In 480 BC a vast Persian army under king Xerxes crossed into Greece. The invasion was triggered by Athens’ defeat of a Persian army at Marathon ten years earlier, but this was a far bigger force and ...

Chaucer’s meadows are romantic landscapes of leisurely frolicking. But for medieval haymakers July meant a month of hard ...

Robert Hole shows how important historical context is for an understanding of the most significant document in American history. Graham Noble explains why the issue of equal gender rights has been so ...

On May 31st, 1902, the Peace of Vereeniging was signed, ending the Second Boer War between Britain and the two Afrikaner republics of Transvaal and the Orange Free State. The Second Boer War between ...

On 1 July 1903 a publicity stunt for a sporting paper cycled into history as the first Tour de France. Cycle racing was all the rage. The Paris-Brest-Paris race was launched in 1891. (Its inaugural ...

The organisers of the Indian displays at London’s Great Exhibition of 1851 had a problem: they urgently required a taxidermy elephant. They needed the elephant as a frame on which to display a lavish ...

In April 1971 a series of table tennis matches between the US national team and the world champions China made history. Then ranked 23rd in the world, the US team was comprised of amateur players, ...

George III was crowned on September 22nd, 1761, aged 22. One of the longest reigns in English history was under way. Unlike his two predecessors of the House of Hanover, George III was raised in ...

In hiding and soon to be sentenced to death in absentia, Eugène Pottier completed a poem In June 1871 that still serves as the rallying cry for the Left worldwide: L’Internationale. Its themes of ...

Though remembered as the era of the housewife, momentous change in the status of British women began in the 1950s. The 1950s is remembered as an era of ideal homes and perfect housewives. Yet this ...

Baghdad was the seat of the Abbasid caliphs from the eighth century. In 1248, however, Genghis Khan’s grandson Möngke became great khan of the Mongols and resolved to extend his sway to the Middle ...

History Today, established in 1951 and based in London, publishes the world's leading scholars, on all periods, regions, and themes of history. Published monthly, every issue is carefully edited and ...