In March 1911, twelve Black men were brought to a forest in Maryland. Under supervision, they cleared land and laid foundations for what would become the Crownsville Hospital, a segregated mental asylum for black patients. These twelve men would also become the hospital’s first patients. Speaking to Elinor Evans, journalist and author Antonia Hylton shares the story of one of the last segregated asylums in the United States of America, and what it can tell us about the nation’s history of racial integration and civil rights. https://media.immediate.co.uk/volatile/sites/7/2024/05/HistoryExtra2 ..read more

6 May 1527: Imperial troops sack Rome A mutinous Habsburg army mercilessly lays waste to the city On the morning of 6 May 1527 the people of Rome awoke with a sense of dread. The previous day, the Habsburg imperial army, commanded by Charles, Duke of Bourbon, had arrived at the walls of the old city. After years of fighting in the Italian peninsula, his army was short of funds and discipline. His adversary, Pope Clement VII, was the ideal target. And now, at his headquarters at the monastery of St Onofrio, the duke gave the order to attack. As luck would have it, Charles himself was killed ear ..read more

How remarkable was the Spartans’ stalwart resistance against the Persians at Thermopylae? Was their military training as tough as historians would have us believe? And just how austere were they? The people of the ancient Greek city-state have left an indelible mark on history, and for today’s Everything You Wanted to Know episode, Spencer Mizen sat down with the ancient historian Paul Cartledge to answer your questions on their culture, politics and military endeavours. https://media.immediate.co.uk/volatile/sites/7/2024/05/HistoryExtra20240505-a85ccfc.mp3   ..read more

5 May 1809 Connecticut hat maker Mary Dixon Kies becomes the first woman to receive a US Patent. It is awarded for a new method of weaving straw with silk and thread. 5 May 1818 Revolutionary Karl Marx born in Trier, son of a Jewish lawyer who’d converted to Lutheranism when the city’s rulers would not allow Jews to practise law. 5 May 1821 Deposed French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte died of cancer on the Atlantic island of St Helena where he had been confined since his defeat at Waterloo six years earlier. In 1840 his body was returned to France for burial in the Hotel des Invalides in Paris ..read more

4 May 1471 Yorkist king Edward IV decisively defeated a Lancastrian army under the Duke of Somerset at Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire. Edward, the 17-year-old son and heir of the deposed king Henry VI, was killed in the aftermath of the battle. Somerset and a number of other leading Lancastrians fled to Tewkesbury Abbey where they tried to claim sanctuary. They were dragged out by the victorious Yorkists, tried and executed. Edward was to rule without further challenge until his death in 1483. Henry was quietly put to death in the Tower of London. | Read more about the Wars of the Roses 4 May 1 ..read more

It is the story that keeps making headlines, whether for each new revelation to come out of the ongoing inquiry or for the efforts of the campaigners who are still, after many years, fighting for justice. The Post Office scandal led to the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of subpostmasters since 1999 and damaged the reputation of a key institution in British society. But what’s the longer history of the Post Office that will help us understand how it came to play such a significant role? Hannah Skoda: I’ve been reflecting on how crucial the Post Office and postal systems have been, and remain ..read more

From torrid affairs and messy duels to corrupt law-enforcers and vengeful ghosts, Georgian Britain loved a good scandal. Speaking to Ellie Cawthorne, historian and author Emily Brand dishes the dirt on cases that shocked, appalled – and captivated – Georgian society. Green Video Post Element Video ID: "126c59f70b76effa0170881f6e00dc2bb2cba818" Mix ID: "" Player ID: "67n8mz30" If the player doesn't appear here within a few seconds, the Player ID or Licence Key (set via IM Green Video settings) might be invalid ..read more

At the end of the 17th century, a Swiss physician diagnosed a deadly new disease – nostalgia. Agnes Arnold-Forster explores the surprising cultural history of the emotion, from the longing “Ostalgie” felt for a lost East Germany to the Victorian love of all things medieval. Speaking to Ellie Cawthorne, she also outlines how nostalgia has been weaponised by both sides of the political spectrum, and considers whether it could be a force for good. https://media.immediate.co.uk/volatile/sites/7/2024/05/HistoryExtra20240426-1801150.mp3 Agnes Arnold-Forster is the author of Nostalgia: A History of ..read more

3 May 1152 Matilda of Boulogne, the wife of King Stephen, died in Castle Hedingham. She had been an energetic supporter of her husband’s cause during the war against the adherents of the Empress Matilda, his rival for the English throne. 3 May 1469 Civil servant and political theorist Niccolo di Bernado dei Machiavelli is born. Forced into retirement following the collapse of the Florentine Republic in 1512 he spends the last 15 years of his life as a writer of poetry, stories and political treatises. His work, Il Principe (The Prince), is a brutally pragmatic discussion of what a Renaissance ..read more

Around 2.5 million Indian soldiers fought in the Second World War. Behind this staggering number lies a complex web of emotional experiences – and Diya Gupta unpicks that tangled web in her new book, India in the Second World War: An Emotional History. Diya speaks to Ellie Cawthorne about how both Indian soldiers and civilians back home felt about the war, and how the conflict impacted on their lives. Green Video Post Element Video ID: "6aa13b6b1204894199b6fe2cbb77032925eba05f" Mix ID: "" Player ID: "67n8mz30" If the player doesn't appear here within a few seconds, the Player ID or Licence K ..read more