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

#OnThisDay in 1897, Australian aviator Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith was born in Brisbane. He was the first person to fly the Pacific from west to east. 📸 Getty

What do the crimes that women were charged with in a post-medieval Scotland reveal about the lives they lived? https://bit.ly/45kSQhp 🗝️ This article is free to read

#OnThisDay in 1587, Mary, Queen of Scots was executed. Blindfolded, Mary knelt on a cushion on the specially erected scaffold and began to pray in Latin. Then came the executioner’s blow. It took three attempts to remove her head. 📸 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

#OnThisDay in 1478, Thomas More was born in London. The son of a successful lawyer, he would become a lawyer, scholar, writer and statesman. In 1535, he was executed for treason after refusing to deny the authority of the Pope as head of the English Church. 📸 Getty

The struggle between Catholicism and Protestantism came to a head in England in 1688, 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 1952, 25-year-old Princess Elizabeth became queen. This was following the death of her father, King George VI, who passed away in his sleep at Sandringham. She was in Kenya when she learned of his death. 📸 Getty

Cats might have been sacred in ancient Egypt, but they were far from cherished pets. Discover why our assumptions about their treatment draw far more on modern sensibilities than historical reality 🗝️ This article is free to read https://bit.ly/4rI93WP

#OnThisDay in 1811, with King George III debilitated by illness, power was transferred by the Regency Act to his son, the Prince of Wales, who ruled for nine years as Prince Regent before succeeding to the throne as King George IV. 📸 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

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 1870, the 15th Amendment guaranteed Black Americans the vote. 📸 Getty

Find out more about when William Shakespeare married Anne (Agnes) Hathaway, when their children were born, and what became of the Shakespeare family after the playwright's death… 🗝️ This article is free to read https://bit.ly/3ZMKfAF

#OnThisDay in 1913, New York’s Grand Central Terminal opened to the public. Grand Central has 44 platforms – more than any other station in the world – and 67 train tracks on two levels. 📸 Getty

Did the ancient Romans wear underwear? It's a seemingly simple question opens up difficult debates about ancient Roman beauty ideals and social hierarchy, and reveals how differently the Romans thought about their bodies 🗝️ This article is free to read https://bit.ly/3YV5PCR

#OnThisDay in 1587, Queen Elizabeth I signed a death warrant for her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots. 📸 Getty

In an era when candidates were expected to remain silent, detached and above the chase for votes, James Garfield’s improvised presidential campaign in the late 19th century transformed the race for the highest office in the USA https://bit.ly/45tHWWw

#OnThisDay in 1971, the Apollo 14 space mission was launched. Crewed by Alan Shepard, Stuart Roosa and Edgar Mitchell, it became the third Apollo mission to land men on the moon. 📸 Getty

#OnThisDay in 1933, German president Paul von Hindenburg appointed Nazi party leader Adolf Hitler as chancellor of Germany. 📸 Getty

Did Octavian, later known as the Roman emperor Augustus, have an affair with Julius Caesar? That’s precisely what Mark Antony’s propaganda wanted you to think https://bit.ly/3NEEhiA 🗝️ This article is free to read

#OnThisDay in 1711, William Cheselden passed the final examination of the Barber Surgeons' Company. His 'The Anatomy of the Human Body', published in 1713, remained an essential student manual until the end of the 18th century. 📸 Getty

What do the crimes that women were charged with in a post-medieval Scotland reveal about the lives they lived? https://bit.ly/45kSQhp 🗝️ This article is free to read

#OnThisDay in 1813, 'Pride and Prejudice' was published, bound in three handsome volumes and priced at 18 shillings. “Buy it immediately,” playwright Richard Sheridan told a friend, adding that it was “one of the cleverest things” he had ever read. 📸 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

On this day in 1649, Charles I of Scotland, England and Ireland was declared guilty of treason against his own people and sentenced to execution. If you haven’t listened to my @historyextra.bsky.social series, consider this your prompt ⬇️

#OnThisDay in 1859, the future Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany was born in Potsdam, near Berlin. He was the eldest child of Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia and Princess Victoria, daughter of Queen Victoria. 📸 Getty

Tell us in the comments!

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 1871, the Rugby Football Union was founded at the Pall Mall Restaurant on Regent Street. Twenty-one clubs were represented at the meeting. The London club Wasps were not present – although invited, they turned up at the wrong pub on the wrong day. 📸 Getty

Introduced in the wake of the Norman Conquest, the murdrum fine was meant to protect Norman settlers from revenge killings. But it quickly became a blunt instrument of inequality and exploitation 🗝️ This article is free to read https://bit.ly/4qZHFTR

#OnThisDay in 1882, English novelist, critic and queen of the Bloomsbury Group Virginia Woolf was born Adeline Virginia Stephen at Hyde Park Gate in Kensington, London. Her father, Leslie Stephen, was the founding editor of the Dictionary of National Biography. 📸 Getty

On the podcast | Dr Jess Venner discusses the years between destruction and excavation in the buried Roman city of Pompeii

One of the earliest Norse myths depicts the so-called god of thunder in women’s clothing. Far from undermining Thor’s power, the story speaks volumes about how the Vikings understood humour and the gods themselves 🗝️ This article is free to read https://bit.ly/4puwBgj

#OnThisDay in 1328, Edward III married 14-year-old Philippa of Hainault in York Minster. They would go on to have 13 children including Edward the Black Prince, John of Gaunt and Edmund Duke of York. 📸 Getty

Can you solve our history crossword of the week? https://bit.ly/45jefaM

Thank you Prof Alice Hunt for this wonderful review of Voices of Thunder in @historyextra.bsky.social magazine

#OnThisDay in 1571, Queen Elizabeth I opened and named London's Royal Exchange. It had been founded five years earlier by Sir Thomas Gresham in a bid to compete with the Antwerp Bourse as a centre for foreign trade. 📸 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 1901, Queen Victoria died after 63 years on the throne. After her passing, her beloved dog Turi was placed on her deathbed to honour her last request. 📸 Getty

What did Roman houses look like, and how did they vary depending on a person's social status? Even with some considerable archaeological biases, there's a lot that historians have pieced together 🗝️ This article is free to read https://bit.ly/4b1ddUt

#OnThisDay in 1932, writer and critic Lytton Strachey died. He was the author of 'Eminent Victorians' and a founder member of the Bloomsbury Group. 📸 Getty

On the podcast | Mark Urban explores the history of the tank

Pioneering journalist Nellie Bly went undercover to expose the shocking conditions inside an infamous Victorian-era asylum in New York 🗝️ This article is free to read https://bit.ly/3YMHUFy

#OnThisDay in 1265, England’s first parliament met. It was so different from its modern-day equivalent that the two can barely be compared. It was called not by the king, Henry III, but by the rebellious magnate Simon de Montfort. 📸 Getty

On the podcast | Bill and Phil Taubman discuss the life of former United States Secretary of Defense Robert S McNamara

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Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had to battle to turn Buckingham Palace into the iconic royal residency that it is today https://bit.ly/4jQ3YsA 🗝️ This article is free to read

#OnThisDay in 1511, Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon made a pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in Norfolk to give thanks for the birth of a son. A few weeks later, however, the royal child died. 📸 Getty

On the podcast | Frank McDonough describes how a campaign of intimidation on the streets of Germany evolved into genocide.