History Today

Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud, by Henri Fantin-Latour, 1872. Mondadori Portfolio/Getty Images.

Verlaine Shoots Rimbaud

On 10 July 1873, decadent duo Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud’s poetic frenzy ended with a gunshot.

Portrait of Juliette Récamier, by François Gérard, c. 1802-5. Musée Carnavalet, Histoire de Paris. Public Domain.

‘Liberty, Equality, Fashion’ by Anne Higonnet review

In Liberty, Equality, Fashion: The Women Who Styled the French Revolution, Anne Higonnet brings three dedicated followers of fashion to the fore.

Map of London from Civitates orbis terrarum, by Braun & Hogenberg, 1600-23. British Library/Bridgeman Images.

The Mystery of Thomas More’s Birthplace

Was Sir Thomas More born on Milk Street – and does it matter?

A minister presents Japan’s first constitution to the Meiji emperor, by Adachi Ginkō, 1889. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public Domain.

Are Constitutions Necessary?

Does a state need a book of rules by which to operate? And who are those rules for, anyway?

Illustration of the constellation of the Dog Star Sirius, c.820-840. British Library/Bridgeman Images.

The Dog Days of Medieval Summer

For those learned in medieval medicine and astronomy, the dog days of July heralded dangerous times.

A painter at work on the 4,000-building Edison – City of Light diorama at the New York World’s Fair, 1940. New York Public Library. Public Domain.

‘Liberty’s Grid’ by Amir Alexander review

Liberty’s Grid: A Founding Father, a Mathematical Dreamland, and the Shaping of America by Amir Alexander explains how the grid system put the United States on the map.

Michael Ventris, 10 June 1954. Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Image.

Decoding Linear B

In a BBC interview on 1 July 1952, self-taught linguist Michael Ventris announced that he had deciphered the Linear B script of Minoan Crete.

Italy’s fascist martyrs illustration © Ben Jones/Heart Agency.

Italy’s Cult of Fascist Martyrs

Under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, public ceremonies honouring the eternal life of Italy’s far-right dead have grown larger.

‘Typus Arithmeticae’, showing Arithmetica, between Boethius writing Arabic numerals and Pythagorus using a counting board, from Margarita philosophica, by Gregor Reisch, 1503. Houghton Library, Harvard University.

A Brief History of English Numeracy

The people of late medieval and early modern England were almost universally numerate. Is our ability to count the thing that makes us human?

Collage by Jiří Laufer, 1985. Czech National Museum (CC BY).

‘Who Owns This Sentence?’ review

Who Owns This Sentence? A History of Copyrights and Wrongs by David Bellos and Alexandre Montagu has plenty of copy but is it right?