Dockers unloading wine barrels

Social history

King John out hunting

8 things you (probably) didn’t know about medieval elections

A man attacks the Berlin Wall with a pickaxe on the night of November 9th, 1989 as news spread rapidly that the East German Government would now start granting exit visas to anyone who wanted to go to the West. The announcement was misinterpreted as meaning the border was now open and East German border guards were unable to stop the rush of people to the Wall. Within hours people were smashing sections of the Wall with their own hand tools and these first cracks in the Wall led to the complete opening of the border within days. (Photo by robert wallis/Corbis via Getty Images)

In pictures: remembering the Berlin Wall 30 years on

Britain in the early 80s. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Photo of a gramophone

Q&AWho do we say 'put a sock in it'?

Princess Margaret and her husband, Lord Snowdon, in San Francisco during a visit to America, November 1965. (Photo by Harry Benson/Express/Getty Images)

“Cheap men and expensive bottles”: Princess Margaret’s love affairs

Scores of people milled about the entrance to the Stock Exchange on 24 October 1929, as the market went through the greatest shake up in its history. It was a light tremor heralding the earthquake to come. (Photo by NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)

The Wall Street Crash: the day the bubble burst

Extinction Rebellion take over Trafalgar Square, London, in protest on 16 October 2019. (Photo by Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images)

From William Wordsworth to Extinction Rebellion: a history of Britain's green activists

Gin Lane, a print issued in 1751 by painter and printmaker William Hogarth. It depicts the perceived evils of the consumption of gin. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

The 18th-century craze for gin

The Monteagle letter, which shares a warning about the Gunpowder Plot. (National Archives)

In their own words: 6 of history’s most fascinating letters

Peter Hennessy on Britain in transition. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The trial of Lady Chatterley’s Lover: how the 'obscene' book caused a moral storm

Illustration by Davide Bonazzi.

The WW2 obsession: why the world can't move on from 1945

A cartoon from 1862 shows a pair 'garroters' attacking a victim. (Photo by The Cartoon Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Gangs and knife-crime fears: how has Britain responded through history?

Half-timbered medieval cottages, Water Street, Lavenham, Suffolk, England, (Photo by Getty Images)

History explorerA wealth of history: Laversham, Sulfolk

Cardinal John Henry Newman

How to become a saint

This 1867 magazine illustration shows a group of children preparing for Halloween. (Photo by American Stock/Getty Images)

The origins of Halloween: tricks, treats and cobbled streets

Cariad Lloyd, Suzannah Lipscomb and Greg Jenner

"A history podcast for people who don't like history": Greg Jenner on his new podcast You’re Dead To Me. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Daisy Dunn.

The destruction of Pompeii. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A painting by Italian painter Defendente Ferrari (c1480-1540) showing a Saint performing a miracle.

Medieval saints and sinners: tales of saintly miracles in the Middle Ages

(Photo by Getty Images)

The package holiday revolution

The cast of Downton Abbey in front of Highclere Castle

Downstairs in Downton: a guide to the life of an Edwardian servant

A student party, c1824: Oxford undergraduates drinking together. drinking escapade.

The Georgian guide to university life

A gamer plays the video game 'Red Dead Redemption II', an action-adventure and multi-platform western video game developed by Rockstar Studios released on October 26, 2018. (Photo by Chesnot/Getty Images)

Red Dead Redemption, L.A. Noire and Battlefield V: the real history behind 3 popular video games

A dinner scene from Downton Abbey, with large candlesticks on the table

Could you survive an Edwardian dinner party?

King George VI, Queen Elizabeth, and their daughters, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret of United Kingdom. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

The Windsors at war: what did the royal family do during WW2?

The battle of Agincourt, 1415

True-to-scale battle numbers and 15th-century life: look inside the revamped Agincourt museum

A photo which was believed to be of the Loch Ness Monster

The quest for the Loch Ness Monster

Engraving depicting Chinese opium smokers in a saloon

What caused the First Opium War?

Robin Hood statue outside Nottingham Castle (Photo by Getty)

The many faces of Robin Hood

The card game cribbage

General Early Modern

Q&AWhy do we say 'level pegging'?