History & Politics
Explore past civilizations, major events, leaders, revolutions, and how societies are governed.
Some of the stories included
The Origin of the Bank HolidayHow one Victorian banker's 1871 Act gave an overworked nation a break by inventing the bank holiday.
The Black PrinceThe eldest son of King Edward III, Edward of Woodstock was a famed commander at Crécy and Poitiers who died before he could inherit the throne.
The History of Formula 1How Formula 1 grew from its first world championship race at Silverstone in 1950 into a global sport, through safety campaigns, ground-effect cars, TV deals, hybrid engines and Liberty Media's takeover.
Maimonides: Sage of CairoExiled as a child, Maimonides became a physician to sultans and the most influential Jewish thinker of the Middle Ages.
The American RevolutionThe American Revolution from the First Continental Congress in 1774, through the Declaration of Independence and the French alliance, to Yorktown, the Treaty of Paris and Washington's resignation.
The Fall of the Berlin WallHow a chain of events in 1989, from the Pan-European Picnic and the Leipzig marches to a confused press conference, led to the Berlin Wall opening on 9 November.
The Six-Day WarIn June 1967, Israel's preemptive strike defeated three Arab armies in six days, more than quadrupling the territory under its control.
Doctor Gladys WestGladys West, the mathematician whose model of the Earth's true shape made GPS accurate, and who went unrecognised for decades.
The HolocaustThe systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime between 1933 and 1945.
The Story of ChocolateHow a bitter Aztec drink, made from beans that doubled as money, became the sweet, solid chocolate bar over 350 years of European tinkering.
The Zimmermann TelegramHow a secret 1917 German offer to Mexico, promising the return of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, was intercepted by British codebreakers and helped bring the United States into World War I.
Julius CaesarThe assassination of Julius Caesar on the Ides of March, 44 BC, and how it led to the end of the Roman Republic he was accused of destroying.
The ColosseumDiscover how the Colosseum was built with war spoils, engineered to empty in minutes, and what the thumbs-down gesture really meant.
The Architecture of ApartheidHow South Africa's government used laws like the 1950 Group Areas Act to systematically enforce racial segregation.
The Black DeathThe Black Death reached Europe in 1347, killing a third to a half of the population and remaking the medieval world.
The Irish FamineThe Great Hunger began in 1845, triggered by a potato blight, but over a million died while Ireland remained a net exporter of food.
The Cuban Missile CrisisThe October 1962 standoff over Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba, from the U-2 photographs and naval quarantine to Black Saturday and the secret deal that ended it.
The Lombards Enter ItalyIn 568, King Alboin led the Lombards into Italy in the last great Germanic migration, dividing the peninsula for centuries.
The Theremin's Strange LifeInventor Leon Theremin created a touchless instrument, spied for the Soviets in New York, and designed a bug hidden in the US Great Seal.
The Alcatraz EscapeThe June 1962 escape from Alcatraz by Frank Morris and John and Clarence Anglin, who left dummy heads in their beds, paddled off on a raincoat raft, and were never found.
Khalid ibn al-Walid: The Sword of GodThe story of Khalid ibn al-Walid, the 7th-century Arab general who defeated the Byzantines at the decisive Battle of Yarmouk in 636.
HiroshimaOn August 6, 1945, the US dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, instantly killing tens of thousands and changing warfare forever.
The Gunpowder PlotThe 1605 plot by English Catholics to blow up the House of Lords and kill James I, how an anonymous letter exposed it, and how it became Bonfire Night.
The Twelve ApostlesWho the twelve apostles of Jesus were according to the Gospels and Acts, and what the New Testament and later church traditions say became of Peter, James, Thomas and Matthias.
The Boer WarThe Second Boer War of 1899 to 1902 set Britain against two Boer republics. This story covers Black Week, the Khaki Election, scorched earth, the camps and the Peace of Vereeniging.
