Look up whilst you are visiting castles and you will often see voids in the overhead masonry. Find out how these "murder holes" aided the defence of a castle.

Sometimes when watching a television programme or film, the simplest thing can ruin its enjoyment. For example, an officer walks into a room and a soldier salutes. All well and good but where does the idea of saluting come from?

Mention the word "swastika", or worse draw or display the image, and today you risk causing offence for so many valid reasons. Discover how this symbol was once commonly used over much of the world without stigma, because quite simply it represented good luck.

Stonehenge in England is known for its alignment with the summer solstice sunrise, and it remains a popular destination for thousands of revellers welcoming the longest day of the year. But should they actually be celebrating the winter solstice? Find out more.

The history of the game of quoits appears, on the face of it, to have an ancient origin. At least that is what you would believe from several website authors who attribute the game's invention to ancient Greece. The evidence, however, suggests this is pure myth.

What do the letters “SRD” marked on stoneware jars mean?

We have been celebrating a mid-winter festival for millennia, but have you ever wondered where Christmas comes from?

Yet another TV drama refers to Britain's Secret Service, but why?  Britain has not had a "secret service" since the end of the Second World War. Why, then, do journalists, media types, film and TV producers continue to confuse the title with the US agency of the same name?

Connoisseurs of Roman cuisine may be familiar with the recipes of "Apicius".  Indeed, "Apicius" was the inspiration for the Roman recipes in Tastes Of History's recent post "Fast Food or Dinner Party", but just who was he?  Did he really write the first cookbook?  And was he really a skilled Roman cook?

Mother's Day: Every March there is annual chance to tell your mother how much she means to you (hopefully you don't need just one Sunday per year to do that!). But what is the history behind the commercialism.

“We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form into teams, we would be re-organised..." is often attributed to a Roman soldier, but it's a myth. Find out why.

Dispelling some of the popular myths about ancient druids.

Gladiator deaths in the arena were probably not as high as many modern commentators often portray. Gladiators were expensive to provide for and train, and perhaps to protect the investment, most only fought two or three times per year. Dispelling some of the myths surrounding these iconic Roman fighters.

Every so often, over the last decade at least, our modern-day bards, the media, regurgitate a story about “European-looking” people in north-west China claiming ancient Roman descent. This tale of a “lost legion” is just another myth that does not stand up to scrutiny.

All Romans ate dormice didn't they? You may have been told that in school, and it's still a popular and persistent belief, but it's simply not true. Find out why?

Depending on who you choose to believe, the saintly George is variously thought to be a martyr who defied Emperor Diocletian’s “persecution” of the Christians, an early Christian Bishop, or a disgraced supplier of dodgy pork to the Roman army.