorian hospital. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The surgeon Robert Liston prepares to cut open a patient in the first half of the 19th century. Known as the “fastest knife in the west end”, Liston could remove a leg in less than 30 seconds. For most patients, however, the agony was more prolonged. (Wellcome Library, London)

"An enlightened turn": how medicine (and the vaccination) developed in Victorian Britain. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Video podcastCocaine: a Victorian sensation. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Video podcastFlorence Nightingale: life of the week. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Bust of the Roman Emperor Lucius Verus.

The Antonine Plague: the killer disease that devastated the Roman empire

Video podcastThe plague that brought the Roman empire to its knees. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The plague that brought the Roman empire to its knees. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Gulag doctors: saving lives in Stalin's prison camps. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

US founding father Benjamin Franklin

Q&AWhy was Benjamin Franklin rumoured to be a serial killer?

The Decameron: sex, plague, and a medieval Love Island. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Video podcastMedieval keep fit. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Video podcastInside a Jim Crow asylum. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Polish-born chemist Marie Curie

First World War

Marie Curie: a guide to the scientist's life, achievements and legacy

Climbing monks, wrestling kings and marching nuns: what people in the Middle Ages did to exercise. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Medieval keep fit. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Video podcastBreastfeeding in the Middle Ages. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.