Isaac Newton investigating light

Science and technology

A whimsical, detailed drawing of a person with curly hair and glasses standing on a wooden platform, holding a magnifying glass and pointing toward a stream of long paper scrolls. The scrolls flow from a large, fantastical machine on the right, built from gears, pulleys, tubes, and compartments. Several gloved hands emerge from the machine, performing tasks such as ironing, cleaning, inserting coins, and feeding paper into different mechanisms. The scene suggests a playful, surreal process of sorting or transforming information, with papers looping, curling, and cascading between the person and the machine

"Forget AI – never has the role of the historian been more urgent". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

AI: good or bad for history? Our experts weigh in. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A pink flower with various contraptions in the background

From goat eyelids to bread: history's 12 strangest sex toys. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Star witness: how the Royal Observatory transformed our understanding of astronomy and time. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Did Hitler have a secret Jewish grandfather? Our DNA research has solved the mystery. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The place where TIME began | A history of GMT. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An illustration showing a king dressed in green and orange, sitting on a blue throne made out of books. He is reading from a long scroll

Love learning like Æthelstan. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Katya Adler and Rita Levi-Montalcini

My history heroKatya Adler chooses Rita Levi-Montalcini. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Dame Stephanie Shirley and Tommy Flowers

My history heroDame Stephanie Shirley chooses Tommy Flowers

Reshaping narratives, repatriation and Richard III : 25 lessons we've learnt from history in the last 25 years. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Nikola Tesla: life of the week. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Wrens worked as code-breakers at Bletchley Park.

Second World War

The female codebreakers of Bletchley Park

My history heroJames Coomarasamy chooses Andrei Sakharov. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

British TV history: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

2024 in review: history behind the headlines. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Robot history: everything you wanted to know. 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.

William Dalrymple (Photo by David Hartley/Shutterstock)

“Like ancient Greece, India is one of the seedbeds of civilisation” | William Dalrymple on putting India back at the centre of global history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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

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

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

Croydon Aerodome, pictured in 1926. Two years earlier, Matthews’ threat to sell his ‘Death Ray’ to a French party had sparked a dash to this airfield by investors determined to stop him. (Photo by Getty Images)

Amazing livesHarry Grindell Matthews: the strangely inventive mind behind the aerophone and Death Ray. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Catalan Atlas from 1375

North, south, east and west: how ancient civilisations found their bearings before the compass. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Hidden environmental histories of the last 500 years. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Aeronauts James Glaisher (left) and Henry Coxwell (right) pose in the basket of their hot air balloon

The balloon-riding Victorians who courted disaster: the true story behind The Aeronauts

Nicola Fox and Marie Curie

My history heroNicola Fox chooses Marie Curie. 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

Italian Galileo Galilei.

How Galileo Galilei took on the church and changed the universe

Video podcastRenaissance eugenics. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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