Historical people

Secret Santa Getty Dreamstime

General History

What gift would you buy figures from the past? Find out in historical Secret Santa 2022

The real Wenceslas is that he was not actually a king, but Duke of Bohemia.

Q&A Who was Good King Wenceslas, and was he actually good?

St Andrew, in St Andrew chapel, depicted at his crucifixion displayed in the manner known as the Saltire cross

St Andrew’s Day: 11 things you might not know about Scotland’s patron saint

Premium

Xmas22Hero_VincentSheean_JeremySheenshutterstock

My history hero Jeremy Bowen chooses Vincent Sheean . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Premium

Mikhail Gorbachev as seen in a 1995 portrait. His leadership saw the Soviet Union undergo dramatic reform, leading to its dissolution in 1991 (Photo by Dana Gluckstein / mptvimages / eyevine)

Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev as a Cold War hero or a failed idealist: the historians’ verdict . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Former British Prime Minister John Major (left) and Johnny Lee Miller as John Major in The Crown

John Major: a brief guide to Britain’s prime minister in the 1990s

Ben Foster as Jan Žižka in 'Medieval' (2022). (Photo by Alamy)

Jan Žižka: one of history’s greatest military leaders, who was blind but undefeated

Kleisthenes is credited with reforming the constitution of ancient Athens and setting it on a democratic footing in 508/7 BCE. For these accomplishments, historians refer to him as 'The Father of Athenian Democracy'. (Picture by Alamy)

15 minutes of fame Michael Scott chooses Kleisthenes

Premium

Pod Euan Rogers WL

Chaucer’s disputed legacy: new discoveries . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Premium

American Republican politician, Robert Smalls (1839 - 1915), born a slave in South Carolina, he was later elected to serve as a Congressman for his home state. (Photo by MPI/Getty Images)

Black History Month The slave who stole a ship and sailed to freedom . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Premium

Douglas Mawson

Douglas Mawson: a tale of tragedy and survival in the Antarctic . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Two-Penny Whist, published January 11, 1796, James Gillray (English, 1756-1815), published by Hannah Humphrey (English, c. 1745-1818), England, Etching in dark brown, with handcoloring, on cream wove paper, 231 × 334 mm (image), 247 × 350 mm (plate), 270 × 384 mm (sheet). (Photo by: Sepia Times/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

15 minutes of fame Hannah Greig chooses Hannah Humphrey

Image of Aina Forbes Bonetta and her husband, James Davies (GettyImages-3318942)

15 minutes of fame Hannah Cusworth chooses Aina Forbes Bonetta

Premium

Pod Andrew Roberts WL

The Napoleon of Fleet Street . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Coloured engraving of Malintzin

General Early Modern

15 minutes of fame Caroline Dodds Pennock chooses Malintzin