Picture London in 1066. William the Conqueror has just defeated Harold Godwinson at Hastings, and now he needs to make a statement. Defeated Londoners must have stared in awe as Norman builders began constructing a massive stone tower right here on the Thames. The White Tower—that's the great stone keep you can still see at the heart of the fortress—wasn't just a building. It was an announcement: Norman power had arrived, and it wasn't going anywhere. For the first few centuries, the Tower was exactly what William intended—a royal palace where kings lived, worked, and demonstrated their authority. But gradually, something darker emerged. The Tower became England's most infamous prison. Between 1100 and 1952, around 8,000 people were locked behind these walls. Some were traitors to the crown. Some were political enemies. Some were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Take the Princes in the Tower—one of history's greatest mysteries. In 1483, after Edward IV died, his young son Edward, just twelve years old, was placed here for his own protection. His younger brother Richard joined him. Then they simply vanished. No one knows what happened to them. Did Richard, who became king, have them murdered? Were they smuggled away? The mystery has captivated historians for over 500 years. But the Tower's most chilling chapter came during the reigns of Henry VIII and his daughter Elizabeth I. Here, Anne Boleyn walked to her execution in 1536, accused of witchcraft and treason. Thomas More, Henry's former chancellor, died here for refusing to acknowledge the king as head of the Church. Over 112 people were executed within these walls across four centuries—some famous, most forgotten by history.