Isaac Newton investigating light

Science and technology

1858 Punch satirical cartoon titled 'The Silent Highwayman,' showing the Grim Reaper rowing on a polluted River Thames in front of London landmarks

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Victorian London's poop explosion: why even Queen Victoria couldn't escape the stench. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Ancient explosives and the philosopher's stone: a history of alchemy. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Orange LiDAR image revealing an ancient geometric earthwork in the Amazon rainforest, with circular and rectangular structures visible beneath the forest canopy.

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The Amazon rainforest is hiding an ancient secret – and scientists now know what it is. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustration of a teacher standing atop a precarious stack of obsolete technology – TV, radio, computer, laptop – teaching from a book, while a large screen beside her displays an AI chatbot interface

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Robot wars in the classroom: why AI in education is nothing new. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustration of a ship being tossed in a stormy sea, overlaid with weather map symbols showing a low-pressure system and isobars

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D-Day could have ended in disaster – but one Scottish hero changed everything. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Composite image showing a close-up portrait in the foreground and a red-tinted historical rocket on a launch platform in the background.

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In 1944, Hitler threatened London with a new "wonder weapon". How did resistance fighters race to stop him?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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The secrets of our DNA. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Crowds gather around Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin during his visit to Manchester in July 1961, months after his historic spaceflight.

Cold War

This Russian hero was a global superstar – but fame came at a heavy cost

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The ancient Mesopotamians were freakishly ahead of their time – and here are 8 reasons why. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A pair of World War II‑era Supermarine Spitfire fighter planes fly in formation along a bright coastline. Below them, tall white chalk cliffs drop to turquoise water, with green fields stretching inland above the cliffs. The aircraft have elliptical wings, camouflage paint, and Royal Air Force roundels. The scene is clear and sunlit, evoking the historic defence of Britain.

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Did the Spitfire really save Britain in WW2?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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

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Alan Turing's greatest achievement wasn't cracking Enigma. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A stylised illustration of an astronaut in a bulky white spacesuit, shown from the chest up. The helmet’s reflective visor fills most of the image, capturing a vivid view of Earth’s curved horizon — blue oceans, green landmasses and bright sunlight against the blackness of space. The background around the astronaut is dark, emphasising the planet’s glow.

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We haven't set foot on the moon for more than 50 years. Our expert explains the surprising reason why. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Two circular portraits overlap against a blue background. The left shows an older sepia‑toned photograph of a person with curly hair in a high‑collared dark garment. The right shows a modern colour photograph of a light‑haired person wearing a dark jacket and a necklace. The circles intersect to create a small blended area between them.

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"If she had been a man there would be a statue of her": the amazing life of an unsung Victorian scientist. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Astronaut inside a dimly lit spacecraft, wearing a helmet and reaching toward a control lever beside a large circular hatch, surrounded by glowing panels, switches, and screens

Cold War

What if the Soviets had beaten the Americans to the moon? An alternate space race history

A person wearing a Royal Air Force uniform with brass buttons and a peaked cap sits outside a stone building with classical columns and arched windows. A military vehicle and decorative stone urns stand in the background.

Second World War

Who was the real James Stagg of Pressure?

A bright red spherical Breitling Orbiter 3 balloon capsule sits inside a workshop. Two pilots in blue flight suits are visible through its circular hatch, surrounded by wooden beams and a yellow Breitling banner in the background.

Period

The Balloonists: the terrifying story of the first round-the-world balloon flight

A large assortment of cheeses packed closely together, including wheels, wedges, blocks and small tubs in a wide range of colours from pale cream to deep orange and blue. The mix of smooth, cracked, mould‑flecked and rind‑covered surfaces highlights the variety of cheese styles on display.

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Why did Britain ban soft cheese during World War Two?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A cartoon shows a big, textured single‑celled organism emerging from a petri dish and reaching toward the Grim Reaper, who steps back in surprise against a yellow background.

Period

What was the greatest invention in history? 9 experts share their opinions. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A colourful surreal collage set against a purple background. It features a large green alligator head on the left, a honey dipper dripping honey, a sliced lemon, a classical-style illustration of a person drinking from a jug, a small brown‑and‑white weasel, a long piale pink condom, and reddish‑brown pods with bright red and black seeds

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14 weird contraception methods from history: from weasel testicles to fish bladder condoms. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A group of children in early‑20th‑century clothing gather on a dirt street in a working‑class neighbourhood. Several of the children are outlined in purple against the monochrome scene.

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The Victorians were facing a population crisis, until this ‘obscene’ invention turned out to be the solution. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A Venn‑diagram style image with two overlapping circles on an orange background. The left circle shows a painting of a man in a dark hat and white collar looking through an early optical device. The right circle shows a colour photograph of an older man in a suit, smiling slightly. The overlapping section is tinted magenta

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He was one of England's greatest astronomers – so why has no one heard of him?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A woman in early 20th‑century clothing sits at a desk using a candlestick telephone, holding the receiver to her ear and speaking into the mouthpiece

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Ringing the changes: how the telephone transformed Victorian Britain. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A whimsical, detailed drawing of a person with curly hair and glasses standing on a wooden platform, holding a magnifying glass and pointing toward a stream of long paper scrolls. The scrolls flow from a large, fantastical machine on the right, built from gears, pulleys, tubes, and compartments. Several gloved hands emerge from the machine, performing tasks such as ironing, cleaning, inserting coins, and feeding paper into different mechanisms. The scene suggests a playful, surreal process of sorting or transforming information, with papers looping, curling, and cascading between the person and the machine

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"Forget AI – never has the role of the historian been more urgent". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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AI: good or bad for history? Our experts weigh in. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A pink flower with various contraptions in the background

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From goat eyelids to bread: history's 12 strangest sex toys. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Star witness: how the Royal Observatory transformed our understanding of astronomy and time. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Did Hitler have a secret Jewish grandfather? Our DNA research has solved the mystery. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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The place where TIME began | A history of GMT. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An illustration showing a king dressed in green and orange, sitting on a blue throne made out of books. He is reading from a long scroll

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Love learning like Æthelstan. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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