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The official website for BBC History Magazine, BBC History Revealed and BBC World Histories Magazine

Women's history

Literary women through the ages: Jane Austen, Virginia Woolf and Charlotte Brontë all enjoyed female friendships which enriched their writing, say Emily Midorikawa and Emma Claire Sweeney. (Getty Images)

From Austen & Brontë to Woolf: literature’s forgotten female friendships

Margaret Hodge has been the MP for Barking since 1994. She held a number of ministerial positions during the 1997–2010 Labour administration, and was appointed DBE in 2015. (Photo by AP/REX/Shutterstock)

My history hero: Katharine Graham (1917–2001)

Ruth Ellis and her friend Desmond Cussen, who supplied the gun with which she shot David Blakely. (Photo by Trinity Mirror/Mirrorpix/Alamy Stock Photo)

Ruth Ellis and the hanging that rocked a nation

England Women's World Cup squad, Mexico, 1971

The 1971 Women’s World Cup: game changers?

Wrens worked as code-breakers at Bletchley Park.

Second World War

Female codebreakers: the women of Bletchley Park

Dick, Kerr Ladies football team during World War I

Q&A Why was women’s football banned?

Pro-choice and pro-life advocates outside the Supreme Court in the 1970s, following the Roe v Wade decision. (Photo by Diana Walker//The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images)

A brief history of US abortion law, before and after Roe v Wade

Civilian and service personnel work together at code-breaking. (Photo by SSPL/Getty Images)

Second World War

The women of Bletchley Park

Colour portrait of Jane Austen

8 things you (probably) didn’t know about Jane Austen

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From Mary, Queen of Scots to the FIFA Women’s World Cup: a brief history of women’s football

The Scotland women’s team, featuring international star Rose Reilly (centre, pictured playing in a French league), played their first official international match in 1972. (Photo by Daily Record/Mirropix/Getty Images)

A history of women’s football in Scotland

Lucrezia Borgia with her father Pope Alexander VI

Lucrezia Borgia: is her bad reputation deserved?

Elizabeth is borne from Westminster Abbey in a gold coach first used for the state opening of parliament by George III in 1762. (Getty Images)

Becoming Queen: Elizabeth II’s coronation

Nancy Astor. (Photo by Getty Images)

Rachel Reeves on women who changed politics

7 things you (probably) didn’t know about Queen Victoria