Painting of Daniel Mendoza

Sport and leisure

A pair of glasses with light brown and yellow frames and pink lenses. Below them is a reflected shadow of the same pair of glasses, against a beige background

From Stranger Things to communist cars: why we can't resist nostalgia. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A black and white photograph of three men wearing striped helmets sitting in a bob sled. Behind them, a large crowd of men, wearing white jumpers and caps and helmets

London 1908 was the weirdest Winter Olympics in history – and here's why. 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.

A sketch shows two topless men wearing pale shorts fighting each other in a boxing ring

From a lion-taming lightweight to the Muscular Maids: 5 Victorian boxing sensations you need to know about. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

In a white hexagonal frame, there is a black and white image of a playground, with a young boy on a white rocking horse. The background is green

Swings and roundabouts: a history of Britain's playgrounds. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The swordplay’s the thing: Henry VIII's Masters of Defence and the thrilling world of 16th-century fencing. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A boxing match in A Thousand Blows alongside an illustration of a Victorian boxing ring

A Thousand Blows: the real history behind the Victorian boxing drama

Sport's strangest tales. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Gladiators do battle in a c320 AD mosaic, housed in the Borghese Gallery in Rome

Blood, guts and spectacle: 6 shocking events from the history of ancient Roman gladiators. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Victorian cricket. (Photo by Getty Images)

Cricket, cocaine and cocoa houses: 5 ways Victorians spent their free time. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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

A 14th-century depiction of a lady and youth playing a game of draughts (Photo by Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

War and pieces: 5 games from history that were about much more than fun. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustration of the Circus Maximus

Fast, dangerous and bloody: inside the Circus Maximus, the home of Roman chariot racing

The England football team badge, showing three lions on a field of ten Tudor roses

Q&AWhy are there three lions on the shirts of the English football team?

A composite image of athlete Gertrude Ederle and actor Daisy Ridley

Gertrude Ederle: the first woman to swim the English Channel

A photo a two men riding horses, all dressed in jousting gear.

My life in historyJouster at the Royal Armouries. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An 1891 rugby match between England and Scotland

When was the first international rugby match, and who played in it?

Video podcastThe long-distance walking craze that fascinated Victorians. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Peking to Paris: the world’s first great motor race. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi is held aloft by his team after clinching a division title in 1960.

A brief history of American football and the Super Bowl

Video podcastBritain's long love affair with sport. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Britain's long love affair with sport. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The real Boys in the Boat during the Poughkeepsie Regatta

The Boys in the Boat: the real history behind George Clooney's underdog sports movie

(Illustration by Hugh Cowling for BBC History Magazine)

Sportswashing: have nations always used sport to launder their reputations?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

c1880, the Paris rugby team.

When Vichy France banned rugby

An illustration titled 'The first match of the British Ladies Football Club'

A brief history of women’s football: from Mary, Queen of Scots to the FIFA Women’s World Cup. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Alice Marble in the 'Daily News' colour studio.

Alice MarbleThe tennis champion with multiple lives

Gussie Moran playing tennis with her lace knickers on show at the 1949 Wimbledon Championships.

10 scandalous moments in Wimbledon’s history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, born the son of a humble yak farmer, pictured around the time of his Everest triumph of 1953 (Photo by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

Tenzing NorgayThe Sherpa who first conquered the world's highest mountain. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A photograph of Tenzing Norgay (left) and Edmund Hillary, sharing a smile in 1953, shortly after scaling Everest.

EverestThe story of the race to the top of the world. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.