Ukrainian War of Independence
On the 2nd of October, 1920, Mikhail Frunze ordered the Red Army to immediately cease hostilities with the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine. The Ukrainian War of Independence was a complex struggle between 1917 and 1921 in which Ukrainian nationalists attempted...
Queen Mary I
On the 1st of October, 1553, Queen Mary I was crowned in Westminster Abbey. My ancestor Sir Anthony Standen, the Elizabethan spy, would have been around four years of age. In The Spy who Sank the Armada, the first book in the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures, Anthony...
Battle of Morlaix
The Battle of Morlaix was fought on the 30th of September, 1342. I was part of the crew which won the Plymouth - Morlaix yacht race in July 2004, whilst on a race training course. But back to the battle. It was one of the earliest major land battles of the Hundred...
Canterbury
On the 29th of September, 1011CE the Danes captured Canterbury and took Archbishop Ælfheah prisoner. The Romans founded Canterbury around AD 43–50, not long after their invasion of Britain. They called it Durovernum Cantiacorum (“the fortress of the men of Kent”). I...
Wenceslaus
On the 28th of September, 935 CE, Duke Wenceslaus I of Bohemia was murdered by a group of nobles led by his brother, Boleslaus I. Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, is one of the most celebrated figures of early medieval Central Europe. Known in Czech as Václav, he was...
Bobby Jones
On the 27th of September, 1930, Bobby Jones completed golf’s first grand slam by winning the US Amateur Championship at Merion Golf Club in Pennsylvania. Eagle eyed readers will note that the illustration suggests it was the US Open that completed the 1930 grand slam....
Siege of Oxford
I never miss an opportunity to post about my alma mater. The Siege of Oxford in 1142 was one of the most dramatic episodes of the civil war between King Stephen and Empress Matilda, a conflict remembered as the Anarchy. It was also a moment when the struggle for the...
Tacitus
On the 25th of September, 275CE, the Roman Senate chose, for the last time, Marcus Claudius Tacitus as emperor. I have written about several Roman Emperors, of whom Octavian was the first. We seem to be approaching the end now. Marcus Claudius Tacitus was Roman...
Routemaster Bus
The iconic Routemaster bus was introduced on the 24th of September, 1954. If it was raining when I was a child I took the 229 bus to school, otherwise I’d walk the two and a half miles. The bus was a Routemaster. I’ve written often enough about aviation, so it’s high...
Ukrainian War of Independence
On the 2nd of October, 1920, Mikhail Frunze ordered the Red Army to immediately cease hostilities with the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine. The Ukrainian War of Independence was a complex struggle between 1917 and 1921 in which Ukrainian nationalists attempted...
Queen Mary I
On the 1st of October, 1553, Queen Mary I was crowned in Westminster Abbey. My ancestor Sir Anthony Standen, the Elizabethan spy, would have been around four years of age. In The Spy who Sank the Armada, the first book in the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures, Anthony...
Battle of Morlaix
The Battle of Morlaix was fought on the 30th of September, 1342. I was part of the crew which won the Plymouth - Morlaix yacht race in July 2004, whilst on a race training course. But back to the battle. It was one of the earliest major land battles of the Hundred...
Canterbury
On the 29th of September, 1011CE the Danes captured Canterbury and took Archbishop Ælfheah prisoner. The Romans founded Canterbury around AD 43–50, not long after their invasion of Britain. They called it Durovernum Cantiacorum (“the fortress of the men of Kent”). I...
Wenceslaus
On the 28th of September, 935 CE, Duke Wenceslaus I of Bohemia was murdered by a group of nobles led by his brother, Boleslaus I. Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, is one of the most celebrated figures of early medieval Central Europe. Known in Czech as Václav, he was...
Bobby Jones
On the 27th of September, 1930, Bobby Jones completed golf’s first grand slam by winning the US Amateur Championship at Merion Golf Club in Pennsylvania. Eagle eyed readers will note that the illustration suggests it was the US Open that completed the 1930 grand slam....
Siege of Oxford
I never miss an opportunity to post about my alma mater. The Siege of Oxford in 1142 was one of the most dramatic episodes of the civil war between King Stephen and Empress Matilda, a conflict remembered as the Anarchy. It was also a moment when the struggle for the...
Tacitus
On the 25th of September, 275CE, the Roman Senate chose, for the last time, Marcus Claudius Tacitus as emperor. I have written about several Roman Emperors, of whom Octavian was the first. We seem to be approaching the end now. Marcus Claudius Tacitus was Roman...
Routemaster Bus
The iconic Routemaster bus was introduced on the 24th of September, 1954. If it was raining when I was a child I took the 229 bus to school, otherwise I’d walk the two and a half miles. The bus was a Routemaster. I’ve written often enough about aviation, so it’s high...