Dockers unloading wine barrels

Social history

When did Italian replace Latin as the language of Italy?

Three coal miners. (Photo by W. Eugene Smith/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

History through the eyes of the working man. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

BBC History Magazine

The 'beautiful' game?

Illustration by Femke De Jong

The generational shift from home births to hospitals

Wolfson History Prize 2013 special. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A photograph of photographer George Lowe and Cho Oyu mountain

In picturesThe conquest of Everest. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Ye olde travel guide: Madrid 1621. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A big day in history: Rioters give East Anglia's rich and respectable a fright. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A Pompeian fresco from the first century showing a woman tuning a musical instrument. Excavations at the partially buried Roman city reveal that women played a prominent role in the home, and that they took personal grooming very seriously indeed. (Photo by: Werner Forman/UIG via Getty Images)

At home with the Romans. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The story behind Hidden Killers of the Victorian Home

How the Tudors invented breakfast. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

When completed in the early 12th century, Durham Cathedral was "absolutely up-to-the-minute in its design and near-perfect in its execution," says Marc Morris. (Jim Gibson via Getty Images)

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

BBC History Magazine

Songs of Innocence: The Story of British Childhood

A noisy history of the world. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

BBC History Magazine

Live genealogy show returns to London Olympia

"I read and studied much": Adolf Hitler at his Berghof mountain retreat in c1936. (Photo by Imagno/Getty Images)

Hitler's philosophers. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Image by Jonty Clark.

Ye olde travel guide: Calcutta 1905. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

"Although the circus as we know it has its roots in the 18th century, the history of its three basic forms (clowning, equestrianism and animals) goes back much further," says Vanessa Toulmin. (Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

Where history happened: the circus in Britain. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A big day in history: A speck of glitter triggers the California Gold Rush. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Why Magna Carta matters. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A rail revolution: Dan Snow on the meteoric rise of British railways. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Bank of England in a late 18th century illustration. A 1783 investigation into malpractice at the Bank is reminiscent of the current financial crisis. (Guildhall Library & Art Gallery/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Georgian banking blunders. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Winston Churchill, former prime minister of the United Kingdom, gives his 'victory' sign while making a polling day tour of his constituency during an election. (Getty Images)

Are these the most overrated people in history?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Medieval ploughmen ploughing with oxen

The dark side of the Anglo-Saxons. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

First Textbook

Toys and games that killed in Tudor England. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A Mayan funeral mask, made from jadeite and shell

The Maya and the apocalypse. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Victorian trade in dead bodies. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Uganda railway, which links Uganda and Kenya with the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa in Kenya, was built during the period of British control of East Africa. (SSPL/Getty Images)

The dark side of abolitionism. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Rosa Parks Riding the Bus

My history hero: Rosa Parks (1913-2005). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Q&A: Where did the monks go after the dissolution of the monasteries?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.