History Revealed

Women carefully restore the carpets inside the 17th-century Palace of Versailles, helping to prepare the building for the signing of the peace treaty of 1919 – the famous document, signed on 28 June, formally ended World War I. As part of the terms o

A Benin bronze sculpture – looted by British soldiers in 1897 during the destruction of Benin City (in modern-day Nigeria) – is to be returned to Nigeria by the University of Aberdeen. Bought by the university in 1957, the sculpture, which depicts a

HOW DID YOU BECOME A HISTORIAN SPECIALISING IN FOOD AND DINING? I did modern history for my undergraduate degree, and I was a bit underwhelmed by the focus on great men. I had no idea what to do afterwards. Then the economy tanked, and it also turne

A group of Republicans – who want the removal of King Louis Philippe I – build barricades in the streets of Paris to make a stand against the National Guard. After two days of intense fighting, the rebels are defeated. It is this insurrection that la

In 1928, after decades of campaigning, British women finally gained the right to vote on the same terms as men. But the road to women’s suffrage had been a hard one, with many sacrifices and disappointments along the way. In this month’s essential gu

Q: What was the difference between suffragettes and suffragists? A: Suffragists were women who were asking for the vote – drawing up petitions and meeting their local members of parliament – in a peaceful and genteel way from the 1860s onwards. Emm

Emmeline Goulden was born in 1858 to parents who fiercely supported reform and activism. She accompanied her mother to suffrage meetings and her grandfather had witnessed the Peterloo Massacre of 1819. Emmeline attended schools in both Manchester and

In the electoral history of Australia, the state of South Australia was a true trailblazer. Property-owning women had been able to vote in the then colony’s local elections as far back as 1861, but it wasn’t until the final decade of the 19th century

Little more than a century ago, women in Britain did not have the right to vote. Deprived of having their say at the ballot box, millions of wives, mothers, daughters and sisters were effectively rendered voiceless by a political establishment that d

Contemporary newspaper reports often described some of the suffragettes’ more violent activities as terrorism – a term that some historians still use to describe their actions today. Although the stunts were not intended to endanger life, there were

WHAT WAS THE CARNATION REVOLUTION? It was an almost-bloodless coup, led by members of the armed forces which – on 25 April 1974 – brought down more than 40 years of dictatorship in Portugal and ended Europe’s longest-surviving authoritarian regime.

The early years of campaigning for women’s suffrage was largely law-abiding, but with the formation of the militant Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) in 1903, more radical campaigning tactics began to be deployed, particularly from around 190

As the battle for the vote reached fever pitch, jailed suffragettes embarked on hunger strikes, refusing all food and drink in protest against their harsh treatment and classification as criminal (rather than political) prisoners. The first woman to

When Britain entered World War I in August 1914, the WSPU immediately suspended its activities. Initially, Christabel Pankhurst declared her belief that the war was a punishment from God upon men who had refused to give equality to women. Soon, howev

On 6 June 1944, the coast of Normandy bore witness to an incredible sight as around 156,000 American, British and Canadian forces stormed five beaches along a 50-mile stretch of French coastline. As droves of Allied soldiers splashed out of landing c

Passionate about the fight for women’s rights, in 1903, Emmeline Pankhurst founded the WSPU – their motto ‘Deeds not Words’ signalling a new approach. Their militant tactics, such as heckling at political meetings, would earn them the nickname ‘suffr

After the Representation of the People Act became law in February 1918, around 8.4 million women were granted the vote. This was roughly 43 per cent of all adult women in Britain, but still only applied to those over 30 who met certain property quali

In 1995, the David Attenboroughwritten and fronted television series The Private Life of Plants aired. It was a six-part study of the lifecycle and behaviour of plants from around the world, as shown through extensive timelapse sequences. The series

In May 1513, a young English girl stood on the deck of a ship cresting the waves of the English Channel. She may have been as old as 12, or as young as seven, but Anne Boleyn already understood that she had an important international role to play. As

Within four years of his victory in the naval battle of Actium, Octavian, the most powerful man in Rome, had taken the name Augustus and begun his reign as the first emperor. The beginning of the end of the Roman Republic had been signalled when Octa

Extra Life: A Short History of Living Longer / BBC Four & BBC iPlayer, Tuesday 18 May In less than a century, scientific breakthroughs and advances in medicine led to a doubling in life expectancy for many people. So why isn’t this a story more ofte

Virago, £20, hardback, 576 pages A testament to the power of human courage in the bleakest of times, this book illuminates the previously overlooked stories of Jewish women confined to the ghettoes of Eastern Europe by the Nazis during World War II.

SHORT ANSWER Don’t call them ‘heads’ in front of the Rapa Nui people – they made sure to carve the bodies, too LONG ANSWER Carving and transporting those characteristic stone statues, known as moai, that keep watch over Easter Island was no small fe

As World War II dragged on, Britain found itself facing a severe coal shortage due to a lack of manpower in its mines. To solve the crisis, thousands of young men – known as Bevin Boys after Minister of Labour Ernest Bevin – were conscripted to serve

bit.ly/britishroyalportraits A major new exhibition of British royal portraits from the past 500 years is coming to the National Maritime Museum this summer. Originally scheduled for 2020, the landmark display will showcase more than 150 works, incl

PLUS... OTTO WARBURG: HOW A JEWISH SCIENTIST SURVIVED THE NAZIS WHAT IF THE VIKINGS HAD NEVER LEFT SCANDINAVIA? LADY JANE GREY’S NINE-DAY RULE IN A NUTSHELL: THE 18TH-CENTURY ‘BLOODY CODE’ SPOTLIGHT ON POET AND NOVELIST SYLVIA PLATH AND MUCH MORE...