Historical people

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Ruth Williams Khama: first lady of Botswana

Full-length portrait of (left) American showman Phineas Taylor Barnum (1810–91) and entertainer Commodore Nutt (1814–81), c1862. (Photo by HultonGetty/GettyImages)

Circus sensation: PT Barnum’s greatest wheezes

A portrait of James Gordon Bennett, Jr (1841–1918), by Alexis Joseph Perignon, 1867. (Photo by The New York Historical Society/Getty Images)

Q&A Why do we say ‘Gordon Bennett’?

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

Statue at temple of Queen Hatshepsut, Luxor (Photo by Getty)

Hatshepsut: a guide to the life and rule of ancient Egypt’s female pharaoh

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First World War

Life of the Week: Kaiser Wilhelm II

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Life of the Week: Romulus Augustus

A portrait of the writer and antiquarian John Aubrey

John Aubrey: chronicler of the 17th century

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Princess Victoria Melita: the British princess who scandalised the royal family

A portrait of Joan of Arc,

The real Joan of Arc

An engraved depiction of John Lilburne, who

My history hero: John Lilburne (c1615-57)

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A portrait of Mary Wollstonecraft.

History hero Jo Brand chooses Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–97) . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Ptolemy World map. Artist: Germanus, Donnus Nicolaus (ca. 1420-ca. 1490)

Ptolemy’s maps: the father of modern Geography

‘Portrait of a Lady’ by Netherlandish painter Rogier van der Weyden, c1460. From the collection of the National Gallery, London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Art Media/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Medieval underwear: bras, pants and lingerie in the Middle Ages

The dark art of blackmail prepared Charles Théveneau de Morande well for a career in espionage. (Alamy)

Charles Théveneau de Morande: an 18th-century French spy in London