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Was a nine-year-old boy imprisoned for making a joke about Louis XIV’s bald head?

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The Cold War Olympic boycott . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Fort George

Guinness o’clock

An illustration depicting medieval pilgrims. (Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

The Library Medieval tourism: pilgrimages and tourist destinations

Industrial might: Blenheim bombers in production in England, late 1939. The Allies’ combined industrial strength proved too much for the Axis. (Getty Images)

Second World War

The Library The world in flames

The Fire of Rome, by Hubert Robert (1733-1808).

The Library A big day in history: the Great Fire of Rome

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A 19th-century woodblock print of Edo, now known as Tokyo. (GraphixaArtis/Getty Images)

Ye Olde Travel Guide: Edo 1850 . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Richard Buckminster standing next to his draft of a house of the 21st century. (Ullstein picture via Getty Images)

My History Hero: Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983) . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne and British prime minister from 1782–83, was instrumental in the Genevan exiles’ move to southern Ireland. (Getty Images)

The watchmakers of Waterford

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The replica of 'The Matthew' arriving at Douarnenez, France in 1998. It was on the original 15th-century vessel that John Cabot travelled to North America. (Getty Images)

Where history happened: Tudor smuggling . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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America’s ‘birth certificate’ map found in Germany

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Trabi jokes