Sport and leisure

The Calcutta Cup, a rugby union trophy awarded to the winner of the annual Six Nations Championship match between England and Scotland.

Scotland v England: the world’s first international rugby match

St David painting in stained glass window, Ceredigion, UK. Exact date unknown. (Photo by David Angel/Alamy Stock Photo)

16 things you (probably) didn’t know about St David’s Day traditions

Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi is held aloft by his team after clinching a division title in 1960. (Image by Bettmann/Getty Images)

A brief history of American football and the Super Bowl

Irish rugby fans in London for the international match between Ireland and England at Twickenham Stadium, 13 February 1937. (Photo by E Dean/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Rugby warriors: the rugby-playing heroes of the First and Second World War

A scene from an early rugby union game

The history of rugby

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter (L) fights Dick Tiger (R) in Madison Square Garden, New York, 1965 (Photo by Getty Images)

The story of the Hurricane

Edward the Confessor, the penultimate Anglo-Saxon king of England, depicted here in a scene from the Bayeux Tapestry. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

10 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Anglo-Saxons

British from the 11th Brigade 4th division and German soldiers at Ploegsteert in Belgium on Christmas Day 1914. (Photo by The Art Archive/Alamy)

First World War

Did the First World War Christmas truce football match really happen?

American athlete Jesse Owens (right) perhaps would never even have won one of his gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics if it wasn't for an act of kindness from a fellow athlete, German long-jumper Carl Ludwig 'Luz' Long. (Photo by ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

5 acts of kindness that changed history

In 1926, 19-year-old New Yorker Gertrude Ederle made history by becoming the first woman to swim the English Channel – and in a faster time than the five men who had already achieved the feat. (Photo by ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

Gertrude Ederle: the first woman to swim the English Channel

By the time George II came to the throne in 1727, Britain was a nation addicted to gaming. A Georgian gaming table is shown in this sketch by Thomas Rowlandson. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)

“A nation addicted to gaming”: the Georgians’ crackdown on addictive betting

Wood engraving from The Graphic magazine features an illustration of a young man running with the ball during a football match on a grassy field, late 19th century. (Photo by Stock Montage/Getty Images)

5 facts about the history of football

People approach the VI Lenin Stadium, now known as the Luzhniki Stadium, in Moscow, in 1956. (Photo by James Whitmore/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images)

The history of Luzhniki Stadium, home of the 2018 football World Cup final

Crowds flock to the beach at Hastings in August 1938. (Photo by Photo12/UIG/Getty Images)

Holiday revolution: We’re all going on a summer holiday

Subscribe for unlimited access to The Library