Painting of Daniel Mendoza

Sport and leisure

Photo of the display cabinet where the World Cup was stolen

What a pickle: how England lost, found and won the World Cup in a single year

Argentinian midfielder Mario Kempes celebrates a goal in the 1978 football World Cup final between hosts Argentina and Netherlands

Sportswashing: a historical perspective on a current trend

Craig Charles and Muhammad Ali

My history heroCraig Charles chooses Muhammad Ali. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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

Ross Kemp and Jesse Owens

My history heroRoss Kemp chooses Jesse Owens. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Tudors play real tennis, a precursor to the modern game of tennis

Q&AWhat was Real Tennis?

From running marathons to working the nightshift: 8 surprising things women were banned from doing through history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Oxford boat on the Thames during first ever Boat Race between between the Oxford and Cambridge university boat clubs, 1829.

Oxford v Cambridge: A history of the boat race

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

Curling stones during a match at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, Utah

General History

A brief history of curling – from medieval Scotland to the Winter Olympics

Elitism in cricket: a history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Hillsborough Disaster floral tributes

A brief history of the Hillsborough disaster and justice campaigner Anne Williams

A statue in Kiev showing a Ukrainian player defeating a Third Reich eagle symbol at the Start stadium's entrance

Q&ADid Nazis guards really play a 'death match' against a Ukrainian football team?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Cricket as a colonial weapon. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Greek soldier Pheidippides arrives in Athens with news of the Greek victory over the Persians at Marathon, only to die on the spot

Pheidippides: is the ancient Greek marathon runner remembered for the wrong run?

Photo of a man on a penny-farthing

Q&AHow dangerous was the penny-farthing?

The rise of the Paralympics. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A photograph of the England team that faced Australia at the Oval in the 1896 Ashes series

Batting for the British Empire: how Victorian cricket was more than just a game. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Joep de Beer of Holland throws a javelin at the Stoke Mandeville Games

Q&AWhen and where were the first Paralympics held?

A runner is helped across a finish line

21 key moments in the history of the modern Olympics

How the 1964 Tokyo Olympics redefined Japan. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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

Medal winners on a podium

Q&AWho won the first Olympic medal? And what was the prize before that?

A man runs on an athletics track with a crowd behind him

Harry Edward: Britain’s first black Olympic hero. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Crown Prince Olav on his ice yacht (Getty Images)

From Hollywood to war heroes: 10 Olympians who were more famous outside sport

Belgium and the Netherlands compete in a tug of war at the Antwerp Olympic

Olympic oddballs: 5 unusual Olympic sports from the past. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Jesse Owens sprinting on a track at the Berlin Olympics.

A history of unsporting conduct at the Olympics. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Tokyo Olympics 1964: Yoshinori Sakai prepares to light the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony. Born on the day that the first atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima, he was a symbol of Japan’s postwar reconstruction and peace

Tokyo Olympics 1964: the Games that defined Japan. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The first modern Olympics at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens

The first modern Olympics: what happened at the 1896 games?

Running to escape the horrors of war. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.