Dockers unloading wine barrels

Social history

A missionary preaches to the Native Americans of Massachusetts, c1650. By now, colonists were imposing their values on the indigenous population, encouraging them to dress like the English – and worship the English God. (Photo by Ian Tyas/Keystone/Getty Images)

Britain's nuclear fearsHow has the UK prepared for Armageddon?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Image of Somalians meeting in a cafe

General History

Black British historyKey questions answered

The leader of the Luddites, 1812. Found in the collection of British Museum. Anonymous artist. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

5 of the worst years in British history

A loan transaction being recorded in a ledger, shown in a work by Marinus Van Reymerswaele

Medieval money tricks and the modern world. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Rosa Parks rides on a Montgomery bus

50 important historical events: from Sutton Hoo to Rosa Parks

Why we should remember…the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent

Dangerous ideas & scandalous lives: Germany’s first Romantics. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

KleisthenesFather of Athenian democracy. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Winter is coming: the Anglo-Saxon year. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Ellis Island: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

East German leader Willi Stoph greets West German chancellor Willy Brandt at Erfurt. (Getty images)

Cold War summits: how USA & USSR leaders worked to end the conflict. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The uniform worn by pupils at Christ’s Hospital School in Horsham. (Photo by Rex Features)

The history of school uniforms

Bridal accessories, including lace gloves and pearls (Alchemia | Dreamstime.com)

Beyond fashion: 6 accessories that reveal changing attitudes in society, from the Georgians to the 20th century. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Photo of Ginger Rogers

Q&AWhen did people start wearing sunglasses?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Cast and crew filming an episode of EastEnders in 1998 (Photo by Polly Borland/Getty Images)

BBC at 100How EastEnders saved the BBC. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A third-century monument of a Roman woman having her hair styled by slaves, from Germany. High-status women on the frontiers, including at Hadrian's Wall, tried to follow the latest Roman fashions (Photo by DEA / M. BORCHI / Getty Images)

Roman Britain: what six objects can reveal about life for women at Hadrian’s Wall. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The George Inn at Norton St Philip

General History

In search of Britain’s oldest pub

Police disperse a mob attacking a Hindu temple in Calcutta (now Kolkata) during the violence of Direct Action Day, 1946

Why we should remember…Direct Action Day

Countryside campaigners: four women who fought for our green spaces. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Troops clear damage after the Lynmouth flood disaster of 1952

Britain’s flood disasters: a brief history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A refugee family in a camp in Pakistan after the partition of British India in 1947

Enduring trauma: the legacy of partition. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Youths throw stones at the Royal Ulster Constabulary in the Catholic Bogside area

Why we should remember…The battle of the Bogside

Measurement: an unexpected history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Composer and conductor Igor Stravinsky rehearses with the BBC Symphony Orchestra ahead of a concert to be broadcast on the Third Programme, 1958

BBC at 100The Third Programme: a cultural institution. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

15 minutes of fameHakim Adi chooses Alice Kinloch. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A British poster dated 1917 designed by Bert Thomas. (Photo by Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo)

A brief history of smoking

England's Daley Thompson during the high jump event of the decathlon at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Emonton, Canada

A brief history of the Commonwealth Games

Medieval monks: a day in the life. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The presenters of the recently launched BBC Radio 1 assemble for a group photo outside Broadcasting House, 1967. (Photo by Robert Stiggins/Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

BBC at 100Sounds of the Sixties. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

In a photograph taken at Bishop's Stortford railway station in Hertfordshire, 1972, resettled Ugandan Asians wait for the train that will take them to their new home. (Photo by Alamy)

Fleeing Idi Amin: the long journey to a new life. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.