On the 22nd of March, 1933, Nazi Germany opened its first concentration camp at Dachau near Munich. It is the only concentration camp I have visited. When we visited Kraków last year, we decided against visiting Auschwitz. One concentration camp is enough. My father...

On the 21st of March, 630CE, Emperor Heraclius returned the True Cross to Jerusalem. For contemporaries, this was not merely the recovery of a sacred object, but the dramatic vindication of Christian empire after decades of catastrophe at the hands of the Sasanian...

The Dutch East India Company, or the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC), was established on the 20th of March, 1602. It became the most powerful commercial organisation the world had yet seen. It was not merely a trading company, but a hybrid of corporation,...

On the 19th of March, 1649, the English House of Commons passed one of the most extraordinary measures in the history of Parliament: “An Act for the Abolishing of the House of Lords.” The statute declared that the Lords were “useless and dangerous to the people of...

I mentioned in my post on Cade’s Point that I am reading a history textbook Reformation to Industrial Revolution by Christopher Hill. In that post I addressed the issue of education, and how the prejudice of the time was that educating the poor was both pointless and...

I can’t believe that I haven’t posted about the Tolpuddle Martryrs before. When we kept our boat in Portland we often visited Tolpuddle and Dorchester Museum. So, here we go. On the 18th of March, 1834, six farm labourers from Tolpuddle, Dorset, were sentenced to be...

On the 17th of March, 45 BC, Julius Caesar achieved his last victory in the Battle of Munda. It was fought in southern Hispania (modern Spain). It was a brutal, hard-fought engagement that differed markedly from Caesar’s earlier, more elegant victories. At Munda,...

On the 16th of March, 1966, Gemini 8 was launched with Neil Armstrong and David Scott on board. I would have been six years of age. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t fascinated by flight and space flight, but the details of the Gemini missions are not lodged in my...

Greenland has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Before Trump starts getting excited about New South Greenland, it doesn’t exist. But on the 15th of March, 1823, Benjamin Morrell erroneosly reported sighting it near Antarctica. Benjamin Morrell (1795–1839)...

On the 22nd of March, 1933, Nazi Germany opened its first concentration camp at Dachau near Munich. It is the only concentration camp I have visited. When we visited Kraków last year, we decided against visiting Auschwitz. One concentration camp is enough. My father...

On the 21st of March, 630CE, Emperor Heraclius returned the True Cross to Jerusalem. For contemporaries, this was not merely the recovery of a sacred object, but the dramatic vindication of Christian empire after decades of catastrophe at the hands of the Sasanian...

The Dutch East India Company, or the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC), was established on the 20th of March, 1602. It became the most powerful commercial organisation the world had yet seen. It was not merely a trading company, but a hybrid of corporation,...

On the 19th of March, 1649, the English House of Commons passed one of the most extraordinary measures in the history of Parliament: “An Act for the Abolishing of the House of Lords.” The statute declared that the Lords were “useless and dangerous to the people of...

I mentioned in my post on Cade’s Point that I am reading a history textbook Reformation to Industrial Revolution by Christopher Hill. In that post I addressed the issue of education, and how the prejudice of the time was that educating the poor was both pointless and...

I can’t believe that I haven’t posted about the Tolpuddle Martryrs before. When we kept our boat in Portland we often visited Tolpuddle and Dorchester Museum. So, here we go. On the 18th of March, 1834, six farm labourers from Tolpuddle, Dorset, were sentenced to be...

On the 17th of March, 45 BC, Julius Caesar achieved his last victory in the Battle of Munda. It was fought in southern Hispania (modern Spain). It was a brutal, hard-fought engagement that differed markedly from Caesar’s earlier, more elegant victories. At Munda,...

On the 16th of March, 1966, Gemini 8 was launched with Neil Armstrong and David Scott on board. I would have been six years of age. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t fascinated by flight and space flight, but the details of the Gemini missions are not lodged in my...

Greenland has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Before Trump starts getting excited about New South Greenland, it doesn’t exist. But on the 15th of March, 1823, Benjamin Morrell erroneosly reported sighting it near Antarctica. Benjamin Morrell (1795–1839)...