Social history

Lázaro Cárdenas, Mexico's left-wing president who in 1940 legalised drugs. (Photo by Henry Guttmann/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The year Mexico legalised drugs

An 1824 cartoon depicting the drinking escapades of Oxford students. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The history of student life: 7 things you didn’t know

One of the earliest and most famous examples of extremism comes from ancient Rome. Starting in 264 BC and continuing for more than a century, Rome engaged in a series of wars with neighbouring Carthage. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A brief history of extremism – from ancient Rome to al Qaeda

1935: Two men making a fireworks set piece with the slogan 'God Save The King' for despatch abroad, for the Silver Jubilee celebrations of King George V. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Q&A How old is the British national anthem?

A broker looks at his screens at Frankfurt's stock exchange on 15 September 2008. (Photo by Thomas Lohnes/AFP/Getty Images)

The 2008 financial crisis explained

BDW39T The Australian XI of 1882, the cricket team toured England and won the only test at the Oval, the start of the Ashes legend. Image shot 1882. Exact date unknown.

In pictures: The Ashes through history

A late 19th or early 20th-century painting entitled 'Mother and Child'. As fertility rates fell, sentimental idealisations of mothers and babies developed. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

The motherhood revolution: how the great fertility decline affected the lives of women

Welsh flag, featuring a dragon. The red dragon of Wales dates back to Roman times. (Photo by Getty Images)

Q&A Why does the Welsh flag feature a red dragon?

Appia Antica (The Appian Way), Rome, Lazio, Italy, Europe. (Getty)

Invention or adaptation: what did the Romans really do for us?

A gamer plays the video game 'Red Dead Redemption II', an action-adventure and multi-platform western video game developed by Rockstar Studios released on October 26, 2018. (Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images)

Red Dead Redemption, L.A. Noire and Battlefield V: the real history behind 3 popular video games

For our forebears, the secret to a good night's sleep lay in the contents of your gut. (Photo by Leemage/UIG via Getty Images)

6 sleeping tips and tricks from history

Illustration by Owen Davey

A brief history of human filth

Young people celebrate outside the boarded-up Stonewall Inn after riots over the weekend of June 27, 1969. (Photo by Fred W. McDarrah/Getty Images)

Stonewall and the fight for gay rights

George Westinghouse, Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla

Edison, Westinghouse and Tesla: the history behind The Current War