England

(Photo By DEA/G DAGLI ORTI/De Agostini/Getty Images)

The Tudor sex guide

An illustration of Edmund Spenser’s poetic work ‘The Shepheardes Calender’. (Photo by Culture Club/Contributor/Getty Images)

The dark side of Elizabethan England

Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh wave from the famous balcony at Buckingham Palace after the Queen's coronation on 2 June 1953. (Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

7 memorable moments in the history of Buckingham Palace

Evening Party - Time of Charles II, 1850. A satirical illustration of King Charles II (1630?1685). King Charles II (163-?1685) was know as the 'Merry Monarch'. He had a great fondness for women and had many mistresses. From The Comic History of England by Gilbert Abbott A. Beckett, illustrated by John Leech [Bradbury, Agnew & Co., London, 1850.] (Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images)

Sex, scandals and betrayals: Charles II and his court

Photo of a couple holding up a fan

Q&A What signals were used in fan language?

Charles I on his way to be executed, 30 January 1649. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)

Q&A Who executed King Charles I?

Francis Drake

Life of the Week: Sir Francis Drake

A vintage photograph showing an unknown man standing behind a stall selling lemonade, root beer and ice cream – among other things.

Q&A Who invented lemonade?

Portrait of Oliver Cromwell. This is one of several replicas of a portrait by Sir Peter Lely. Cromwell is supposed to have said: “I desire you would use all your skill to paint your picture truly like me… but remark all these roughness, pimples, warts and everything as you see me. Otherwise, I will never pay a farthing for it.”

Why do we say ‘warts and all’?

Patricia Simmons recording the speaking clock.

Q&A Who voiced the original speaking clock?

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Portrait of King Henry VIII

History hero Nathaniel Parker chooses Henry VIII (1491-1547) . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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7 Victorian recipes . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Calendars of the twelve months (Photo by Leemage/Corbis via Getty Images)

Medieval immigrants: moving to England in the Middle Ages

Winston Churchill with a bulldog mascot as he leaves the Wanstead Conservative Club in his Woodford, Essex constituency on general election day, 23 February 1950. (Photo by Central Press/Archive Photos/Getty Images)

Second World War

Q&A What is the significance of the British Bulldog?

A 'full English' breakfast

Q&A Why is a fry-up breakfast called a ‘full English’?