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Portrait of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII

Anne Boleyn: your guide to the life and death of Henry VIII's second queen – plus 11 little-known facts

Composite image of famous women: Cleopatra, Marie Curie, Mary Wollstonecraft, Madame CJ Walker, Jane Austen, Emmeline Pankhurst, Ethel Smyth, the Virgin Mary, Rosa Parks, Frida Kahlo, Diana, Princess of Wales, Amelia Earhart.

100 women who changed the world

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

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

Stretched, crushed and impaled10 shocking torture methods from medieval history

On this day in history

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

11 May

10 May

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8 May

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From the podcast

Incredible historical stories from the recent episodes of the HistoryExtra podcast

Illustration of soldiers in medieval armour killing peasant women

Why it was more dangerous to steal a loaf of bread than commit murder in medieval England

Engraving of a man standing behind a large dog

General ancient history

The ancient Mesopotamian civilisation’s weirdest job? Meet the veterinary exorcist

Portrait of James III of Scotland

This medieval king was hunted down and brutally murdered — and we still don’t know who killed him

A penis depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry

“I counted the penises in the Bayeux Tapestry and I have no regrets”: what one Oxford professor found when he studied the rudest bits of the embroidery

A hand holding a knife with a rose blooming from the handle

‘She didn’t cry’: how this Tudor woman’s lack of emotion condemned her to death

JFK and Marilyn Monroe

“Risks he should never have taken”: a historian’s take on JFK’s sexual waywardness

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HistoryExtra Podcast

The latest episodes from the History Extra podcast

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

What caused the Irish Famine?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Public vs private: history behind closed doors. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The rise of James VI & I: when Britain went global. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Papal elections and tariff troubles: history behind the headlines. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

How the English took Manhattan. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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

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A timeless love story? Abélard and Héloïse’s passionate affair. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Composite image of the historical Talleyrand and his portrayal in Apple TV+ drama Carême

The master of political survival: Talleyrand, the cunning foreign minister of Carême

Was Carême a spy? The true story of the world’s first celebrity chef

Could America have won the Vietnam War? The mistakes that denied the US victory. 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 notable figure from history was born on 28 April 1908?

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

Illustrated Medieval scene from the Romance of Lancelot

Medieval

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Victorian

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20th Century

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Painting of Henry VIII

Henry VIII

Portrait of Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria

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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Dockers unloading wine barrels

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

Women's history

Illustration of a couple

Sex and love

The charge of the light, battle illustration

Military history

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