Illustration of strange creatures

Weird and wonderful history

Aesop's fables: The Fox and The Crow. Illustration after 1485 edition printed in Naples by German printers for Francesco del Tuppo. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images

A 'superfluity of nuns' plus 9 more collective nouns that originate from the Middle Ages.

The mystery of the vanishing lighthouse keepers.

Cellini: the “supreme scoundrel of the Renaissance”.

An illustration of a 17th century plague doctor

Fake historyHunting down false facts about the past.

A decoy rubber tank such as those used by the Allies during WW2.

Masters of disguise: the story of the Allies' WW2 'Ghost Army'.

Medieval forgeries.

Smokey the bear is presented with a firefighter's helmet

The paratrooper, the poet's pet and the real Winnie: 10 famous bears in history

A depiction of Robin Hood, the heroic archer in English folklore who supposedly robbed the rich and gave to the poor. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)

Robin Hood: 7 myths about the legendary outlaw of Sherwood Forest

Werewolves of the ancient world.

Winston Churchill on roller skates

How the roller skating craze caught Churchill.

Bizarre books and macabre manuscripts.

Sobriety, royal presents and Victorian-era musings on failure: an unexpected history of New Year.

Workers repair Fleet sewer in 1854. London’s creaking sewer network sparked anxieties over what lay beneath the sprawling capital. (Photo by Guildhall Library & Art Gallery/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Living in fear: the dangers of Victorian London.

Christmas ghost stories.

The history of Christmas: everything you wanted to know.

A miller and a donkey

9 things you could do with a medieval ass.

Ten things to do with a medieval donkey.

Edward Jenner

Q&AWhen did medical practitioners start to be called ‘doctor’?

This 15th-century painting from a manuscript shows men fishing in a river. In medieval England, eels were both meals and de facto currency. (Photo by Bridgeman)

Fishing for gold: how eels powered the medieval economy

'Merry Christmas' Victorian illustration of Santa Claus holding toys and blowing on a trumpet, chromolithograph, 1915. (Illustration by GraphicaArtis/Getty Images)

Father Christmas and Santa Claus: a brief history of two Christmas champions

Zwarte Piet: the history behind the Christmas controversy

The ‘lost’ city of Atlantis.

British mystery writer Agatha Christie, c1926.

The mysterious disappearance of Agatha Christie

Henry VI of England. (Photo by iStock/Getty Images)

Henry VI may have had a "sex coach" - plus 4 more curious facts about his life

Boys playing conkers in 1926. Horse chestnuts played an unlikely role in the war effort just a few years earlier. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Did conkers help win the First World War?.

Roman toilet

Tales of the toilet: a historical A–Z.

Statue of King Alfred the Great in leafy Trinity Church Square, Southwark. It is thought to be the oldest statue in London.

Q&AWhat’s the oldest statue in London?

Buckingham Palace intruder Michael Fagan

Buckingham Palace intruder Michael Fagan: what happened and why did he break in?

President Nixon making final TV address

The 5 most notorious presidents in US history

Glamis Castle is said to be the most-haunted castle in Scotland. (Photo by mpalis via Getty Images)

A royal ghost tour: 5 haunted sites around Britain.