On the 25th of May, 1982, HMS Coventry was sunk by Argentine Airforce A4 Skyhawks during the Falkland Conflict. I have written a review of Admiral Sandy Woodward’s account of the conflict, One Hundred Days. It is a magnificent book and historical record. Coventry was...

On the 24th of May, 1683, the Ashmolean Museum opened in Oxford. It was the world’s first university museum. Well, I’ll take any excuse to write about Oxford. The Ashmolean Museum is one of the great cultural treasures of Britain and holds a unique place in the...

The Battle of Heiligerlee was fought on the 23rd of May, 1568, opening the Eighty Years’ War, which was the war in which my ancestor, Sir Anthony Standen, began his espionage career. You can follow his story in The Spy who Sank the Armada, the first book in the Sir...

I have written about Lincoln’s beard, and his Gettysburg Address, but did you know he was an inventor? On the 22nd of May, 1849, Lincoln was issued a patent for his invention to lift boats. This makes him the only US president to hold a patent. Don’t tell Trump or...

On the 21st of May, 878, Syracuse on Sicily was captured by the Muslim Aghlabids after a nine month siege. Amongst other events I could have chosen to write about, Charles Lindburgh landed at Le Bourget Field in Paris on the same day in 1927 having crossed the...

The first calling of the Council of Nicaea was on the 20th of May 325. The First Council of Nicaea was a landmark assembly of Christian bishops convened in 325 AD in the city of Nicaea (modern İznik in Turkey). Called by the Roman Emperor Constantine I, it was the...

On the 19th of May, 1051, King Henry I of France married Anne of Kiev. Anne of Kiev (c. 1024–c. 1075), also known as Anna Yaroslavna, was a princess of Kievan Rus who became Queen of France through her marriage to Henry I of France. Her life forms a remarkable bridge...

The Persian poet, mathematician and astronomer, Omar Khayyám, was born on the 18th of May 1048. Omar Khayyám (c. 1048–1131) was one of the most remarkable intellectual figures of the medieval Islamic world: a mathematician of the first rank, a serious astronomer, and...

On the 17th of May, 1521, Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham was executed for treason. He was one of the many victims of Henry VIII’s suspicions, although it was before his marriage to Anne Boleyn, and before his jousting injury. Having looked at it myself, I...

On the 25th of May, 1982, HMS Coventry was sunk by Argentine Airforce A4 Skyhawks during the Falkland Conflict. I have written a review of Admiral Sandy Woodward’s account of the conflict, One Hundred Days. It is a magnificent book and historical record. Coventry was...

On the 24th of May, 1683, the Ashmolean Museum opened in Oxford. It was the world’s first university museum. Well, I’ll take any excuse to write about Oxford. The Ashmolean Museum is one of the great cultural treasures of Britain and holds a unique place in the...

The Battle of Heiligerlee was fought on the 23rd of May, 1568, opening the Eighty Years’ War, which was the war in which my ancestor, Sir Anthony Standen, began his espionage career. You can follow his story in The Spy who Sank the Armada, the first book in the Sir...

I have written about Lincoln’s beard, and his Gettysburg Address, but did you know he was an inventor? On the 22nd of May, 1849, Lincoln was issued a patent for his invention to lift boats. This makes him the only US president to hold a patent. Don’t tell Trump or...

On the 21st of May, 878, Syracuse on Sicily was captured by the Muslim Aghlabids after a nine month siege. Amongst other events I could have chosen to write about, Charles Lindburgh landed at Le Bourget Field in Paris on the same day in 1927 having crossed the...

The first calling of the Council of Nicaea was on the 20th of May 325. The First Council of Nicaea was a landmark assembly of Christian bishops convened in 325 AD in the city of Nicaea (modern İznik in Turkey). Called by the Roman Emperor Constantine I, it was the...

On the 19th of May, 1051, King Henry I of France married Anne of Kiev. Anne of Kiev (c. 1024–c. 1075), also known as Anna Yaroslavna, was a princess of Kievan Rus who became Queen of France through her marriage to Henry I of France. Her life forms a remarkable bridge...

The Persian poet, mathematician and astronomer, Omar Khayyám, was born on the 18th of May 1048. Omar Khayyám (c. 1048–1131) was one of the most remarkable intellectual figures of the medieval Islamic world: a mathematician of the first rank, a serious astronomer, and...

On the 17th of May, 1521, Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham was executed for treason. He was one of the many victims of Henry VIII’s suspicions, although it was before his marriage to Anne Boleyn, and before his jousting injury. Having looked at it myself, I...