The Roman Republic was one of the first great democracies, an influence on the world to this day. And we owe it all to Tarquin the Proud, a king so bad that he made his people swear to have no kings ...

Have you ever wondered why your dog’s ears prick up even when you hear nothing? You sit reading the newspaper when Toby runs towards the door barking as if his best friend is outside. It could be ...

The marriage of Fred and Maria Manning was far from a happy one, with infidelity on both sides. Not even joining together to commit murder could brimg them closer.

With the remake of The Magnificent Seven hitting our screens, Stephen Porzio looks at the legacy of Sergio Corbucci, the legendary western director.

Diogenes was one of the more eccentric of the Greek philosophers. Homeless and irascible, scandalous and obscene, he still inspired later generations.

Joseph Fouché was a bloody-handed architect of the French Terror; but he avoided any backlash for it. There's always employment for a man without scruples.

Charles-Henri Sanson was France's Royal Executioner, in more ways than one. He killed men for his king, and when the time came he killed that king as well.

Catherine Monvoisin was allegedly a poisoner who practiced human sacrifice. Her fall shoke the court of Louis XIV to its foundations.

Medicinal cannabis seems like one of the health topics du jour but it has a long history grounded in medical research. Rachel O'Neill reports.

John Bodkin Adams was at one time the richest doctor in all England. To gain that fortune he took advantage of his patients - but was he a murderer?

She was a fighter, a lover, and an opera singer who burned down a convent. But the one thing Julie "La Maupin" d'Aubigny was above all else was magnificent.

David O'Donoghue, our resident W.B. Yeat's fanboy, writes about the great poet and his interest in Fascism.