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German submarine on mission in the Atlantic ocean, 1942/1943 (Photo by ullstein bild via Getty Images)

World War Two’s secret heroes . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Tourists at Stonehenge

Stonehenge: a prehistoric tourist trap

The Cunard liner Lusitania

How did Britain react to the sinking of the Lusitania?

Queen Elizabeth I

“All unperfect and incorrect”: Tracy Borman on the discovery of an Elizabethan gem

Ragnar Lothbrok. (Illustration by Georgie Gozem for BBC History Magazine)

Ragnar Lothbrok: the legend of the immortal Viking and his sons

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Three elderly men on a bench in London's Southall, circa 1980. (Photo by Getty Images)

Asians in 1980s Britain . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A 15th-century miniature from 'La Vraye Histoire du Bon Roy Alixandre'. (Photo by Leemage/Corbis via Getty Images)

6 Christmas party tips from the past

The figure of Santa Claus is the very embodiment of the modern American secular Christmas. (Image by Bettmann/Getty Images)

How America captured Christmas

A family at the seaside in the 1960s.

In pictures: English life in the 1960s, photographed by Tony Ray-Jones

A stained glass depiction of the nativity.

The history of the nativity: how much is known about the birth of Jesus?

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Edwardian hat pin head found on the Thames shore. (Photo by Bloomsbury)

Secrets of the river . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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A statue of Leif Eriksson, Erik the Red's son, who sailed to North America, c1000 AD. (Image by RF/Getty Images)

Russia, North America and the Middle East: where did the Vikings visit to trade and raid? . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Varangian Guard, as shown in the 12th-century Madrid Skylitzes. Around this time, the guard, which protected the Byzantine emperor, was apparently dominated by English warriors who had fled the Norman conquest. (Image by Bridgeman)

A medieval new England: the Anglo-Saxons’ eastern odyssey

Lord Mountbatten at a desk

Lord Mountbatten: Did Prince Philip’s uncle attempt to lead a coup against Harold Wilson’s government?

Einstein on the run

Einstein on the run: when the brilliant scientist fled to England