Neutron stars are enigmatic objects, with a mass larger than our sun confined to a radius comparable to a small city while also harbouring some of the strongest magnetic fields in the Universe. Such extreme conditions make them the perfect laboratories to study relativistic gravity and the behaviour of ultra dense nuclear matter; conditions unachievable on Earth. In this talk, I will talk through the history of neutron stars, highlighting what we know (and how) and don’t know (and keen to find out) about them with a special focus on how they evolve and their links to the most explosive events in the Universe.