Illustration of strange creatures

Weird and wonderful history

Hamida Djandoubi, 28, being led down a tunnel by a police official ahead of his execution in October 1977.

General History

10 strange historical facts that sound fake

Welsh mythology: everything you wanted to know.

Old cobblestone footpath at a park.

Danny Robins' paranormal cold casesMy best friend's ghost.

King Lear

QuizHistorical misconceptions.

From whipping horses to royal love chairs: the lewd yet luxurious history of high-end erotic furniture.

Silhouette of a ghost in an old property.

Danny Robins' paranormal cold casesThe ghost of Elizabeth Dacre.

Video podcastPeking to Paris: the world’s first great motor race.

Illustration by Femke de Jong.

The curious story of the great wheelbarrow craze of the 19th century.

Video podcastThe madcap world of the Victorian circus.

Spooky figure at the top of a staircase.

Danny Robins' paranormal cold casesThe haunting behind The Conjuring 2.

Our illustration shows a woman struggling through wind and snow in 1816 (Illustration by Zara Picken)

1816: the year without summer.

A statue of Alice Nutter, one of the 1612 Pendle Witches. The statue is in her home village on Blacko Bar Road, Roughlee. (Image by Alamy)

The Pendle witches: what happened in the infamous Lancashire witch trial?

Strange and surprising pastimes of the Regency Ton

Victoria's armpit and 'giant' bones: body parts that changed history.

Magic books: a global history.

Norse myths: everything you wanted to know.

Scotland’s last witch.

A 1793 etching by Thomas Rowlandson shows a person in bed with bugs covering their bare behind.

General History

Roasted cats and acid: 5 ways our ancestors tried to get rid of bedbugs

Scenic view of Cornwall

General History

Q&AWhy is Cornwall called Cornwall?

A 1950s illustration imagines a group of mountaineers catching sight of a large Yeti in the Himalayas

General History

The hunt for the Abominable Snowman: what's the history of the Yeti legend?

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

10 scandalous moments in Wimbledon’s history.

Guitarist David Crosby of the Byrds performs with his band in front of a large crowd at the Magic Mountain Music Festival on Mount Tamalpais, June 1967. (Image by © Henry Diltz/Corbis)

General History

From Ancient Greece to Glastonbury: a brief history of music festivals

A mermaid combing her hair

General Early Modern

Tails from the deep: separating the real folklore of mermaids from Disney stories

Australian bushrangers

General History

Q&AWho were Australian bushrangers?

A clown, c1970s. The next decade, there would be a panic over "stalker clowns" in the US (Photo by H. Armstrong Roberts/ClassicStock/Getty Images)

Clowns, agoraphobia and kayaks: a history of fear and loathing.

Elsie Wright, who with her cousin Frances Griffiths took photos of sprites, gnomes and fairies, 1917 (Photo by SSPL/Getty Images)

Fake news: 8 of the most notorious photograph hoaxes, from fairies to UFOs.

ConspiracyDid someone else write the plays of William Shakespeare?

A composite image showing an astronaut on the moon against a purple sky.

ConspiracyDid NASA fake the Moon landing?

ConspiracyDid Anastasia survive the massacre of the Romanovs?

A painting by Dutch artist Hendrick Danckerts shows Charles II’s gardener, John Rose, presenting the king with a pineapple

Pineapples, tulips and follies: 10 status symbols from history.