by David West | Apr 28, 2025 | News
On the 28th of April 1789, Lieutenant William Bligh and eighteen sailors were set adrift in a small boat following the mutiny on HMS Bounty. I’ve posted about my favourite films, but didn’t think of Mutiny on the Bounty. The Mutiny on the Bounty is one of the most...
by David West | Apr 27, 2025 | News
On the 27th of April, 1667, John Milton sold Paradise Lost to a printer for £10. Milton was born on the 9th of December, 1608, into a family that valued education and the arts. His father, a scrivener and composer, provided him with the resources and encouragement to...
by David West | Apr 26, 2025 | News
I have posted about Copernicus before. But I am visiting Padua, and Nicolaus Copernicus, the renowned Renaissance astronomer, spent a significant period of his academic life in Padua, which greatly influenced his intellectual development and astronomical theories....
by David West | Apr 26, 2025 | News
On the 26th of April 1336, the Italian scholar and poet Francesco di Petracco, Petrarch, climbed Mont Ventoux for pleasure, which made him the first tourist. I have written about Petrarch before, but hadn’t been aware that he started tourism, as well as his many other...
by David West | Apr 25, 2025 | News
On the 25th of April 404 BCE, Admiral Lysander blockaded Athens and brought the Peloponnesian War to an end. Lysander was born in the early 5th century BC in the city-state of Sparta, an environment that placed great emphasis on military prowess and discipline. While...
