North America

American president Franklin D Roosevelt

Second World War

Life of the Week: President Franklin D Roosevelt

Wrought iron lace adorns many old buildings and houses in the streets of New Orleans. (Getty Images)

My favourite place: New Orleans, Louisiana

General History

The big questionWhy did the west dominate history for so long?

A silhouette in front of a fire.

History quiz – Vikings, mobile phones and the Varangian Guard. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Martin Luther King (centre) rides the Montgomery bus with Rev Glenn Smiley of Texas. (Getty Images)

The LibraryWhat was history’s most dramatic year?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Tommie Smith and John Carlos, gold and bronze medalists in the 200-metre run at the 1968 Olympic Games, engage in a victory stand protest against unfair treatment of blacks in the United States. They refuse to recognise the American flag and national anthem. (Getty Images)

The fight for Black America. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Photo of Woody Guthrie c1970. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

My history hero: Woody Guthrie. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The USS Arizona burning in Pearl Harbor following the Japanese attack. To the left of her are USS Tennessee and the sunken USS West Virginia. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

How did the rest of the world react to the attack on Pearl Harbor?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Jubilant miners display a large gold nugget during the Klondike Gold Rush, c1897. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The LibraryThe deadly gold rush. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

(Photo by iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Q&AWhy do Americans call the British ‘limeys’?

Sky covered by smoke from the first H-Bomb explosion at Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific, 1 April 1954. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

Winston Churchill: atomic warrior, nuclear peacemaker. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Donald Trump’s unsurprising victory. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Donald Trump elected president: the historians’ verdict. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

America's devious dream: Roosevelt and the Panama Canal. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Operation Gold Rush with Dan Snow

History quiz – Dames, JFK and the house of Gonzaga. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A dirt road in the Alabama Hills of the Eastern Sierra Nevada. The road leads to Mount Whitney and Lone Pine Peak. (Photo by Mimi Ditchie Photography/Getty Images)

My favourite place: California, USA

My history hero: Sam Cooke (1931–64). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Former US president Ronald Reagan and president of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev during a meeting in Moscow, Russia, on 16 September 1990. (Photo by Wojtek Laski/Getty Images)

Transcending the Cold War. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Sheet music.

History quiz – songs, space stations and capital cities. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Cold War summits. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Maya Angelou was “the ultimate boundary-breaker”, says Naga Munchetty. (Photo by Craig Herndon/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

My history hero: Maya Angelou (1928–2014). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

British soldiers arrive to take part in the battle of France, 1940. (Photo by Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

Books interview with Daniel Todman: "Everything that happened in 1940 isn't somehow down to Winston Churchill". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

‘Show me the money!’ A brief history of American spending power. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Lyndon B Johnson, the 36th president of the United States. (Photo by Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images)

My history hero: Lyndon Johnson (1908–73). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A 1954 advertisement for Cooper's Y-Front. (Photo by Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A revealing history of underwear. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Empire State building

FeatureFive facts about the Empire State Building

A portrait of Queen Elizabeth I painted by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger. (Photo by Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

How Shakespeare rewrote history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Benjamin Franklin in London. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

President Ronald Reagan at Durenberger Republican convention rally, 1982. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

My history hero: Ronald Reagan (1911–2004). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.