May 2020

Expert articles from the May 2020 issue of BBC History Magazine

Dr DA Henderson examines children’s smallpox vaccination scars in Ethiopia

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Why we should remember…Target Zero Day. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

English pilot Amy Johnson sat in a plane and wearing a helmet

20th Century

'Queen of the Air': the remarkable life of pioneering English aviator Amy Johnson

Portrait of Maria Sibylla Merian, by Jacob Marrel, 1679 (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images via Getty Images)

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Maria Sibylla Merian: the artist who challenged the natural world. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Harold Wilson in 1971, after his first period as prime minister. He would take power again in 1974. (Photo by Getty Images)

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History heroJason Watkins chooses Harold Wilson (1916–95). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

8 May 1945: Crowds celebrate VE Day in London, at the end of World War 2. (Photo by Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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"Hooray! The war is ended": 5 people's recollections of VE Day. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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The rise of spiritualism after WW1. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Linda Porter

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Linda Porter“You’ve got to be impressed by how these women played the system”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Ill mannered discussions: Chinese leader General Chiang Kai-shek, US president Franklin D Roosevelt and British prime minister Winston Churchill meet at the Cairo Conference in November 1943. (Photo by Getty Images)

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VE Day at 75Preparing for peace: why WW2 felt like a war without an end. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The dark side: A man summons demons in a 14th-century English encyclopaedia. "Some educated men were determined to contact the spirit world – and took great risks to do so," writes Catherine Rider. (Photo by Bridgeman)

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From healing spells to conjuring demons: the medieval obsession with magic. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Harvest time in Surrey in the mid-19th century. Powerful Tory landowners had agitated for the introduction of the Corn Laws to protect the income from their farms. (Photo by Christie's Images via Bridgman)

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The Corn Law crisis: the bitter political war that threatened thousands with starvation. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Flying the flag: A sailor signals a merchant ship in the Thames Estuary, 1939. Allied maritime capacity was paramount in the final victory. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Second World War

WW2: Why did the Allies win the Second World War?

Portrait of an unknown woman, c1490–95. She sports a necklace in a painting from c1485. Coral jewellery was widely believed to ward off evil spirits. (Photo by Getty Images)

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Medieval magic at work: 7 spells and charms our ancestors used. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Cousins at war: King Stephen is shown holding a falcon in a miniature from 1253. His battle with his cousin Matilda for the English crown plunged the realm into a long civil war. (Photo by Alamy)

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The Anarchy: how bloody was Stephen and Matilda’s medieval battle for the English crown?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Hollow victory: Charles de Gaulle, leader of the Free French, attends Paris VE Day celebrations. But many faced privation and uncertainty as the war drew to a close. (Photo by Getty Images)

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VE Day at 75The bitter taste of victory: why May 1945 was not a time of celebration for everyone. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.