The Battle of the River Plate was the first major naval engagement of the Second World War, fought from the 13th to the 17th of December 1939 off the coast of South America. It pitted the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee against a small force of Royal Navy...

On the 12th of December, 627, a Byzantine army commanded by Emperor Heraclius defeated Persian Emperor Khosrow II’s forces commanded by General Rhahzadh at the Battle of Ninevah during the climactic final phase of the Byzantine–Sassanian War of 602–628. This battle,...

The Battle of Orewin Bridge was fought on the 11th of December, 1282, and the last native Prince of Wales, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, was killed. Born around 1223, Llywelyn was the grandson of Llywelyn the Great (Llywelyn ab Iorwerth), the ruler who had united much of...

On the 10th of December, 1684, Edmund Halley read Isaac Newton’s paper De motu corporum in gyrum (which I will loosely translate as On the motion of bodies in orbit) to the Royal Society. This short Latin treatise, only about nine pages long, served as the immediate...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

The Battle of the River Plate was the first major naval engagement of the Second World War, fought from the 13th to the 17th of December 1939 off the coast of South America. It pitted the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee against a small force of Royal Navy...

On the 12th of December, 627, a Byzantine army commanded by Emperor Heraclius defeated Persian Emperor Khosrow II’s forces commanded by General Rhahzadh at the Battle of Ninevah during the climactic final phase of the Byzantine–Sassanian War of 602–628. This battle,...

The Battle of Orewin Bridge was fought on the 11th of December, 1282, and the last native Prince of Wales, Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, was killed. Born around 1223, Llywelyn was the grandson of Llywelyn the Great (Llywelyn ab Iorwerth), the ruler who had united much of...

On the 10th of December, 1684, Edmund Halley read Isaac Newton’s paper De motu corporum in gyrum (which I will loosely translate as On the motion of bodies in orbit) to the Royal Society. This short Latin treatise, only about nine pages long, served as the immediate...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...