In the early 1900s, pushball had Harvard, the British military, and crowds of thousands in its grip. A six-foot ball, two teams, and thirty years of glorious chaos. The full story.

In 1757, a servant named Damiens stabbed Louis XV with a penknife. The wound was 1cm deep. His execution lasted all day. The last quartering in French history.

Born in Copenhagen, crowned Miss Denmark, and photographed by Peter Gowland for Playboy's September 1956 centrefold. Elsa Sørensen led two parallel careers under two different names, and hardly anyone noticed.