History Today

The rupture of a giant molasses tank in Boston just after the First World War caused devastation and led to the longest legal case in the city’s history.

Beautiful, clever and determined, Yolande of Aragon was at the heart of the diplomatic and military campaigns that united 15th-century France. Margaret L. Kekewich charts her career.

The visually spectacular Scottish capital witnessed fierce dynastic struggle before it welcomed the spirit of the Enlightenment, as Patricia Cleveland-Peck discovers.

The popular image of Socrates as a man of immense moral integrity was largely the creation of his pupil Plato. If we examine evidence of his trial, argues Robin Waterfield, a different picture emerges, of a cunning politician opposed to Athenian democracy.

Byron’s love affair with bare-knuckle boxing was shared by many of his fellow Romantics, who celebrated this most brutal of sports in verse. John Strachan examines an unlikely match.

Michael Dunne reflects on past US presidential Inaugurals, and the words which still resonate.

The British Museum opened on 15 January 1759.

Vietnamese troops faced little resistance when they entered Cambodia's capital on January 7th, 1979.

A power struggle in postwar Germany erupted on January 5th, 1919.

Richard Willis charts how order was brought to the medical profession by the foundation of the General Medical Council 150 years ago.