Women's history

A portrait of Anne Lister

The real Gentleman Jack: the secret life of Anne Lister, Britain’s ‘first modern lesbian’

Pod Lucy Santos WL

General History

The history of beauty: everything you wanted to know

Four flapper women line up along a wall and chug bottles of liquor in the 1920s.

Flappers, sanitary pads and public drinking: was the 1920s a time of increased liberation for women?

A 16th-century portrait of Bess of Hardwick. Bess's talent, ambition and eye for a well-connected husband elevated her to dizzying levels of wealth and power in Tudor England. (Photo by Bridgeman Art Library)

Bess of Hardwick: schemer, social climber, scourge of Elizabeth I

A stone statue of a woman's torso with a drop of blood over the abdomen, representing women's bodies and menstruation

General History

A history of menstruation

c1935: Beatrice Shilling sits astride her Norton motorcycle. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

General History

5 women inventors you should know about from history

100 women who changed the world. (Photos by Getty Images/Alamy)

General History

Quiz Women's history

Picture of a 19th-century bloomer costume

Q&A When did women start wearing trousers?

LOS ANGELES - AUGUST 1: Lynda Carter stars as Diana Prince / Wonder Woman) on the CBS Television Series

The real Amazons: how the legendary warrior women inspired fighters, feminists and Wonder Woman

A group of working women huddled together in front of a mill.

Industrial revolution

From family to factory: women’s lives during the Industrial Revolution

A portrait of Flora MacDonald, who found fame as a Jacobite heroine sailing Bonnie Prince Charlie to safety

Who was Flora MacDonald?

L to R: Marie Antoinette of France, Njinga of Ndongo and Matamba, Hurrem (also known as Roxelana)

General History

Queens know best: survival lessons from powerful historical women

An illustration depicting a woman lying in bed who has recently given birth to twins. Other women busy themselves with tasks around her, such as stoking a fire and holding one of the babies.

General History

Q&A Where does the word ‘gossip’ come from – and what has it got to do with childbirth?

Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians, illustrated sitting on a throne

Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians: the warrior queen who crushed the Vikings

Pod Shelley Puhak WL

Fredegund and Brunhild: a tale of two queens