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William Shakespeare. (Photo by Getty/Bridgeman)

Shakespeare’s 'lost years': what do we know about this secretive chapter of the bard's life?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustration of Neolithic druids performing a ceremony at the Stonehenge stone circle.

General prehistory

A Bronze Age Brexit: why did these Britons mysteriously cut themselves off from Europe?

General History

Quiz of the weekWhich famous author survived a deadly train crash on 9 June 1865?

A woman faces the camera, smiling and resting her head in one hand. She has the other hand resting on her crossed legs. She is wearing a floral jumpsuit

“Africans have been starved of historical figures from their own lands that they can look up to”: Paula Akpan on female African leaders. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

What did Victorians do with their poo? The battle over the 19th-century excrement explosion

A cartoon depicting an ancient Assyrian king sitting upright in bed. His eyes are wide open and he has an anxious expression on his face. An open window to the right of the scene shows the moon and stars

Give away your worries, like an ancient Mesopotamian. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Winston Churchill and Winston the Platypus

Second World War

Winston and the platypus: how a bizarre WW2 diplomacy mission to influence Churchill ended in death and tragedy

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Most searched for

Hand-coloured engraving of someone being tortured on the wheel.

Stretched, crushed and impaled10 shocking torture methods from medieval history

Rosemary Kennedy (right), the eldest Kennedy daughter. Pictured here with her mother Rose (centre) and sister Kathleen

The lost Kennedy: the tragic life of JFK’s sister Rosemary

When was the worst time to be alive? You'll be surprised at what our expert has to say. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A character from Atomfall in front of the Windscale nuclear facility.

Britain’s worst nuclear disaster: the Windscale fire of 1957

On this day in history

What happened on this day in the past? We round up the landmark events, births, deaths and more...

7 June

6 June

5 June

4 June

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From the podcast

Incredible historical stories from the recent episodes of the HistoryExtra podcast

Nikola Tesla on the left and Elon Musk on the right

Would Nikola Tesla have approved of Elon Musk? A historian’s verdict might surprise you

A representation of the ancient Mesopotamian demon Pazuzu, in front of a carving. (Photo by Getty/Alamy)

General ancient history

Behold his nightmarish nether regions: this ancient Mesopotamian demon was secretly a divine hero

An eye looking through a dark keyhole.

Are your neighbours spying on you? In the 17th century they had the power to destroy your life

Captured Boer fighters from General Cronjé’s command sit on the dusty ground near Modder River, awaiting tent assignments in a British prison camp during the Second Boer War (1899–1902).

She exposed the horrors of Britain’s secret concentration camps – so why was she demonised?

A replica of a Roman mosaic of the Baths of Ocriculum. It shows Triton and Nereid speaking. (Photo by Getty Images)

“She returned smelling of smoke and sex:” why powerful Roman women were branded nymphomaniacs

A battle between the ancient Greeks and the Amazons, detailed on pottery. (Photo by Getty Images)

Meet the people the ancient Romans and Greeks desperately tried to hide

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The Renaissance: not such a golden age?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Archimedes: life of the week. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Third Reich's first genocide. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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

What happened in Shakespeare's "lost years"?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

History's Greatest Cities: Marrakech. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

History's Greatest Cities: Sydney. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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"These women transformed his understanding of the world": making Malcolm X. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

History's Greatest Cities: Beijing. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

History's Greatest Cities: Kingston. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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History Quizzes

How much do you know about history? Test out your knowledge with our quizzes...

How much do you know about the Vikings? Test your knowledge with our quiz. This mid-19th century painting shows Viking ships on the River Thames. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

QuizHow much do you know about the Vikings?

Flagellants or Brothers of the Cross in Netherlands scourging themselves as they walk through streets

QuizHow much do you know about medieval history?

General History

Quiz of the weekWhich famous author survived a deadly train crash on 9 June 1865?

The effects of the disease known as the Black Death

History quiz: how much do you know about the Black Death?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Popular historic periods

Portrait of King Henry VIII, Jane Seymour and Prince Edward. (Photo by Getty Images)

Tudor

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20th Century

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Painting of Henry VIII

Henry VIII

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Winston Churchill gives his famous v-sign as he opens the new headquarters of 615 (County of Surrey) Squadron of the RAAF (Royal Auxiliary Air Force) at Croydon, 1948. (Photo by Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Winston Churchill

Golden funerary mask of Tutankhamun, inlaid with lapis lazuli, obsidian and turquoise. (Photo By DEA / G. DAGLI ORTI/De Agostini/Getty Images)

Tutankhamun

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Photo of Mabel Capper and Patricia Woodlock advertising a meeting, Manchester, Lancashire, July 1908

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