by David West | May 13, 2026 | News
The Battle of Langside was fought on the 13th of May, 1568, between the forces of Mary Queen of Scots and the supporters of her son, James VI. My ancestor, the Elizabethan spy, Sir Anthony Standen, was master of horse to Lord Darnley, and travelled to Edinburgh with...
by David West | May 12, 2026 | News
The Jagiellonian University was founded on the 12th of May 1364 in Kraków, Poland. Claire and I visited it last year. Unfortunately we didn’t get inside as it was closed during our stay. The library houses many treasures including the manuscript of De revolutionibus...
by David West | May 11, 2026 | News
On the 11th of May, 973, Edgar the Peaceable was crowned king of England in the first coronation ceremony for an English monarch. Edgar the Peaceable (c. 943–975), was King of the English from 959 until his death in 975. Though his epithet suggests a quiet and...
by David West | May 10, 2026 | News
On the 10th of May, 1773, Parliament passed the Tea Act. It was intended to save the British East India Company by reducing taxes on its tea and granting it the right to sell tea directly to North America. Following the costly victory of Britain in the Seven Years’...
by David West | May 9, 2026 | News
The other event for the 9th of May that caught my eye was the execution of five homosexual men at Tyburn in 1726 following their arrest at Mother Clap’s Molley House. Instead I chose Operation Primrose. Yet Operation Primrose concerns the capture of an Enigma machine...
by David West | May 9, 2026 | News
On the 9th of May, 1941, the German submarine U-110 was captured by the Royal Navy in what was called Operation Primrose. Confusingly there was another Operation Primrose in 1940 which was a failed landing of Royal Marines at Ålesund in Norway. Though little...
