Epic History

Join the ranks of the Grognards with an Epic History YouTube membership!

As a member, you’ll be supporting our mission to make more and better history videos… plus there’s badges and Napoleonic emojis, and 10% off Epic History merch!

We look forward to welcoming you to the ranks! youtube.com/@EpichistoryTv/join

13 hours ago | [YT] | 819

Epic History

#OnThisDay 1961 President Kennedy pledged that America would land astronauts on the moon by the end of the decade. It was a wildly ambitious goal - at that moment, the USA had just 15 minutes of human spaceflight experience.

As NASA embarks on another audacious program, Artemis, that will see humans return to the Moon once more, it’s time to revisit the drama, disasters and heroism of the Apollo Program: https://youtu.be/55Jas5HrzcQ

Images: Screenshots from our Apollo documentary; JFK makes his historic speech to Congress in 1961; Buzz Aldrin pictured on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission, July 20th 1969

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1 day ago | [YT] | 1,320

Epic History

Our new series ‘Battle of Verdun 3D’ explores France’s powerful frontier defences, including the mighty Fort Douaumont.

By the outbreak of World War 1, the hills around Verdun had been bolstered with a network of forts designed to fight off any invader. Our documentary recreates the most famous of these in 3D, and explores its imposing armoury, including machine guns, fortified field guns and a rotating 150mm turret.

It should have been a formidable obstacle for the German attack. But would that be the case when the Battle of Verdun erupted in 1916? Find out here: https://youtu.be/CQaa4SfFFck

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2 days ago | [YT] | 1,759

Epic History

Oxford University is older than which empire or civilisation?

3 days ago | [YT] | 1,641

Epic History

Are you subscribed to our Spotify channel?

Our latest releases on Spotify include our Belisarius series, the Russian Revolutions of 1917 and our full Suez Crisis documentary.

We’re uploading new content regularly, so make sure you follow us to never miss a release, or download a video or two to watch on the go!
open.spotify.com/show/3AiebW813htXx9g1BPuKQQ

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4 days ago | [YT] | 1,440

Epic History

Keep up to date with Epic History news through our free Patreon Newsletter. This week we have production updates and sneak peeks of Battle of Verdun 3D Part 2, ULTRA Episode 3 and our upcoming secret project!

Our monthly Patreon newsletter is free for all followers here: www.patreon.com/epichistorytv

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5 days ago | [YT] | 1,283

Epic History

This painting shows the French flagship ‘La Bretagne’ saluting Queen Victoria as she arrives for the inauguration of a massive new artificial harbour at Cherbourg in August 1858.

What they didn’t know is that Queen Victoria was busy sketching the French defences… so that her navy could destroy them!

The ambitious harbour project was begun in the 1780s during the reign of Louis XVI, when it was intended to facilitate an invasion of England. But by the time it was completed, Britain and France had been at peace for decades.

Nevertheless, the Royal Navy observed the harbour’s construction closely, and made plans to destroy it in the event of war. The British delegation used their invitation to the inauguration to get an even closer look at the harbour, and refine existing plans of attack!

Painting by Antoine Léon Morel-Fatio (1810 - 1871)

6 days ago | [YT] | 5,500

Epic History

1939 saw the outbreak of a much anticipated war between Nazi Germany and the British and French Empires. 

Britain and France had rearmed rapidly in the years leading up to war, but that autumn, they failed to launch any major offensive against Germany, even as their ally Poland was overrun and defeated.

British and French inaction was famously dubbed ‘the Phoney War’, or ‘the Bore War’. In fact that autumn, there were only 3 British military fatalities on the Western Front - compared to 2,000 people killed in Britain in motoring accidents, largely caused by the new ‘blackout’ precautions against air raids.

But Britain and France did have a strategy to defeat Germany, based on past experience, and their superior economic, imperial and naval power. Find out more in the new episode of our WW2 series, 1939, out now on Patreon: www.patreon.com/posts/world-war-2-1939-158260500?u…

1 week ago | [YT] | 2,283

Epic History

“It is with such baubles that men are led.”

#OnThisDay in 1802, First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte created the Legion of Honour, a meritocratic institution open to all the people of France. It was a reward acquired, not transmitted, with no privileges beyond the recognition of the recipient’s achievements. The Legion of Honour’s creation represented both the egalitarian ideals of the Revolution as well as the glory of the French nation, uniting citizens and soldiers around individual and national honour.

This wonderfully detailed 1812 painting by Jean-Baptiste Debret shows the first distribution of Crosses of the Legion of Honour in the Church of Les Invalides, 14th July 1804.

1 week ago | [YT] | 3,583

Epic History

Veronica Foster, also known as ‘Ronnie the Bren Gun Girl’, became a Canadian icon during WW2.

In 1941, a photo of her next to a completed Bren light machine gun was used to encourage women to work in factories to support the war effort. Ronnie herself worked at the John Inglis Company in Ontario, which produced around 12,000 Bren guns for Canada and Great Britain, as well as the Polsten 20mm autocannon and the Browning Hi-Power pistol.

1 week ago | [YT] | 3,962