Short History Of...

This is a preview of a brand-new show from the Noiser podcast network. Hosted by Iain Glen (Game of Thrones, Silo), Real Vikings takes you on a deep dive into the Viking age. You’ll board longboats b...

Although the Middle Ages were an undeniably turbulent period in the history of Europe, characterised in part by endemic violence, hardship and inequality, the latter half of the era was also a time of...

The Māori have had a presence in New Zealand for at least 800 years. For much of that time, they lived in imperfect harmony with the natural environment, developing a social and cultural system distin...

Short History Of... is taking a short break over the Christmas period. New episodes will continue from the 29th of December. Until then, we hope you enjoy this repeat episode! Happy Christmas from the...

Following the Norman Conquest at the Battle of Hastings, Norman culture transformed the country, as William I governed through force and bureaucracy. One of his lasting legacies - the Domesday Book - ...

Pre-order our new book: Short History of Ancient Rome Revered as a heroine, and mythologised as ‘the Lady with the Lamp’, Florence Nightingale has gone down in history as the founder of modern nurs...

The Stone Age is the foundational period of human history, stretching from roughly 3 million to 5,000 years ago, and accounting for over 99% of humanity’s time on earth. It’s the era when modern human...

The Manhattan Project was the codename for the US government’s top secret programme to develop the first atomic bomb. At the height of World War Two, America’s top scientists - such as Dr Robert Oppen...

Anne Frank is one of the world’s most famous writers, yet she didn’t live long enough to see her work published. At the age of thirteen, Anne was a normal teenager, who poured her heart into a diary. ...

Throughout their centuries-long dynasty, the Romanovs oversaw the transformation of Russia from a fragmented medieval state, into a vast empire. Despite their power though, the period of the Romanovs ...

The Anglo-Saxon period, also known as the ‘Dark Ages’ stretched from the withdrawal of Roman forces in 410 AD to the conquest of England by William of Normandy in 1066. The period is remembered by the...

One of the world’s most influential composers, Ludwig van Beethoven changed the course of Western music. Despite losing his hearing, he created some of history’s most celebrated works, and his composi...

Nelson Mandela came to be considered one of the great global figures of his age, but for decades he was a prisoner in his own country. Branded a terrorist by South Africa’s white authorities, as well ...

From impoverished roots on an island struggling to leave behind its colonial past, Bob Marley emerged; creating music that spoke with a universality, and which was beloved by people all over the world...

The second of nine children from a well-to-do family in New England, John F Kennedy fought his way up to become the most powerful man on the planet. After claiming a narrow victory in the 1960 electio...

Older than the pyramids and just as cryptic, the prehistoric British site of Stonehenge has dominated its landscape for thousands of years. But what is Stonehenge? A celestial clock? An ancient comput...

Vlad the Impaler is one of history’s most terrifying villains. A leader who used torture, terrorism, and sadistic punishment to retain his grip on power. Though he was considered a folk hero by some i...

For seafarers, merchants, travellers, and monarchs, the idea of the Northwest Passage from Europe to Asia was pursued as the holy grail of maritime exploration. Some of Europe’s finest explorers dedic...

Harry Houdini is undoubtedly the best-known escape artist of all time. Even today, almost 100 years after his death, his celebrity lives on, and his incredible tricks, illusions and escapes have becom...

For nearly 12 centuries, the Ancient Greeks honoured their gods with one of the most famous sporting contests in the world: The Olympic Games. Athletes represented their city states to compete for the...

Designed to be a shrine of democracy, Mount Rushmore was one of the most ambitious building projects of the 20th century, and is still visited by millions of tourists each year. But for many, its hist...

Modern genetics tells us that the residents of the far-flung Polynesian islands are one of the most closely related people in the world. But, thanks to the exploration of their ancestors, they’re also...

Ian Fleming’s most famous creation, James Bond, is a cultural icon. To paraphrase one critic, Bond is someone men want to be, and women want to be with. Although many attitudes expressed in the Bond b...

Though St Patrick is honoured by millions of revellers worldwide every year, few know more about him than the popular myths concerning shamrocks and snakes. The real story of St Patrick reads like an ...

Throughout the late 17th and early 18th Century, the waters of the Caribbean were crawling with pirates. Stories about swash-buckling buccaneers, and insatiable treasure-seekers haunted the tropical i...

