History Today

France’s elite police unit is being compared to the SS – not for the first time.

The ancient origin of sushi, the Japanese dish of humble beginnings that conquered the world.

The promise of exotic thrills in distant lands built up expectations which inevitably collided with a mundane reality in the British Empire.

‘I’d be disappointed if I didn’t meet Emperor Claudius in the afterlife.’

During the Holocaust, one Italian hospital’s invented disease helped save Jews and anti-fascists from the occupying Nazis.

Britain received more Marshall aid than Germany, but spent much of it propping up a delusion. 

A secret communication between Germany and Mexico was exposed on 3 March 1917.

The Renaissance scientist, known for ‘De Humanis Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem’ was born on 31 December 1514.

Charles Macintosh, the inventor of rainproof overcoats, was born on 29 December 1766.

For many, Kafka is not only representative of the modern age, but its foremost prophet.