Dockers unloading wine barrels

Social history

‘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

BBC History Magazine

The correct piece of paper

The White Tower, one of the oldest parts of the Tower of London complex, was built by William the Conqueror. (Getty Images)

Castles of the Conqueror

A Victorian drawing room with pictures in heavy frames and ornately covered furniture, c1860. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Where history happened: Victorian collectors. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Moscow 1980: going to the games

BBC History Magazine

The Vicar of Bray

Scenes of frivolity in the 16th century. (Culture Club/Getty Images)

Bad sports? Puritan attempts to ban games in 17th-century England

BBC History Magazine

The vulgar tower

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Guinness o'clock

An illustration depicting medieval pilgrims. (Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

The LibraryMedieval tourism: pilgrimages and tourist destinations

Industrial might: Blenheim bombers in production in England, late 1939. The Allies’ combined industrial strength proved too much for the Axis. (Getty Images)

Second World War

The LibraryThe world in flames

William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne and British prime minister from 1782–83, was instrumental in the Genevan exiles’ move to southern Ireland. (Getty Images)

The watchmakers of Waterford

BBC History Magazine

Trabi jokes

Second World War

German bomber insurance

BBC History Magazine

A Rough Justice

Q&A: How did the Romans write fractions?

BBC History Magazine

Rabbit holiday

BBC History Magazine

Thrash away!

BBC History Magazine

Golf vs Work

BBC History Magazine

The Schartz-Metterklume Method

BBC History Magazine

The Wipers Times

Members of the royal family on board the royal barge 'Spirit of Chartwell'. (Rota/Anwar Hussein/Getty Images)

The LibraryThe Thames triumphant: royal parties on London's grandest street

A contemporary view of the river Seine and Notre-Dame de Paris. (Getty Images)

Ye Olde Travel Guide: Paris 1802. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Two medieval men thresh a sheaf of wheat in this 14th century illustration. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Michael Wood on the history of you and me

BBC History Magazine

Wife for sale

The Queen's silver jubilee took place in 1977. (Photo by Tim Graham/Getty Images)

Why the Seventies still matter

What are the origins of the ‘mutes’ that attended Victorian funerals?

BBC History Magazine

Who's winning?

BBC History Magazine

Holocaust

BBC History Magazine

The patient