by David West | Dec 9, 2025 | News
I have posted about a number of inventors and scientists, such as Edison and Einstein. Now it’s time to give policemen their due. On the 9th of December, 1868, the first traffic lights were installed outside the Palace of Westminster in London. They were modelled on...
by David West | Dec 8, 2025 | News
I know that these days women actors prefer to be known as actors rather than actresses. For instance Cate Blanchett said “I have always referred to myself as an actor. I am of the generation where the word actress was used almost always in a pejorative sense. So I...
by David West | Dec 7, 2025 | News
It grieves me to spell harbour incorrectly, but it is American, and that’s the way they spell it. The 7th of December, 1941, was the day the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor, a date which will live in infamy, as Franklin D. Roosevelt said. It was also a...
by David West | Dec 6, 2025 | News
On the 6th of December, 1917, Finland declared independence from the Russian Empire. Finland’s relationship with Russia has been shaped by centuries of shifting power dynamics, cultural influences, and political upheavals, culminating in its independence in 1917. The...
by David West | Dec 5, 2025 | News
On the 5th of December, 1484, Pope Innocent VIII issued the Summis desiderantes affectibus, a papal bull appointing Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger as inquisitors to root out alleged witchcraft in Germany. I have chosen witchcraft today as, together with...
by David West | Dec 4, 2025 | News
On the 4th of December, 1872, the American brigantine Mary Celeste was found drifting in the Atlantic. She had departed New York Harbour on the 7th of November, bound for Genoa, Italy. She was carrying a cargo of 1,701 barrels of industrial alcohol. Her captain was...
