by David West | Apr 26, 2026 | News
Marie de Medici was born on the 26th of April 1575. She is a character in two of the published books in my Sir Anthony Standen Adventures, The Spy who Sank the Armada and The Suggested Assassin. She is a central character in the fifth book in the series, Serpents...
by David West | Apr 25, 2026 | News
On the 25th of April, 1953, Francis Crick and James Watson published Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid. I have written before about DNA, but not its discovery. The discovery of DNA as the molecule of heredity was not a...
by David West | Apr 24, 2026 | News
Wikipaedia tells me that on the 24th of April, 1479 BC, Thutmose III ascended to the throne of Egypt. I mentioned him in my post on pharaohs, but I think he warrants closer examination. Thutmose III was one of the greatest pharaohs of ancient Egypt and is often...
by David West | Apr 23, 2026 | News
I like a beer or two, or three. On the 23rd of April, 1516, the Munich Reinheitsgebot, which specifies the ingredients in beer, came into effect in all Bavaria. The Munich Reinheitsgebot of 1516, often called the Bavarian Beer Purity Law, is one of the most famous...
by David West | Apr 22, 2026 | News
On the 22nd of April, 1915, chlorine gas was first used as a chemical weapon in the Second Battle of Ypres. I have written about The third Battle of Ypres, also known as Passchendaele. In ancient times, armies occasionally sought to poison wells, contaminate food...
