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From a scandalous threesome to classical stardom: the actress who found redemption in Handel’s Messiah | HistoryExtra
Susannah Cibber’s journey from abuse and scandal to a role in the debut of Messiah is one of the most remarkable stories in music history. Elinor Evans spoke to Charles King, author of Every Valley: The Story of Handel’s Messiah, to reveal how an actress embroiled in a salacious courtroom drama became the emotional heart of one of the most enduring pieces of Western music
Were Ancient Ireland’s ‘Incestuous Elites’ Just a Myth? A Tomb Older than Stonehenge has New Answers | HistoryExtra
In 2020, analysis of a skull fragment discovered at Newgrange, County Meath, led to sensational claims of royal incest within the region’s prehistoric ruling dynasties. But new research suggests that Neolithic Ireland may have been far more socially equal – and more complex – than originally assumed
George and Bertha Russell To Split? The Real Vanderbilt Divorces That Rocked The Gilded Age | HistoryExtra
Julian Fellowes, the creator behind HBO’s The Gilded Age, has taken plenty of cues from real history for the characters of Bertha and George Russell, seemingly turning to the lives of Alva and William K Vanderbilt in plotting much of their story. Discover the real history, and what this could mean for everyone’s favourite power couple in series three
What is Juneteenth, and why is it celebrated? A historian explains the significance of the holiday today | HistoryExtra
Each year on 19 June, millions across the US gather to commemorate the day in 1865 when the last enslaved African Americans finally learned of their freedom. Professor Adriane Lentz-Smith explores how the celebrations have evolved over the past 160 years – and the long campaign to have Juneteenth formally recognised as a federal holiday
You probably eat these foods every day, so why did the ancient Romans think they were disgusting poison? | HistoryExtra
From peaches and lentils to your favourite herb, ancient Mediterranean doctors had strong opinions about what you should (and shouldn’t) eat – and their verdict on some of today’s staple foods might surprise you
Flower power: how plants transformed the lives of 17th-century women | HistoryExtra
Few 17th-century women could travel the world. But the world could visit them in their gardens. Susannah Lyon-Whaley reveals how exotic plants – from Chinese rhubarb to South American passionfruit – opened new horizons in fashion, food and science
Reshaping narratives, repatriation and Richard III : 25 lessons we've learnt from history in the last 25 years | HistoryExtra
To celebrate a quarter-century of BBC History Magazine, we asked 25 expert contributors to nominate the most important historical discoveries and revelations since the publication launched in 2000
A Bronze Age Brexit: why did these Britons mysteriously cut themselves off from Europe? | HistoryExtra
Cutting ties with continental Europe in around 3000 BC, ancient Britons abandoned innovation and shunned trade. Why did they choose this dramatic self-isolation? Archaeologist Mike Parker Pearson suggests one answer to the mystery
“Africans have been starved of historical figures from their own lands that they can look up to”: Paula Akpan on female African leaders | HistoryExtra
Paula Akpan speaks to Danny Bird about powerful African woman leaders and the complexities of interrogating historical narratives, colonial biases and these women’s own flaws
Shakespeare’s 'lost years': what do we know about this secretive chapter of the bard's life? | HistoryExtra
Shakespeare's 'lost years' refers to an undocumented period in his life, during which little is known about his activities or whereabouts. So what, exactly, could he have been up to? Daniel Swift explores this secretive chapter in the famous playwright's story
In his mother’s womb, he was fated to avenge his father – how was pregnancy understood in the Viking age? | HistoryExtra
A powerful prophecy was made in the Laxdaela Saga, a tragic 13th-century Icelandic tale filled with gory twists and turns. It concerned the unborn child of the beautiful Guðrún, a woman caught in a violent sequence of love, betrayal and revenge…
Winston and the platypus: how a bizarre WW2 diplomacy mission to influence Churchill ended in death and tragedy | HistoryExtra
In 1943, Australia tried to send a live platypus across U-boat-infested waters to Britain as a diplomatic gift. The mission, part zoological experiment, part geopolitical theatre, ended in disaster