It’s simple enough to pinpoint the beginnings of the French Revolution in 1789, but far more difficult to mark its end. Following the initial outbreak of revolution, France was plunged into years of p...

During the late 18th Century, a series of political, social, cultural, and economic issues reached breaking point, exploding in what is now known as the French Revolution. This unprecedented event aff...

Remembered in popular culture as the ultimate type of assassin, the Ninja were ancient masters of secrecy, operating for just 200 years in central Japan. Legends tell of them walking on water, control...

The legend of Boudica has survived for two millennia, although much of her life still remains a mystery - some historians dispute whether she existed at all. For those who do believe in her, she perso...

Retaining the title of the “Queen of Crime” to this day, Agatha Christie is the best-selling novelist of all time. Across 66 novels, 14 short-story collections, and 20 stage plays, she depicted the ev...

Winston Churchill is one of the most recognizable figures of the 20th Century. Voted in 2002 as ‘the greatest Briton’, he’s remembered for his unfailing leadership throughout the Second World War, as ...

For centuries, stories have been told about highwaymen - dangerous rogues who attacked unsuspecting travellers in the dead of night, demanding their money or their life. These robbers have been romant...

Magna Carta is one of the most enduring documents from the Middle Ages. Reluctantly signed by King John at Runnymede in 1215, it forever changed society and politics in Britain, and the rest of the wo...

In 2011, Japan was hit by the worst earthquake in the country’s history. Enormous tremors caused devastation all throughout Japan, and the tsunami that followed wreaked further havoc. But the damage d...

The Suez Canal is one of the world’s most famous waterways - connecting the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, and opening up trade between the East and the West. But ever since its legendary construction ...

Marilyn Monroe was one of the most famous screen actors of all time. Known for her charisma and beauty, her private life and turbulent health made headlines throughout her career, and her early death ...

The discovery at Sutton Hoo of the ship burial of an Anglo-Saxon king and his lavish treasure is one of the greatest archaeological finds on English soil.  But who was the man considered worthy of su...

Football is the most popular sport in the world, and is played anywhere from pitches marked out in desert dust, to warzones with helmets for goalposts. But it’s still predominantly a male sport. So wh...

In the summer of 1940, the Battle of Britain saw 3,000 airmen risk their lives to defend British shores from the Nazis. But as the pilots battled overhead, what was life like for those supporting them...

During the dark years of the Nazi occupation, many French and Allied citizens risked and sacrificed their lives fighting against their oppressors. Their networks undermined the Nazis through intellige...

Richard the Third was the last English king to die in battle. A key figure in the Wars of the Roses, he is also prime suspect in the enduring mystery of the Princes in the Tower. Shakespeare’s classic...

As long as humans have observed creatures in flight, we have dreamed of taking to the skies ourselves. But Wilbur and Orville Wright were determined to be the ones to turn the dream into reality. So w...

The Renaissance of the 15th and 16th centuries was a time of rediscovery. With Florence as its epicentre, it saw a revival of the art, culture and philosophy of ancient Greek and Rome, triggering huge...

When Edward Cope and OC Marsh began their race to identify and name new species of dinosaur in the 1870s, palaeontology was still a new discipline. Before these two wealthy men entered the field, just...

At approximately 8:13 p.m. on November 24th, 1971, a hijacker exited Northwest Airlines flight 305 at an altitude of 10,000 feet, carrying just a case, a bagful of money, and a parachute. The subseque...

Best known for its world-class casinos and lavish hotels, the desert city of Las Vegas, Nevada has a darker side, too. For decades, connections to organised crime tarnished its reputation. Now, Las Ve...

Vincent van Gogh was one of the most important and influential figures in the history of art. Though he created thousands of drawings and paintings, his was a life of commercial failure, instability a...

The Great Train Robbery of 1963 saw a gang of career criminals stage a daring heist of the multi-million pound cargo of a travelling Royal Mail train. The investigation that followed spanned many year...

Almost 600 years ago, two rival branches of the ruling house of Plantagenet dragged England into unprecedented bloodshed in what became known as the Wars of the Roses. But what were the causes of the ...

Noiser presents Napoleon, a new podcast examining the life and times of one of history’s most intriguing figures. You’ve heard the name Napoleon Bonaparte. But who was he, really? How did he become th...