History Matters

How an English navigator became one of the shogun’s most trusted advisers.

The term ‘money laundering’ is often associated with mobsters, drug lords and morally dubious executives. But the expression’s first use was far less lawless. 

The 18th century was the age of graffiti, when the writing on the wall turned political.

‘Genocide’, the Holocaust episode of The World at War, was pioneering when it first aired. Does it stand the test of time? 

To support ex-servicemen injured during the First World War, charities like St Dunstan’s found creative ways of fundraising. 

Did the Greeks really trick their way into Troy inside a gigantic wooden horse?

Alongside the great successes of Roman architectural feats were expensive failures. Who was to blame? 

General elections in Britain were once weeks-long affairs of corruption and chaos. The shift to one-day polling was slow.

Europe panicked when astrologers predicted a huge flood in 1524. When it failed to appear, astrology had to defend itself.

Hollywood adored child stars like Jackie Coogan and Diana Serra Cary, but failed to protect them