Georgian

A painting shows Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow in October 1812. Tens of thousands of his troops perished over the winter months that followed

What if… Napoleon had defeated Russia?

Visitors promenade alongside a lake with Surrey Zoological Gardens in the background, 1844 (Photo by Guildhall Library & Art Gallery/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Victorian zoos Animal attraction in the 19th century

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Jane Austen’s England: everything you wanted to know . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustration depicting the first hot air balloon flight in America, piloted by Jean-Pierre Blanchard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, January 7, 1793.

When was the first crossing of the English Channel by air?

Three of the children of Henry VII: Prince Henry; Arthur Prince of Wales and Princess Margaret

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Illustration of Major Stede Bonnet, the Gentleman Pirate

Stede Bonnet, Gentleman Pirate: how a mid-life crisis created the ‘worst pirate of all time’

A painting of Marie Antoinette in 1775

How Marie Antoinette waged a battle for survival

The Eridge Hunt, Boxing Day 1952

A brief history of Boxing Day

A portrait of Marie Antoinette dated 1783 and painted by Vigée-Le Brun. (Photo by Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

The life and death of Marie Antoinette: everything you need to know about the last queen of France

The House of Commons in Sir Robert Walpole's administration

Your guide to The South Sea Bubble

Dancers demonstrate the Charleston, c1926. The dance is often associated with ‘flappers’ – newly enfranchised women with bobbed hair, short skirts and supposedly looser morals – and characterised by frenetic up and down movements and swivelling, akimbo limbs. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images)

Forbidden dances and deadly marathons: 5 facts about the history of dancing

American actress Charlotte Cushman and Matilda Hayes

How Georgian and Victorian same-sex couples co-opted marital traditions and made them their own

An engraving of a prison hulk at Deptford, from a c1826 painting. (Photo by: Photo 12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Floating hell: the brutal history of prison hulks

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Historical recipe Bakewell pudding

Sly cakes (Picture by Sam Nott)

Historical recipe Sly cakes