Weird and wonderful history

The Ashes urn, a cricketing trophy

In pictures: The Ashes through history

For our forebears, the secret to a good night's sleep lay in the contents of your gut. (Photo by Leemage/UIG via Getty Images)

6 sleeping tips and tricks from history

The ‘Surgeon’s Photo’, taken in 1934, which claimed to depict the Loch Ness Monster. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

5 facts about the Loch Ness Monster

A 15th-century map of the world illustrating a Latin edition of Ptolemy's the 'Geography'. (Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

12 alternative giant leaps for mankind – from carnivorism to Magna Carta

A cartoon showing a man in a suit of armour on the moon

Q&A Did NASA really pick the brains of the Tower of London armoury when designing the first space suits?

Illustration by Glen McBeth.

Q&A When did the leopards on the royal arms of England become the lions depicted today?

This is an American flag with waves folding over the blue field of stars and red and white stripes. (Photo by Visions of America/UIG via Getty Images)

Revealed: the history of America’s national anthem

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Diminutive circus performer George Sherwood Stratton, better known as General Tom Thumb poses in Highland dress for the appreciation of two young ladies. (Photo by London Stereoscopic Company/Getty Images)

Victorian freak shows . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

'Peter Pan and Wendy' by James Matthew Barrie.

8 of the best dogs in history

King Ludwig II of Bavaria. (Photo by Roger Viollet/Getty Images)

9 eccentric monarchs through history

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Edward Carey talks about Madame Tussaud on the History Extra podcast. (Wax Figure of Marie Tussaud (Photo by Getty Images)

The story of Madame Tussaud . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Between 1613 and 1754, a legal loophole meant that on-the-spot marriages could be carried out in an area surrounding the Fleet Debtors’ Prison known as the ‘Liberties of the Fleet’. (Photo by Getty Images)

General History

10 things you (probably) didn’t know about the history of London

Sergeant Stubby, an American dog who served as the mascot of America's 102nd Infantry Regiment during the First World War. (Photo by Bettmann via Getty Images)

First World War

Sergeant Stubby of the First World War: the heroic story of America’s most decorated war dog

Men enjoying a drink and a chat in a coffee house, 1674. Coffee houses became known as ‘schools of the wise’, where people would gossip, argue and discuss the breaking news of the day. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A drink for the devil: 8 facts about the history of coffee

Peasants in the Middle Ages at a cattle market. Cows appear to have been difficult to manage in the medieval period, and caused several deaths. (Photo by INTERFOTO /Alamy)

5 strange causes of death in the medieval period