‘History is an infinite reservoir of stories, examples, warnings, explanations, jokes, rebukes and inspiration… You can’t understand the present if you can’t understand the past.’ DAN SNOW

Anniversaries matter. They offer a moment to take stock and remind ourselves that what we see in the present has its genesis in the past.

In On This Day in History Dan Snow tells the story of an important event that happened on each day of the year. From the signing of the Armistice treaty at 11 a.m. on the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918, to Rosa Parks refusing to give up her bus seat on 1 December 1955, our past is full of all kinds of fascinating turning points. These events always feel different, and more immediate on the day of the year it happened.

One of Britain’s most popular historians, Dan lives and breathes history and believes passionately that we overlook it at our peril. In his words, ‘In a world of fake news, cuts to history education and politicians spouting fiction, there has never been a more important time to tell the true history of the world. This is why I want to engage a new generation of enthusiasts with this book’.

On This Day in History is an attempt to explore our past, through these anniversaries, and provide a little more context about the events we choose to remember, and others that we have forgotten. 365 carefully picked entries add up into a short, vivid personal history of the world. There is no such thing as a day on which nothing happened.

Dan Snow is a historian, BAFTA-winning broadcaster and television presenter. His hugely popular History Hit podcast is downloaded a million times a month, he has almost 250,000 keen followers on Twitter and has recently launched a history TV channel. He has presented shows such as Armada, Grand Canyon and Vikings. He has a regular slot on the One Show on BBC1. He has written several books including Battlefield Britain and The Battle of Waterloo.