In 1895, the world's first celebrity trial challenged the creaking moral core of the British Empire. Dr Anthony Delaney traces the extraordinary trajectory of Oscar Wilde—from the toast of London’s West End, a shining star on both sides of the Atlantic, to the disgraced accused standing before th...

The Brontë family created some of the world's most passionate and enduring novels, yet their lives were shadowed by tragedy.

Dr Maddy Pelling and Dr Anthony Delaney challenge the romantic myths surrounding the family, tracing the harsh reality of their lives in 19th-century Haworth—a crowded Yor...

200 years ago, the sound and pace of the world changed forever...On September 27th, 1825, the Locomotion Number One made its first journey on the Stockton and Darlington railway line, marking the birth of the modern railway.

Dan Snow climbs aboard a working replica, recreating that historic ori...

Join Dan Snow on an adventure through beautiful scenery, industrial landscapes and epic engineering, to discover a story that shaped the modern world.

Dan travels by narrowboat across the canals of England and Wales to explore a transformation in transport and time. Over just a few decades, jour...

A History Hit special marking the 250th anniversary of the Siege of Boston (1775-1776), the first chapter in the eight year war for American Independence. It saw the war’s first pitched battle, Bunker Hill - a bloody day and a hollow British victory, won at great cost.

Dan Snow joins American e...

250 years ago, on April 19th 1775, the first muskets were fired in the American War of Independence - the famous "shot heard round the world".

In this special History Hit film, Dan Snow explores the key sites where it happened on this day - Battle Green, Lexington; The Old North Bridge, Concord...

Versailles, the magnificent royal palace near Paris, home to a grandiose monarchy that was swept away in the Revolution. But there was another side to Versailles - this was also a Palace of Science.

In this special film, Dr. Maddy Pelling visits the Science Museum in London to explore a remarkab...

Dan Snow goes behind the scenes for a brand-new Napoleonic Wars discovery. Join us for an extraordinary escape story: 19 year old Charles Hare's audacious journey through enemy territory in 1809 disguised as a French customs officer, under the constant threat of being shot as an enemy spy as he ...

250 years ago, on December 16th 1773, an event happened that shocked an Empire and fired the starting pistol for the American Revolution. At the time it was known simply as the Destruction of the Tea, an act that shook the world from Bengal to Britain to Boston.

In this specially made film to ma...

Join Paterson Joseph, actor (‘Boat Story’, ‘Wonka’) and author (‘The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho’), in this special History Hit film as he takes us on a fascinating journey through 18th century London, discovering the life, loves and losses of a truly remarkable man.

Georgian Londo...

Sir Tony Robinson comes to History Hit to present a special film about a remarkable excavation in central London, the workhouse that inspired Charles Dickens to write his famous novel, “Oliver Twist”.

In the middle of the capital, archaeologists are digging deep to find out more about the lives ...

History Hit has been up close to a remarkable story from the American War of Independence, exploring the history and attending the commemorations for the dead of the bloody battle of Camden, 1780.

Travelling to South Carolina for this special film, Dan Snow investigates some exceptional histo...

BREAKING NEWS: The bones of up to 10 soldiers killed in the Battle of Waterloo have been discovered - the largest cache of Waterloo casualties ever found.

Uncovered by a team of Belgium and German academics, it's believed these bones belong to a mix of Prussian, French and British Soldiers all ...

A major breaking story filmed by History Hit.

Incredibly rare bones of men and horses have been discovered in July 2022 at the Waterloo Battlefield - and History Hit has been there to record the excavations as they unfold.

The veterans support charity 'Waterloo Uncovered' returned to the Water...

He was the man who would define the start of the 19th century. He has more documented victories than any other battlefield commanders in history. From a relatively humble background, he rose to become master of Europe. This is the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. Featuring historians Dr Michael Rowe, ...

Born in London at the turn of the 18th Century, William Hogarth became one of the most iconic English painters, printmakers, pictorial satirists, social critics, and editorial cartoonists of his generation.

Often dubbed the mirror of 18th Century London, Hogarth's most notable works include, A ...

Captain James Cook is one of the greatest maritime navigators in history. Born in 1728 to a Scottish father and English mother, Cook grew up in Yorkshire and soon developed a great fascination with the sea and exploration. In 1746 Cook joined the merchant shipping industry when he moved to the ne...

To date, there are over 500 different aboriginal 'nations' in Australia, all with distinctive cultures, beliefs, languages and unique histories. Since the arrival of Captain James Cook and the subsequent colonisation of the continent, many of these indigenous populations were, and continue to be ...

This story has everything: war, politics, betrayal, scandal, murder and at its heart a cracking forensic science mystery. This is the story of Simon Fraser, the 11th Lord Lovat of the Highland, also known as the Fox. In the late 1660s, Simon Fraser was born in a house on the banks of a burn in th...

The Palace of Westminster is one of the world's most famous buildings: 'the mother of parliaments'. Since the days of Simon de Montfort parliaments having been meeting at this location in the heart of London. Though plagued by controversy and destruction over its long history the site's significa...