Dockers unloading wine barrels

Social history

While young ladies may have been daydreaming of handsome film stars such as Cary Grant, pictured here kissing the cheek of Ingrid Bergman in a publicity still for the 1946 film ‘Notorious’, agony aunts were keen to bring them back down to earth. (Photo by John Springer Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

How to be a man: tips from 1930s agony aunts

A Campaign for Homosexual Equality rally held in London’s Trafalgar Square in 1974. The Sexual Offences Act of 1967 helped pave the way for activism such as this in the 1970s, says Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite. (Corbis via Getty Images)

The 1967 Sexual Offences Act: a landmark moment in the history of British homosexuality

A view of a calander showing the date, Friday the 13th. (Photo by William C. Shrout/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

10 historical superstitions we carry on today

People approach the VI Lenin Stadium, now known as the Luzhniki Stadium, in Moscow, in 1956. (Photo by James Whitmore/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images)

The history of Luzhniki Stadium, home of the 2018 football World Cup final

Britain’s refugee camps. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

With its huge bell and five-storey pagoda, Sensoji Temple is one of Tokyo's most popular –and venerable – landmarks. (Photo by Mike Hewitt - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

My favourite place: Tokyo, Japan

Historian David Edgerton. (Photographed by Fran Monks for BBC History Magazine)

Books interview with David Edgerton: "We need to tackle British history as we would the turbulent story of Germany”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Kate Middleton: a thoroughly modern mum

A 19th-century cricket match at the Kennington Oval. (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)

10 things you didn’t know about London’s sporting history

Ireland podcast

Ireland’s past and present. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Sarah Churchwell and Adam IP Smith in conversation

Behold, America: Sarah Churchwell in conversation. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A woodcut print depicting the stocks, a form of Elizabethan punishment. Dated 16th century. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

"Damn your blood": Swearing in early modern English

First built in 1576, the Globe theatre burnt to the ground in 1613. During a performance of the play now known as 'Henry VIII', a set of stage cannons were fired and a piece of flaming material from one of the cannons landed on the theatre’s thatched roof, causing the fire. (Photo by Time Life Pictures/Mansell/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

5 facts about Shakespeare’s Globe theatre

Michael Fish makes his first televised weather forecast in 1974. (Photo by Press Association)

4 facts about the history of the weather forecast

Chastity belt decorated with a flower design and a heart pierced with arrows. (SSPL/Getty Images)

13 weird historical facts

Keith Thomas on how ideas of civilisation shaped society 500 years ago.

The history of manners. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Early 20th century image showing a tribune in the Roman Republic. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)

Elections in the late Roman Republic: how did they work?

Mona Baptiste, a Trinidad-born blues singer

“London is the place for me”: David Olusoga on the Windrush generation

A councillor and architects discuss plans for the Moss Heights development in Glasgow, 1953. Proponents of high-rise flats believed that they would provide

The LibraryHave high-rises ever been the answer to our housing woes?

The city of Bern, Switzerland. "I lived in Bern as a young lecturer, and I still feel positive about its effect on my life and writing," says Seán Williams. (Photo by Chinnaphong Mungsiri via Getty Images)

My favourite place: Bern, Switzerland

Keith Thomas. (Photo by Fran Monks)

Books interview with Keith Thomas: “The world was divided into the ‘civil’ and the ‘barbarous’”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Grenfell Tower: from hope to tragedy. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

London traffic. (Photo by Popper Ltd./ullstein bild via Getty Images)

The history of Britain’s roads

A group of men wearing togas assault Julius Caesar in this painting depicting his assassination.

Violence, rebellion and sexual exploitation: the darker side of Ancient Rome

Scene depicting rural life in Stuart Britain. (via Getty Images)

Stuart Britain: what was life like for ordinary people?

The remarkable history of the Netherlands. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

London & North Western Railway locomotive, 1848. (Photo by SSPL/Getty Images)

8 ways railway travel changed everything for Britain

Bearded Victorian man. (Photo by Getty Images)

A brief history of beards

Charles Lindbergh, photographed alongside the ‘Spirit of St. Louis’.

A pioneering flight: Charles Lindbergh’s transatlantic crossing

A Georgian painting depicting children leaving for school

The Georgian guide to perfect parenting