Theranos: The Blood Test That Never WorkedThe story of Theranos, the startup that reached a $9 billion valuation before its blood-testing technology was exposed as a massive fraud.
Christopher ColumbusThe life of Christopher Columbus, from his 1492 contract with Spain's monarchs and first Atlantic crossing to his arrest in chains and death still believing he had reached Asia.
Al-Andalus: Muslim SpainThe nine-century history of al-Andalus, from the 711 conquest to the final expulsion of the Moriscos in 1614.
Joan of ArcA peasant girl who heard voices, Joan of Arc was given an army and broke the siege of Orléans in 1429 before being tried and executed.
The Silk Road: A Journey Across ContinentsThe Silk Road, the network of trade routes that linked China to the Mediterranean and carried silk, paper, religions and ideas for 1,500 years.
The War of 1812The strange war between the US and Britain that saw the White House burned and a national anthem written as a result of the fighting.
The Hundred Years' WarThe 116-year struggle between England and France, a war of shifting tactics from longbows at Crécy to cannons at Castillon.
The Rise of SaladinHow a Kurdish officer united the Muslim world, retook Jerusalem in 1187, and negotiated a truce with Richard the Lionheart.
The Pyramids of GizaHow the Great Pyramid of Giza was built around 2580 BC: the architect, an inspector's surviving diary, and the paid workers' city beside it.
The Troubles in Northern IrelandThe 30-year conflict in Northern Ireland, from the 1968 civil rights marches to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
The 2008 Financial CrisisHow cheap credit, subprime mortgages and complex securities led to the 2008 financial crisis, from the fall of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers to the AIG rescue, the bank bailout and the Great Recession.
The Wall Street Crash of 1929A stock boom sextupled the market on borrowed money before a record crash wiped out nearly a war's worth of wealth.
Ceuta: Spain's Contested African EnclaveThe story of Ceuta, the Spanish city in Africa, from its 1415 conquest to its modern role as a flashpoint for migration and diplomacy.
The East India CompanyFounded in 1600, the East India Company was a private firm that came to rule large parts of India with its own army.
The Bristol Bus BoycottIn 1963 Bristol's West Indian community, led by Paul Stephenson, Roy Hackett and Guy Bailey, boycotted the city's buses for four months until the bus company dropped its colour bar.
How Hollywood Was BuiltHow independent filmmakers escaping Thomas Edison's patent trust settled in Hollywood, built the studio system and feature films, and came to dominate world cinema after the First World War.
The MycenaeansThe Bronze Age civilisation of mainland Greece, from its fortified palaces and Schliemann's 1876 excavation at Mycenae to the Linear B tablets, its collapse around 1200 BC and its echoes in Homer.
Jack the RipperIn 1888, a killer terrorized London's East End, exposing the city's deep social divides and creating an enduring mystery.
The Death of LumumbaThe 1961 overthrow and killing of Patrice Lumumba, the first prime minister of the independent Congo, and the foreign powers involved.
Adam Smith and The Wealth of NationsWhat Adam Smith actually argued in The Wealth of Nations in 1776, from the pin factory and the invisible hand to his distrust of merchants.
Charlemagne, Father of EuropeHow the Frankish king who couldn't write forged an empire, standardized text with lowercase letters, and created a new European identity.
The Louisiana PurchaseHow a slave revolt in Haiti convinced Napoleon to sell a vast territory, doubling the size of the United States for $15 million.
The Russian RevolutionIn 1917, Russia saw two revolutions, with Lenin's Bolsheviks seizing power from a government that had only just replaced the Tsar.
The Falklands WarIn 1982 Argentina seized the Falkland Islands and Britain sent a fleet 8,000 miles to take them back. Why it happened and how it was decided in 74 days.
The Sinking of the LusitaniaIn May 1915, a German U-boat sank the passenger liner Lusitania in 18 minutes, killing 1,198 people and pushing the United States closer to war.
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