Early comic panel illustration

England

Actor William Gillette playing the detective Sherlock Holmes. (Photo by Gillette/London Stereoscopic Company/Getty Images)

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Portrait of Catherine of Aragon

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Pilgrim Fathers boarding the Mayflower

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How did England react to the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in 1751? (Illustration for BBC History Magazine)

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Elizabeth I knights Francis Drake on his ship Golden Hind after his round-the-world voyage. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

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Empress Matilda

Empress Matilda, daughter of Henry I: a queen in a king’s world. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

William Cecil, also known as Lord Burghley, with Queen Elizabeth I. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Your guide to William Cecil, chief adviser to Queen Elizabeth I

Elizabeth I, shown in a portrait commemorating victory over the Armada

Elizabeth I: a guide to her life and rule, plus 7 facts you might not know

It was the need for witnesses in divorce courts – ones who wouldn’t mind their names being linked to scandals, no less – that partly gave rise to female detectives. (Photo by Rischgitz/Getty Images)

Women detectives: meet the Victorian female super sleuths. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

c1954: A photo-fiction serial telling the story of a young couple on honeymoon in the South of France. The parts are played by actors Mark Hashfield and Simone Lovell. (Photo by Kurt Hutton/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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Henry Fitzroy

Henry Fitzroy: how Henry VIII’s “bastard son” rocked the Tudor court

WW2 surrender signed, 2 September 1945

Second World War

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The 1851 Great Exhibition’s west wing

The 1851 Great Exhibition: inside the Victorian spectacle

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Mary Toft, perpetrator of the 1726 hoax – in which she appeared to give birth to rabbits

The woman who gave birth to rabbits? How Mary Toft's hoax captured Georgian society

Edward the Confessor (Anglo-Saxon king of England from 1042) on his throne, as shown in the Bayeux Tapestry. (Photo by Getty Images)

Edward the Confessor. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Pilgrim fathers arrive at Plymouth, Massachusetts on board the Mayflower. (Photo by Harold M. Lambert/Kean Collection/Archive Photos/Getty Images)

"They decided that God must be leading them to North America": the Puritans journey to the Mayflower. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The pilgrim fathers

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Edward the Confessor, depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry

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A watercolour version of a mural showing Henry VIII (front left) with his father, Henry VII, his wife Jane Seymour (front right) and his mother, Elizabeth of York. The mural, which aimed to validate Henry's right to the throne, adorned Whitehall Palace before being destroyed by fire. (Photo by Bridgeman Royal Collection)

Henry VIII: confident young king or insecure son?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

14th century miniature showing a child's baptism. (Photo by Getty Images)

Exclusive podcastWhat’s in a medieval name?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Top, left to right: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour. Bottom, left to right: Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, Katherine Parr.

Henry VIII’s six wives: your guide to the Tudor king's queen consorts

The real Harlots: Hallie Rubenhold on Covent Garden's courtesans. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

First World War

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Death in the New Forest: how King William II met his demise. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Victorian heroine Grace Darling (1815–1842) with her father, lighthouse keeper William Darling. They are rowing from the Longstone Lighthouse on the Farne Islands off Northumberland, to rescue the passengers of the stricken ship 'SS Forfarshire'. (Photo by Nigel Dobinson/Getty Images)

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Holbein's portrait of Henry VIII

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A painting of the Princes in the Tower

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The princes in the Tower

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