by David West | May 24, 2026 | News
On the 24th of May, 1683, the Ashmolean Museum opened in Oxford. It was the world’s first university museum. Well, I’ll take any excuse to write about Oxford. The Ashmolean Museum is one of the great cultural treasures of Britain and holds a unique place in the...
by David West | May 23, 2026 | News
The Battle of Heiligerlee was fought on the 23rd of May, 1568, opening the Eighty Years’ War, which was the war in which my ancestor, Sir Anthony Standen, began his espionage career. You can follow his story in The Spy who Sank the Armada, the first book in the Sir...
by David West | May 22, 2026 | News
I have written about Lincoln’s beard, and his Gettysburg Address, but did you know he was an inventor? On the 22nd of May, 1849, Lincoln was issued a patent for his invention to lift boats. This makes him the only US president to hold a patent. Don’t tell Trump or...
by David West | May 21, 2026 | News
On the 21st of May, 878, Syracuse on Sicily was captured by the Muslim Aghlabids after a nine month siege. Amongst other events I could have chosen to write about, Charles Lindburgh landed at Le Bourget Field in Paris on the same day in 1927 having crossed the...
by David West | May 20, 2026 | News
The first calling of the Council of Nicaea was on the 20th of May 325. The First Council of Nicaea was a landmark assembly of Christian bishops convened in 325 AD in the city of Nicaea (modern İznik in Turkey). Called by the Roman Emperor Constantine I, it was the...
