What inspired the darkness of William Golding's 'Lord of the Flies'? Here's the disturbing history behind the novel 🗝️ This article is free to read https://bit.ly/4srkF0v

Victorian audiences revelled in riddles, physical comedy and bawdy jokes that challenge everything we think we know about 19th-century respectability 🗝️ This article is free to read https://bit.ly/40frmqs

#OnThisDay in 1942, Anne Miller, a nurse from Connecticut, became the first known person to have her life saved by penicillin after developing a streptococcal infection, following a miscarriage. 📸 Getty

As Europe lay in ruins following the end of the Second World War, Churchill’s instinct was to punish the surviving Nazi leadership without a trial. How was the decision made to stage the Nuremberg Trials instead? https://bit.ly/4llzqQk 🗝️ This article is free to read

During the Second Punic War, the famous Carthaginian general Hannibal led his forces to numerous victories. But did he really take war elephants across the Alps? https://bit.ly/4raBSKB 🗝️ This article is free to read

From dealing with nits to learning the three Rs, ancient Roman childhood bore some striking similarities to the modern experience 🗝️ This article is free to read https://bit.ly/4lb2o5n

Before picket lines and unionisation, ancient Egyptian artisans learned that collectively withdrawing labour could force even a pharaoh to negotiate 🗝️ This article is free to read https://bit.ly/40SXksJ

#OnThisDay in 1908, the Football Club Internazionale Milano was founded. Known in the UK as Inter Milan, the club derives its name from its founders' wish to accommodate foreign players as well as Italians. 📸 Getty

What was the Habsburg jaw? As Jonny Wilkes explores, the Habsburgs' desperate bid to keep power within the family gave them a distinctive physical callsign, as well as dynastic longevity… 🗝️ This article is free to read https://bit.ly/4ampKBm

#OnThisDay in 1910, Raymonde de Laroche became the world's first licensed female pilot. The French aviatrix was issued with the licence number 36 by the Aero-Club de France. 📸 Getty

Henry VIII planned a monumental tomb to match his power and legacy. Instead, the king now lies beneath a small, easily-missed slab. Here’s how three Tudor monarchs, and a civil war, erased his grand design 🗝️ This article is free to read https://bit.ly/46x6BKt

#OnThisDay in 1799, Napoleon Bonaparte captured Jaffa in Palestine. After taking the city from Ottoman forces, Napoleon allowed his troops to rape and murder their way across the city for two days. 📸 Getty

Margaret Beaufort has long been put forward as a shadowy mastermind potentially behind one of England’s greatest royal mysteries. Does the case against her stand up to scrutiny? 🗝️ This article is free to read https://bit.ly/3YrpERW

#OnThisDay in 1888, Louisa M Alcott, writer and feminist, died. Her best-known work is 'Little Women', a novel which was largely based on her own experiences. 📸 Getty

After many centuries, the Bayeux Tapestry is returning to Britain in 2026. But as the loan draws closer, new information about attempts to bring forth a previous loan have come to light 🗝️ This article is free to read https://bit.ly/4pNfR3J

The struggle between Catholicism and Protestantism came to a head in England when Maria of Modena gave birth to an heir with a claim to two crowns 🗝️ This article is free to read https://bit.ly/4kbXepj

#OnThisDay in 1193, Saladin, sultan of Egypt and Syria and founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, died in Damascus. In 1187 he had defeated Christian forces at Hattin and recaptured Jerusalem. 📸 Getty

As well as creating new regulations on faith, Henry VIII’s 16th-century government also decided which kinds of knowledge were legitimate – and which were criminal 🗝️ This article is free to read https://bit.ly/477JfLD

#OnThisDay in 1913, thousands of women took to the streets of Washington DC in the city's first suffragist march. The women marched in pursuit of their right to vote but they were met with jeers and abuse from men on sidewalks. 📸 Getty

With conflicting advice and endless new trends, it can feel hard to keep up with the modern health and wellness space. But ideas about how to live a healthy life are nothing new. Thousands of years ago, the ancient Greeks had their own list of requirements... https://bit.ly/4ulZmzt

#OnThisDay in 1141, Empress Matilda met with Henry of Blois, the Bishop of Winchester. Henry agreed to support Matilda's claim to the English throne against his brother, King Stephen. 📸 Getty

#OnThisDay in 1815, Napoleon returned to France to re-take power. After being in exile on the Mediterranean island of Elba for over 9 months, Napoleon landed on the south coast of France and headed for Paris. 📸 Getty

#OnThisDay in 1638, members of the Scottish nobility signed the National Covenant at the churchyard of Greyfriars Kirk, in Edinburgh. In doing so, they opposed Charles I's proposed reforms of the Church of Scotland. 📸 Getty

Amid the industrial warfare of the Second World War, battlefield performance depended on precise logistics and the ability to absorb catastrophic losses. How did America, Germany and the Soviet Union approach this problem? https://bit.ly/3ZIGigD 🗝️ This article is free to read

#OnThisDay in 1933, the Reichstag, seat of the German parliament, was gutted by fire. The Nazi regime blamed the fire on the German Communist Party and used it to justify the imposition of their first restrictions on personal liberty. 📸 Getty

#OnThisDay in 1616, Galileo was ordered to abandon his astronomical ideas by the Catholic Church. Galileo's observations suggested that the Sun was at the centre of the Solar System and that Earth was an orbiting planet, a theory which contradicted the accepted view of the Catholic Church. 📸 Getty

For most people in Tudor England, an ordinary diet was more structured – and often more varied – than we might expect 🗝️ This article is free to read https://bit.ly/4tJfNoS

Here I am, talking to @historyextra.bsky.social about Thomas Edison and what his story tells us about technological future-making and its history.

