Social history

American billionaire Howard Hughes (shown here in a car in 1947) went from a visionary filmmaker to a germ-obsessed recluse, dying in 1976. (Photo by Getty Images)

“His flesh had rotted, and his bed was full of worms”: 5 of history’s most eccentric hermits

Joseph Bazalgette, a civil engineer who planned a groundbreaking new drainage system to serve London

Joseph Bazalgette: how the man who transformed London paved the way for your loo

(Illustration by Glen McBeth for BBC History Magazine)

Q&A What are the origins of the word ‘shoddy’?

Pregnant woman before giving birth in the 13th century

16 things you (probably) didn’t know about the rituals behind royal births, from the medieval era to the present day

HMT Empire Windrush arrives at Tilbury Docks

Bound for Britain: your guide to the arrival of the HMT Empire Windrush

Adrian Wooldridge explores meritocracy’s role in forging the modern world, and weighs up its challenges and advantages. (Image by Getty Images)

The merits of meritocracy

From Roman emperors and medieval saints to enslaved people, Olivette Otele charts the long history of Africans in Europe

African Europeans

A depiction of athletes in the torch race, ancient Olympics

What were the ancient Olympics like? Take a visit to the Games of 436 BC

A photograph of President John Quincy Adams

Q&A What’s the oldest photo of a US president?

Colour portrait of Jane Austen

Jane Austen: a guide to her life, books and death – plus 8 fascinating facts

Illustration by Eleanor Shakespeare

“Make love not midnight snacks”: a social history of slimming clubs

Boat diplomacy: Froissart's 'Chronicles' show Richard II acceding to many of the rebels' demands at Mile End, 14 June 1381. The speed with which the rebels flooded London wrong-footed the king's advisors. (Photo by Alamy)

Revealed: the true identity of the rebels of the Peasants’ Revolt

On the evening of 13 March thousands of people in Phoenix, Arizona, and surrounding areas see a triangular formation of lights drifting above the city. Fife Symington, the governor of Arizona at the time, was one of the witnesses and he described the UFO as “otherworldly”. This image shows something similar to what was reported at the time. (Photo by Alamy)

A brief history of UFOs: top 10 sightings & timeline

Prisoners exercise and play sport in the courtyard of the Fleet Prison, circa 1872

Timeline: a history of prisons in Britain

The ‘Eye of Providence’, a symbol linked to the Illuminati, stares out from the reverse side of all US one-dollar bills

The Illuminati: 13 questions about the clandestine secret society answered