Everyday Life
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Treasures of the Royal Mint: The Edward VIII Sovereign
With a history stretching over 1,100 years, The Royal Mint has forged a fascinating story through the world of historic coins. As the second oldest mint in the world, and the oldest company in the UK, their history is entwined with the 61 monarchs who have ruled England and Britain.
The Royal Min... -
A Call for Change: Police Brutality in the United States
This documentary looks into the history of militarised policing in the United States and how it has influenced the mindset and mentality of US policing today. Featuring Collette Flanagan, founder of ‘Mothers Against Police Brutality’, Dr Howard Henderson, Professor Julian Go, Alex Vitale, Sara Mo...
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Exploring the Medieval Afterlife with Eleanor Janega
Ghosts, ghouls and things that go bump in the night! Dr Eleanor Janega delves into the medieval phantasmic to find out what their restless dead can tell us about the worries of the living. Because if we want to understand what makes another society tick, it helps to take a look at what makes them...
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Surviving Under Rule: The Story of Occupied Poland
After their country was invaded in 1939 on two fronts, by both German and Soviet forces, those who lived in occupied Poland throughout the Second World War endured some of the most appalling living conditions and became the victims of the most horrific war crimes of the Holocaust. From the ghetto...
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The Wall: Rome's Great Northern Frontier
Hadrian’s Wall is celebrating its 1900th birthday… the perfect time for History Hit to investigate this potent embodiment of Roman dominance.
Dan Snow explores the physical remains of Hadrian’s vast project of 122AD - over 80 Roman miles of wall, turrets and forts, stretching from coast to coast...
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Decoding the Roman Dead
Colchester Museums have been working with archaeologists and specialists to ‘decode’ the hidden stories of 40 of Colchester’s earliest inhabitants.
Through new scientific research techniques, they have reconstructed the identity and lives of these people: where they came from in the empire, wha...
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Murder or Not: How the Early 20th Century Police were Poorly Prepared
In 1919, when a Hitchin shopkeeper and her dog were found bludgeoned to death in her corner shop, it triggered a bizarre sequence of events which resulted in two separate investigations with two quite different outcomes. Historian and criminologist Paul Stickler focuses on how murder investigatio...
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Medieval Winter
Matt Lewis and Eleanor Janega make a hands-on journey into the depths of medieval winter - was it a time of feast or famine; a season of cold, dark and hunger or the time of year when medieval folk could kick back and enjoy seasonal celebrations? From food to cosy fashions and fireside tales, His...
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Stand and Deliver! The Truth about Highwaymen
Mike Loades goes behind the mask to uncover the brutal truth about the myth of the highwayman. Unlike many other criminals, they've been glamorised and idolised, their names enduring as legends. They are considered by many as dashing romantic heroes, courageous adventurers and champions of the un...
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Crowning Glory: The History of the Coronation
Coronations - pomp and pageantry or a vital link with the timeless traditions of taking the throne?
In our second coronation special, History Hit’s Matt Lewis digs deep into the past to investigate how centuries old aspects of Anglo-Saxon and Medieval coronations will be mirrored in Charles III...
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The Story of Egyptology
Egyptologist Dr Chris Naunton explores the story of how Ancient Egypt was rediscovered, and how its incredible sites and treasures were gradually decoded. Starting with the earliest travelers who ventured inside the pyramids, Chris traces how this curiosity exploded into Egyptomania in the 18th ...
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Ireland: War and Revolution
Between 1919 and 1921, Ireland played host to a long and bloody guerrilla conflict between British state forces and Irish republican guerrillas, in the form of Irish Volunteers or the Irish Republican Army (IRA). The conflict would completely transform the political landscape in Ireland.
In this...
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The Peaky Blinders: A History
Who were the real Peaky Blinders? Did they really exist? Carl Chinn reveals the true story of the notorious gangs that roamed Birmingham's streets during the city's industrial heyday.
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Life and Death in Medieval London
Medieval historian Dr Eleanor Janega takes us on a whistle-stop tour across London, visiting some key historical sites and shining a light on the various communities of medieval London.
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Life and Death in Late Iron Age Britain
Roman connections with Britain stretch back to (at least) the mid 1st century BC, but what has archaeology revealed about the Late Iron Age British societies they interacted with? Do we have any concrete evidence for the druids? Was human sacrifice a thing? Sit back and enjoy as experts provide a...
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Digging up the 'Dark Ages'
Join Dan Snow as he explores this stunning set of discoveries in our brand new documentary ‘Digging Up the Dark Ages’ on History Hit TV.
While working on the HS2 high speed railway project in the UK, archaeologists made discoveries of national significance, uncovering a large Anglo-Saxon burial...
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Hieroglyphs: Unlocking Ancient Egypt
2022 isn't just 100 years since the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb. It's also exactly 200 years since one of history's greatest linguistic puzzles was cracked: when Jean-Francois Champollion made the ultimate breakthrough and deciphered the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic code. To mark this very s...
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Rise and Fall of Roman Richborough
Richborough was one of the longest Roman-occupied sites in Britain, with history stretching from the Claudian invasion of Britain in 43 AD to the Roman departure almost 4 centuries later. During its long history Richborough transformed on several occasions. From military base to prosperous port t...
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Kensington Palace: Untold Lives
Dan Snow explores behind the scenes at the majestic Kensington Palace, the glittering centre of the royal court in early Georgian England. It's a very special time to visit - the Historic Royal Palaces team has been delving deep into the archives to lift the veil of the public facing court and e...
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My Life and World War Two
Happy Birthday Victor Gregg - he has turned 100 this week. Victor volunteered to join the army before the Second World War and he fought all the way through - from clashes with the Italians in North Africa in 1940 to being captured 75 years ago this autumn at Arnhem. He was a Prisoner of War in D...
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Life on the Wall
In this episode, Tristan Hughes visits two key sites along Hadrian’s Wall that can tell us more about everyday life on this far flung frontier, with a particular focus on hygiene and worship. First on the list is Chesters Roman Fort. Described as one of the most complete cavalry forts that surviv...
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Quicksilver: The Magnificent Mail Coach
Mike Loades climbs aboard a high-speed transport revolution. 250 years ago the Mail Coach was a sensation, the fastest vehicle on the road - carrying with it the promise of news from afar.
It was the symbol of a modern, more connected world - at the vanguard of a social revolution.
For the fi...
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The Children of Calais: Clare Mulley on Refugees
A new statue has just been unveiled in Saffron Walden, an unassuming town in Essex, England. Five children are held, with limbs outstretched or shoulders hunched, in life-size bronze. One carries a tattered lifejacket, which hangs uselessly below him. The statue, titled Unaccompanied Children of ...
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Working (more than) 9 to 5 - The Labouring Lives of Medieval Women
Dr Eleanor Janega investigates one of the least recorded aspects of medieval life - working women. But dig deep and you can find the evidence - proving the medieval period is a fascinating window into the true history of women…and work!
Eleanor takes on the jobs and businesses of real medieval ...