History

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History

HISTORY 06/09/2026 14:30

Fooling around in front of royalty: the extraordinary escapades of Europe's female jesters

From a devout Catholic jester dressed as an Amazonian warrior to a court dwarf immortalised by Velázquez, Rachel Ashcroft profiles five rema…

HISTORY 03/09/2026 11:45

To Defeat the Royal Navy During the American Revolution, a Rebel Inventor Designed a Secret Weapon: a Bomb-Carrying Submarine

David Bushnell developed the "Turtle" submersible as a student at Yale University. The vessel's attack on a British flagship failed, but the…

HISTORY 06/09/2026 06:00

Daily quiz: 6 September

Test your history knowledge with our daily quiz – updated each morning at 7am UK time

HISTORY 01/09/2026 11:00

Some of the Earliest Automobile Enthusiasts Signed Up to Help the Allies in WWI. They Also Ushered in the Mechanization of War

When the gentlemen drivers of Britain’s Royal Automobile Club Volunteer Force shipped their roadsters and racers to face the Germans, they b…

HISTORY 06/09/2026 06:00

Daily quiz: 5 September

In what year was Purchase Tax abolished in the UK?

HISTORY 27/08/2026 12:33

This American Commando Parachuted Behind Enemy Lines in Both the European and Pacific Theaters of World War II

A direct descendant of Thomas Jefferson, Francis Lowell Coolidge was an agent with the Office of Strategic Services, a predecessor to the CI…

HISTORY 05/09/2026 06:00

Daily quiz: 4 September

In what year was Purchase Tax abolished in the UK?

HISTORY 27/08/2026 11:00

The Prehistoric Paintings on the Walls of Caves Have Always Been Moving. But With the Right Kind of Light, Some Actually Seem to Move

As archaeologists study the work of ancient artists, they notice that the images aren’t simply static; some are painted into the contours of…

HISTORY 04/09/2026 15:44

Would you sleep in a medieval home? (There'd be no privacy and it might smell of bacon)

For most people in 14th-century England, home meant a smoky, crowded hall where eating, working and sleeping all happened in the same shared…

HISTORY 26/08/2026 12:00

To Dismantle the Concept of Separate but Equal, Thurgood Marshall Methodically Devised a Winning Strategy: Divide and Conquer

While other activists aimed to take down Jim Crow in one fell swoop, the future Supreme Court justice compiled a series of wins that ultimat…

HISTORY 04/09/2026 15:00

The Vikings brutalised our ancestors. So why do the English still love them?

Michael Wood on what the World Cup revealed about national identity

HISTORY 24/08/2026 11:45

This 18th-Century British Queen Turned King Arthur Into a P.R. Strategy, Drawing on Myth to Promote Her Dynasty's Claim to the Throne

In 1735, Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach commissioned a cottage called Merlin's Cave, which linked the German House of Hanover to both Brita…

HISTORY 04/09/2026 11:49

Roman kings: myth, memory and the making of power

Ancient historian Christopher Smith uncovers how seven legendary figures shaped Rome’s ideas of power and identity

HISTORY 21/08/2026 11:00

When a Carpenter in California Found a Nugget of Gold, It Started a Rush Toward Nothing Less Than the Modern World

A new book by historian Nathaniel Philbrick makes the case that James Marshall’s 1848 discovery set in motion events from the Civil War to t…

HISTORY 04/09/2026 09:00

The Odyssey’s forgotten epilogue

How did the Odyssey shape the lives of the ancient Greeks who read it? Daisy Dunn considers the poem’s cultural afterlife – and its chaotic …

HISTORY 20/08/2026 11:45

When an American Airplane Crashed Into a School in 1944, an English Village Lost Almost All of Its Youngest Children. Why Has WWII's Worst Civilian Aviation Accident Been Forgotten?

On August 23, 1944, a test flight over the village of Freckleton, located in northwest England, ended in disaster, claiming the lives of 61 …

HISTORY 04/09/2026 08:02

This week on HistoryExtra

Have you been paying attention? Test your knowledge of the stories we’ve published over the past seven days with our weekly quiz, updated ev…

HISTORY 17/08/2026 11:45

This Connecticut Teenager Spied on the British During the American Revolution, Succeeding Where Nathan Hale Failed

Newly uncovered documents reveal the story of David Maltbie, who relayed intelligence to the patriots in 1776, narrowly avoiding execution a…

HISTORY 04/09/2026 08:01

History crossword: 28 August

No summary available.

HISTORY 13/08/2026 11:45

The Hessians Were Supposed to Quickly End the American Revolution. Instead, They Endured Years of Battles and Suffered Thousands of Casualties

Some 30,000 German soldiers fought for the British during the war. Contrary to popular belief, they weren't mercenaries, and not all were ac…

HISTORY 10/08/2026 15:02

This Box of 300 Love Letters Showed Up Out of the Blue. Who Was the Whimsical World War II Soldier Who Wrote Them?

Nobody knows who dropped Speedy Weber's correspondence at a USO office in 2022. Researchers have finally tracked down two living relatives w…

HISTORY 05/08/2026 11:45

Why Has History Forgotten World War II's Largest Prison Break, Which Claimed the Lives of More Than 200 Japanese POWs?

During the 1944 Cowra breakout, over 900 prisoners attempted to escape from an Allied camp in Australia. The uprising resulted in the deaths…

HISTORY 30/07/2026 11:45

Stanford University's Founding Matriarch Was a Travel-Loving Philanthropist Who Met a Tragic End. A New Exhibition Explores Her Life, Grief and Death by Poison

Jane Stanford's legacy is the focus of a new showcase at the California university. The display features artifacts that have never previousl…

HISTORY 28/07/2026 16:41

We All Know the Story of the Pompeii Victims Who Died When Mount Vesuvius Erupted 2,000 Years Ago. Archaeologists Are Still Learning About Those Who Made It Out Alive

A semi-fictionalized documentary series hosted by actor Tom Hiddleston follows three people in the ancient towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum …