Dockers unloading wine barrels

Social history

A policewoman gives directions to tourists in London in the 1920s.

“Sherlock Holmes in skirts”: the world's first policewomen. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The First Thanksgiving in 1621, after a painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme; screen print, 1932. (Photo by GraphicaArtis/Getty Images)

7 facts you might not know about the history of Thanksgiving

Young Belgian refugees wave a British flag during celebrations for Belgian National Day in London during the First World War

Belgian refugees in WW1 Britain: were they welcome guests?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Roman toilet

Tales of the toilet: a historical A–Z. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Neil Oliver

Life lessons from history: Neil Oliver on searching the ancient past for timeless wisdom. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Wild West: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

In pictures: 150 years of the British Red Cross. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

From the British Isles to Italy and Spain: how the Normans reshaped Europe. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Women in black: the surprising history of widows. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An RAF crew with their American Douglas Boston light bomber, circa 1943. (Photo by Getty Images)

Personal stories of the Second World War. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

When Bergen-Belsen was liberated, huts designed to house about 30 people were found to be crammed with as many as 500. (Photo by Getty Images)

Second World War

Your guide to the Holocaust

The Russian revolution: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Inside the Viking mind. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Dr Edward Jenner, a British physician, performing his first vaccination on James Phipps, a boy of eight, in 1796. (Photo by Getty Images)

The history of vaccination: from Edward Jenner to anti-vaxxers. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Escaping Nazi-occupied Europe. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The aftermath of Kristallnacht, when businesses and properties owned by Jews were the target of vicious Nazi mobs

Second World War

Life in Nazi Germany: everything you wanted to know

Making a splash: Diana relishes taking her sons on a water ride at the Thorpe Park theme park in 1993. William has since recalled how his mother loved "laughter and fun". (Photo by Getty Images)

Princess Diana: a "modern" mother who ripped up the rule book. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An ‘ordinary’ Nazi. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

David Olusoga"Half a million cats and dogs were put to death in 1939 – for no good reason". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A portrait of Anne Boleyn. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

Anne Boleyn: a 16th-century feminist?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Oseberg ship from around AD 820 is one of the most well- preserved Viking ships ever excavated (Photo by Noe Falk Nielsen/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Viking ships: 5 lesser-known facts

Solon, an Athenian statesman (left) laid the foundations for democracy

Your guide to...the history of democracy

Unexpected Irish tales. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The ruins of Coventry Cathedral after bombing

Second World War

Your guide to the 1940 Coventry Blitz

Stephen Bourne on Black soldiers in WW2

Black Britons in WW2. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An illustration of a group of supposed witches

A very brief history of witches by Suzannah Lipscomb

A 14th-century depiction of bakers at work. (Image by Getty Images)

Social mobility in the Middle Ages: could medieval people improve their station?

Adventure and opportunity: female transatlantic travellers. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A near-contemporary depiction of the 14th-century English monk, mathematician and astronomer Richard of Wallingford. Monks were among the leading scientific practitioners during the medieval period. (Photo by Bridgeman)

The genius of medieval science: from medicine to mechanical clocks. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Regency era: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.