Ancient Griffin-lion relief

Myths and legends

A digital collage featuring a Victorian-era woman in formal dress at the centre. Behind her are layered images including industrial smokestacks, ornate patterns, playing cards, and text from the book “The Mabinogion” by Lady Charlotte Guest. The overall style blends historical portraiture with abstract and industrial elements.

10 children and 12,000 pieces of art: the remarkable life of Lady Charlotte Schreiber. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A large drawing showing multiple different sea creatures in a light blue ocean

From krakens to serpents: 5 fearsome sea monsters from history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An illustration shows two old bearded men, one in red shorts and a red Santa hat and the other in green shorts and a wreath headband in a boxing ring

Father Christmas v Santa Claus: the centuries-long battle for Britain's chimneys. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A red and black illustration showing a large wolf jumping up, above a man laying on the floor. Around the central wolf, there are several others

Spectral beasts and hounds of hell: a spooky history of Britain's ghost dogs. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An illustration of a haunted house. The background is black and purple, and the house is split into orange, green, black and white boxes. In each box, there are Halloween themed things such as skulls, ghosts, and eyes looking through keyholes

From tragic Tudor queens to restless Roman soldiers: Britain's 8 most haunted houses. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A large marble statue of a woman, with many bulbous growths all over her front

General ancient history

This ancient goddess commanded a Wonder of the World – but why did she have thirty breasts?

Illustration of a demon breathing fire with springs on his shoes jumping and scaring two women

Spring-Heeled Jack: the fire-breathing phantom that terrorised Victorian England

In his mother’s womb, he was fated to avenge his father – how was pregnancy understood in the Viking age?

A women with a shocked face next to a calendar with the date of Friday the 13th

Q&AWhy is Friday 13th unlucky?

Naked figures bath in a fountain

General History

Is the Fountain of Youth real?

A fairy in a green dress balances on the palm of a hand with a yellow background

Don’t fear the fairies – but do allow a little enchantment into your life. 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 ‘Eye of Providence’, a symbol linked to the Illuminati, stares out from the reverse side of all US one-dollar bills

Who were the Illuminati – and how can you join them?

An illustration of the future King Edward VI of England with his whipping boy (Photo by Chronicle/Alamy Stock Photo)

“Literally whipped”: the boys who took the beatings meant for royal bottoms

Queen Catherine the Great and (inset) a horse

Did Catherine the Great really have sex with a horse?

A Japanese woodblock print, c1855, depicting the mythological giant catfish Namazu, and the god Takemikazuchi subduing it with the kaname-ishi stone (Photo by Pictures From History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

General History

Why is a mythical catfish to blame for earthquakes in Japan?

The Fall of the Titans, 1588-90, painting by Cornelis van Haarlem (Photo by PHAS/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

When gods go to war: what was the Titanomachy of Greek mythology?

The palace of Kublai Khan’s son is illustrated in a 15th-century manuscript of the Travels of Marco Polo. Despite such vivid depictions, no reference to the Venetian merchant has ever been found in Chinese sources.

Do The Travels of Marco Polo belong in the non-fiction section, or fantasy?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Statue of William Tell, with a crossbow over one shoulder and a boy at his hip

William Tell: was the legendary Swiss hero a real person?

The ancient Roman goddess Venus with the gods Vulcan and Cupid, in a painting by Italian artist Sebastiano Ricci (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Roman gods and goddesses: 17 of the most important deities of ancient Rome

Zeus, king of the ancient Greek gods, seen in a 16th-century fresco by Pietro Bonaccorsi at Villa del Principe in Genoa, Italy

Zeus's children: who were the offspring of the god with a libido that couldn’t be contained

An illustration of the Icelandic Yule Cat

General History

The child-eating Christmas Yule Cat: what are the origins of this Icelandic folklore?

Lord Lucan and his wife Veronica, shortly after becoming engaged in 1963. It is thought that Lady Lucan was the intended target of the attack in 1974 (Photo by Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Murder and vanishing without a trace: the mysterious case of Lord Lucan. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Egyptologist Howard Carter near golden sarcophagus of Tutankhamun in Egypt in 1922.

Is the mummy's curse real? False tales about ancient Egyptian mummies (plus some true ones). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Statue of Zeus, king of the Greek gods

King of the gods and sex pest: the legend of Zeus and his thunderbolts

Charles Edwards as Celebrimbor in Rings of Power

How ancient history influenced Tolkien: did a forgotten legend inspire Rings of Power's Celebrimbor?

A bust of Zeus, left, and an image of Kratos from God of War, right

How ancient mythology inspired God of War's Kratos: is he based on a real deity?

Video podcastBeowulf: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Helios driving a chariot

General History

Sun gods and goddesses16 solar deities from world history

US founding father Benjamin Franklin

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