People watching the Royal Wedding

United Kingdom

Historian Greg Jenner

Making jokes about Romans. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

10 Downing Street, the residence of the prime minister of the United Kingdom. (Photo by Getty Images)

Who was the best 20th-century prime minister?

The ‘Surgeon’s Photo’, taken in 1934, which claimed to depict the Loch Ness Monster. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

5 facts about the Loch Ness Monster

Henry VIII's Mary Rose (© 19th era/Alamy)

7 things you (probably) didn’t know about Henry VIII's flagship, the Mary Rose

A 15th-century map of the world illustrating a Latin edition of Ptolemy's the 'Geography'. (Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

12 alternative giant leaps for mankind – from carnivorism to Magna Carta. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

NASA’s unknown Welsh hero: the story of Tecwyn Roberts

A cartoon showing a man in a suit of armour on the moon

Q&ADid NASA really pick the brains of the Tower of London armoury when designing the first space suits?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustration by Glen McBeth.

Q&AWhen did the leopards on the royal arms of England become the lions depicted today?

Britain didn't "rule the waves" after the battle of Trafalgar, says historian Sam Willis. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A portrait of 17th-century scholar John Wilkins

Ye final frontier: the 17th-century space race. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Aidan Turner as Ross Poldark. The BBC television drama is putting Cornwall’s coastline at risk of "over-tourism” as visitors flock to the area to visit the show's scenic filming locations, tourism chiefs have warned. (Photo by BBC/Mammoth Screen/Mike Hogan)

Poldark, Peaky Blinders and 6 other historical TV shows that have tourists flocking to Britain

4 historical cricketing curiosities. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustration by Kate Hazell for BBC History Magazine.

From Churchill and Roosevelt to May and Trump: 75 years of the 'special relationship' between the US and the UK. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Britain’s 7 most amazing stately homes

Clash between the English Temeraire and the French Redoutable ships during the Battle of Trafalgar, October 21, 1805. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

The battle of Trafalgar. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Dornier 217 bombers of the Luftwaffe bomb London during the Battle of Britain. "The crucial role of the RAF in denying the Germans control of the air in 1940 and therefore persuading Hitler to abandon his invasion plans is so well known that it might seem almost sacrilegious to question it, " says Sean Lang. "But was it solely responsible for saving Britain from invasion? Not quite." (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)

9 of the most overrated battles in history (and one underrated one). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustrations by Ian Morris.

The Civil War cross-dressers: the women who swapped dresses for breeches

Winner takes all: A painting shows the French ship 'Redoutable' clashing with the British 'Temeraire'. "Regardless of the victory off Cape Trafalgar, it was another decade before Britain and her allies defeated Napoleon. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

Trafalgar, a futile victory? Why Nelson's triumph didn't turn the tide on Napoleon. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

History ExplorerThe Holy Island of Lindisfarne

Back on Planet Earth: what world did Neil Armstrong leave behind in 1969?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The ruins of Dunluce Castle, which sit on the coastal cliffs of North Antrim in Northern Ireland. They are thought to have been the inspiration for CS Lewis’s castle Cair Paravel in ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ (1950–56). (Photo by Andrea Ricordi/Contributor/Getty Images)

9 of Britain’s best castles. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Charles I. (Photo by World History Archive/Alamy)

King killers in America. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A closer look at the Staffordshire Hoard. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

St Fagans Castle and gardens

A visit to St Fagans National Museum of History, Cardiff. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Repton Stone with detail of mounted warrior.

The problem with the Anglo-Saxons. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Victorian freak shows. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A portrait of Richard III. Was the last Yorkist king a usurper? Historian John Ashdown-Hill explains why this is a myth. (Photo by Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

Did fear drive Richard III to the throne?

Winston Churchill gives his famous 'V for Victory' sign while addressing crowds from the balcony of City Hall in Sheffield, November 1941. Churchill's "inspirational" wartime speeches "galvanised the country and became part of our national lexicon", says historian Dr Nick Lloyd. (Photo by Capt. Horton/ Imperial War Museums via Getty Images)

Debate: Is British history too fixated with the story of the world wars?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The women of Bletchley Park. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Women in traditional Welsh dress, c1896. (Past Pix/SSPL/Getty Images)

Wales: In search of a history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.