Weird and wonderful history

A miller and a donkey

9 things you could do with a medieval ass

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Kathryn Smithies discusses the economic and cultural significance of donkeys in the Middle Ages. (Image by Getty Images)

Ten things to do with a medieval donkey . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Edward Jenner

Q&A When did medical practitioners start to be called ‘doctor’?

This 15th-century painting from a manuscript shows men fishing in a river. In medieval England, eels were both meals and de facto currency. (Photo by Bridgeman)

Fishing for gold: how eels powered the medieval economy

'Merry Christmas' Victorian illustration of Santa Claus holding toys and blowing on a trumpet, chromolithograph, 1915. (Illustration by GraphicaArtis/Getty Images)

Father Christmas and Santa Claus: a brief history of two Christmas champions

A2YTPA St Nicolas In Holland 2

Zwarte Piet: the history behind the Christmas controversy

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Edith Hall on the HistoryExtra podcast.

The ‘lost’ city of Atlantis . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

British mystery writer Agatha Christie, c1926.

The mysterious disappearance of Agatha Christie

Henry VI of England. (Photo by iStock/Getty Images)

Henry VI may have had a “sex coach” – plus 4 more curious facts about his life

Boys playing conkers in 1926. Horse chestnuts played an unlikely role in the war effort just a few years earlier. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Did conkers help win the First World War?

Roman toilet

Tales of the toilet: a historical A–Z

Statue of King Alfred the Great in leafy Trinity Church Square, Southwark. It is thought to be the oldest statue in London.

Q&A What’s the oldest statue in London?

Buckingham Palace intruder Michael Fagan

Buckingham Palace intruder Michael Fagan: what happened and why did he break in?

President Nixon making final TV address

The 5 most notorious presidents in US history

Glamis Castle is said to be the most-haunted castle in Scotland. (Photo by mpalis via Getty Images)

A royal ghost tour: 5 haunted sites around Britain