I know yall are going to hate this suggestion, but my younger teens love Drunk History.

It's hilariously funny and serves as a jumping off point for them to do their own research. They have studied several specific people and events we only learned about by watching DH.

(DH is also teaching them that too much alcohol makes you demonstrably stupid, which is a good lesson to learn at a young age.)

Yes...we watched Horrible Histories, but it always rubbed them the wrong way...trying to be too funny and silly, and over too quickly. I would have to jump in and tell them what each sketch was actually referencing. (But then the show would have done three more sketches in that time.)

They all have simplified history youtubers they watch and some of them are very good. My 12yo just did a school project on Yugoslavia after watching some youtube video about it.