#OnThisDay in 1956, Nikita Khrushchev denounced Stalin. In a four-hour-long 'Secret Speech', Khrushchev openly criticised Stalin's regime as one of "mass terror". 📸 Getty

Hitler’s U-boats were a feared component of his naval strategy during the Second World War. But what was life aboard these weaponised submersibles actually like? 🗝️ This article is free to read https://bit.ly/40mnZOo

#OnThis Day in 1848, the last French King, Louis-Philippe, abdicated his throne. Amidst riots over the government's decision to ban fundraising banquets, and fights between demonstrators and troops on the streets, the king left Paris for exile in Surrey. 📸 Getty

Ancient Rome didn’t abandon its gods overnight. The rise of Christianity was a slow transformation of the cult-based religious order that had structured Roman life for centuries 🗝️ This article is free to read https://bit.ly/4qLpQHi

#OnThisDay in 1821, English poet John Keats died of consumption in Rome. He is the author of works including 'Ode to a Nightingale' and 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci'. 📸 Getty

A peace treaty ended the Mexican-American War in February 1848 and officially left California as new American territory. Unbeknownst to any of the negotiators, gold had been discovered in California just nine days before the treaty was signed https://bit.ly/46l06Ks

#OnThisDay in 1857, Lord Baden-Powell (pictured centre), the founder of the Boy Scouts, was born in London. 📸 Getty

#OnThisDay in 1513, Julius II died. Known as the 'Warrior Pope', he earnt his nickname by leading the papal army against the Venetians and vigorously resisting French attempts to dominate Italy. 📸 Getty

#OnThisDay in 1547, Edward VI was crowned at Westminster Abbey 📸 Getty

Ancient Rome’s reputation for bad emperors partly rests on hostile sources written after the fact – and Domitian may be the clearest case of how politics shaped historical memory 🗝️ This article is free to read https://bit.ly/4rEEktI

More than a millennium before Cleopatra, the female ruler Hatshepsut blazed a trail for powerful women in the ancient civilisation https://bit.ly/45YnHRe 🗝️ This article is free to read

#OnThisDay in 1478, the Duke of Clarence was executed for treason. He supposedly met his end by drowning in a barrel of malmsey wine. 📸 Getty

When England’s first true king confronted Viking power in the north, one of his most effective weapons became his manipulation of loyalty... 🗝️ This article is free to read https://bit.ly/4a7b88C

#OnThisDay in 1461, the Lancastrian army defeated the Earl of Warwick at the second battle of St Albans, and rescued King Henry VI from Yorkist captivity 📸 Getty

Dr Hugh Doherty worked as the historical consultant on HBO’s new Game of Thrones spin-off, 'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms'. Speaking to HistoryExtra, he sets out how the series got closer to reality than many historical dramas https://bit.ly/4qUJz8q 🗝️ Free to read

#OnThisDay in 1923, English archaeologist Howard Carter opened the sealed burial chamber which contained King Tutankhamun's sarcophagus and mummified body. 📸 Getty

The struggle between Catholicism and Protestantism came to a head in England when Maria of Modena gave birth to an heir with a claim to two crowns 🗝️ This article is free to read https://bit.ly/4kbXepj

#OnThisDay in 1710, the future Louis XV of France was born at Versailles. The son of Louis, Duke of Burgundy and Marie of Savoy, he became king at the age of five following the death of Louis XIV, his great-grandfather. 📸 Getty

Before the Punic Wars, as Rome and Carthage edged towards conflict in the third century BC, the balance of power in the Mediterranean favoured the Carthaginians. But it was the upstart Romans who would be victorious https://bit.ly/4qc03I6 🗝️ This article is free to read

#OnThisDay in 1852, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children opened its doors to the public. The first in-patient was Eliza Armstrong from Lisson Grove who was suffering from phthisis and bronchitis. 📸 Getty

As trench warfare paralysed the Western Front, an experimental vehicle pointed the way toward a different type of warfare – and a century of armoured combat 🗝️ This article is free to read https://bit.ly/4rABDcy

#OnThisDay in 1542, Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of King Henry VIII, was beheaded at Tower Green in the Tower of London after being attainted for high treason following sexual indiscretions. She was buried in the nearby chapel of St Peter ad Vincula. 📸 Getty