Illustration of strange creatures

Weird and wonderful history

Portrait of Oliver Cromwell. This is one of several replicas of a portrait by Sir Peter Lely. Cromwell is supposed to have said: “I desire you would use all your skill to paint your picture truly like me… but remark all these roughness, pimples, warts and everything as you see me. Otherwise, I will never pay a farthing for it.”

Why do we say 'warts and all'?

Great British eccentrics: 7 of the most peculiar people in history

Winston Churchill with a bulldog mascot as he leaves the Wanstead Conservative Club in his Woodford, Essex constituency on general election day, 23 February 1950. (Photo by Central Press/Archive Photos/Getty Images)

Second World War

Q&AWhat is the significance of the British Bulldog?

Medieval banquet: saying grace before meal. From an engraving of an illuminated medieval Royal Manuscript. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)

Medieval kebabs and pasta: 5 foods you (probably) didn’t know were being eaten in the Middle Ages

The ‘Spruce Girls’ wearing their specially made wooden bathing suits in 1929. (Credit: © Historic Collection / Alamy)

Second World War

6 weird inventions in history

'The Cricket on the Hearth' published in 1845 by Charles Dickens. (Image by Getty)

Cats in history: 3 curious tributes

A brief history of graffiti and creativity

BBC History Magazine

8 weird and wonderful pictures from the past

When Hitler took cocaine

Showering, teeth brushing and donning underwear: the strange history of our daily routine

A portrait of Elizabeth I.

The enchanting history of charisma

In pictures: Victorian life

10 dangers of Georgian London

The daily hustle and bustle in the busy fishing port of Newlyn in Penzance, Cornwall, c1870. (Photo by Gibson/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Top 10 historical Cornish words

In pictures: Blackpool beach through time

Children running down a street

Q&AWhy do we say ‘run amok’?

7 things that happened in August through history

Ancient thinkers and the history of madness. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A virtuous Viking: the medieval legend of Havelok the Dane

Witch trials and feuding queens. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

5 historical space travel facts

5 facts about the history of the Women’s Institute

7 weird and wonderful medieval facts

Dover Castle, Kent. (Photo by Olaf Protze/LightRocket via Getty Images)

England's 8 most amazing castles

What was the werewolf myth in Ancient Rome?

Photo of ancient public toilets

General ancient history

Q&AHow old is the toilet seat?

'Tomatina' festival in August 1999. (Photo by Müller-Stauffenberg/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

9 weird and wonderful festivals through history

The perils of piety in Tudor England

The golden age of murder: Agatha Christie and the Detection Club

BBC History Magazine

Dressed-up fleas, devil butterflies and the Thames whales: the strange ways nature has influenced human history