What is the world’s oldest museum?
Q&A What is the world’s oldest museum? SHORT ANSWER The Capitoline Museum has been around the longest… but not actually open the longest LONG ANSWER Ennigaldi-Nanna, daughter of a neo-Babylonian king in modern-day Iraq, is often credited as the first museum curator in history, building a collection of artefacts and presenting them, complete with explanatory […]
When was the term ‘vegetarian’ coined?
Q&A When was the term ‘vegetarian’ coined? SHORT ANSWER Until the mid-19th century, non-meat eaters were named after Pythagoras LONG ANSWER The Vegetarian Society Kent, in 1847. at may not seem like a momentous landmark – seeing as people all over the world had been going meat-free since antiquity – but it may have been […]
Were there any non-Japanese samurai?
Q&A Were there any non-Japanese samurai? SHORT ANSWER An African slave would have stood out in the ranks of the elite Japanese warrior class LONG ANSWER A handful of foreign visitors to Japan were honoured as samurai, including Englishman William Adams and his Dutch shipmate Jan Joosten van Lodensteijn, who were both granted the title […]
Christmas Radio Times
TV, film & radio
The latest documentaries, blockbusters and period dramas
Events & exhibitions
What to see and where to visit in the wider world of history
Books & podcasts
The latest historical reads and listens
Historical fiction
Victoria Mas shares an extract from her debut novel, The Mad Women’s Ball
Letters
The latest letters from our readers
Next month
Coming up in the January 2022 issue of BBC History Revealed