Weird and wonderful history

Learn all about weird, yet wonderful, events that happened in history through in-depth history articles, podcasts, video and more…

A young woman sat in front of a mirror applies lipstick, 1967

The price of beauty: the dangerous cosmetics used until the 20th century

Supernatural stories: 9 unusual British folktales. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A scene from the German film 'Ways to Strength and Beauty', 1925. (Ullstein Bild via Getty Images)

Second World War

Germany’s naked truth: the 19th-century nudism movements co-opted by the Nazis

An architectural grotesque of a woman displaying her vulva

How naughty was the past? The hidden depths of the medieval church

A woodcut showing the interior of a kitchen in Elizabethan England. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Hold your noses: the smells, sounds and sights of Elizabethan England. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Winston Churchill on roller skates

How the roller skating craze caught Churchill. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

More weird and wonderful

Weird & wonderful Q&As

Historians take on questions about bizarre history…

A women with a shocked face next to a calendar with the date of Friday the 13th

Q&AWhy is Friday 13th unlucky?

A cartoon depicting an ancient Assyrian king sitting upright in bed. His eyes are wide open and he has an anxious expression on his face. An open window to the right of the scene shows the moon and stars

Give away your worries, like an ancient Mesopotamian. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A fairy in a green dress balances on the palm of a hand with a yellow background

Don’t fear the fairies – but do allow a little enchantment into your life. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Rich men, reckless affairs and ruined reputations: the scandalous lives of London's 18th-century courtesans. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Hoaxes and hijinks

Frances Griffiths poses with the fairies

Fairies, rabbit births and an 'ancient' tiara: what are the greatest historical hoaxes?

5 Georgian ghost hoaxes. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Henry VIII, Princess Mary and William Somers

Playing the fool: Tudor jesters. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Monsters and aliens

Soldiers of the Third Reich surround a huge bonfire during a winter solstice festival in December 1936. The Nazis attempted to use elements of pagan beliefs to promote a Germanic ‘national religiosity’. (Photo by Getty Images)

Witches, werewolves and vampires: the Nazi's quest for the supernatural

A photo which was believed to be of the Loch Ness Monster

The quest for the Loch Ness Monster. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

UFO history10 top sightings and a timeline