On the 15th of June, 1977, the first democratic elections took place in Spain following the death of Francisco Franco in 1975. One may wonder why it took so long for elections to be held. The spectre of the civil war haunted Spain. Francoists on the far right held...

On the 14th of June, 1381, King Richard II met leaders of the Peasants’ Revolt at Mile End, and the Tower of London was stormed by rebels without resistance. This has caught my eye this morning as it has a connection to my work in progress, Cade’s Point, the sixth...

The Battle of Villers-Bocage was fought on the 13th of June 1944 and my father fought in it. It was one of the most dramatic armoured engagements of the early Battle of Normandy following the Allied landings in Operation Overlord. Taking place in and around the small...

On the 12th of June, 1942, Anne Frank received a diary for her thirteenth birthday. Anne Frank (1929–1945) is one of the most widely known victims of the Holocaust. Through the diary she kept while hiding from Nazi persecution during the World War II, she left behind...

The siege of Malta began on the 11th of June, 1940. I learnt to SCUBA dive in Malta in 1988. I haven’t been back to Malta since, but I don’t know why, I really enjoyed it. The Siege of Malta during World War II was one of the longest and most intense sieges of the...

The Battle of Záblatí was fought on the 10th of June 1619, during the Bohemian period of the Thirty Years’ War. I have researched and written a lot about the Eighty Years’ War because that was my ancestor Sir Anthony Standen’s war, but I think this is my first post on...

I hardly ever use cash these days. Partly that’s because I get rewards on my credit card, and partly it’s because I carry so many membership cards, loyalty cards, cards for paying for EV charging, that there isn’t room in a traditional wallet to fit them. I now have a...

Claire and I were married on the 9th of June 1990, but curiously Wikipedia doesn’t cover that. Also on this day in 68CE Emperor Nero died by suicide, but I’ve written about Nero. So I’ll go for Peter the Great who was born on this day in 1672. Peter was born in...

The mathematician, astronomer, and engineer, Giovanni Domenico Cassini, war born on the 8th of June 1625. Giovanni Domenico Cassini (1625–1712) was one of the most important astronomers of the seventeenth century, a pivotal figure in the transformation of astronomy...

On the 15th of June, 1977, the first democratic elections took place in Spain following the death of Francisco Franco in 1975. One may wonder why it took so long for elections to be held. The spectre of the civil war haunted Spain. Francoists on the far right held...

On the 14th of June, 1381, King Richard II met leaders of the Peasants’ Revolt at Mile End, and the Tower of London was stormed by rebels without resistance. This has caught my eye this morning as it has a connection to my work in progress, Cade’s Point, the sixth...

The Battle of Villers-Bocage was fought on the 13th of June 1944 and my father fought in it. It was one of the most dramatic armoured engagements of the early Battle of Normandy following the Allied landings in Operation Overlord. Taking place in and around the small...

On the 12th of June, 1942, Anne Frank received a diary for her thirteenth birthday. Anne Frank (1929–1945) is one of the most widely known victims of the Holocaust. Through the diary she kept while hiding from Nazi persecution during the World War II, she left behind...

The siege of Malta began on the 11th of June, 1940. I learnt to SCUBA dive in Malta in 1988. I haven’t been back to Malta since, but I don’t know why, I really enjoyed it. The Siege of Malta during World War II was one of the longest and most intense sieges of the...

The Battle of Záblatí was fought on the 10th of June 1619, during the Bohemian period of the Thirty Years’ War. I have researched and written a lot about the Eighty Years’ War because that was my ancestor Sir Anthony Standen’s war, but I think this is my first post on...

I hardly ever use cash these days. Partly that’s because I get rewards on my credit card, and partly it’s because I carry so many membership cards, loyalty cards, cards for paying for EV charging, that there isn’t room in a traditional wallet to fit them. I now have a...

Claire and I were married on the 9th of June 1990, but curiously Wikipedia doesn’t cover that. Also on this day in 68CE Emperor Nero died by suicide, but I’ve written about Nero. So I’ll go for Peter the Great who was born on this day in 1672. Peter was born in...

The mathematician, astronomer, and engineer, Giovanni Domenico Cassini, war born on the 8th of June 1625. Giovanni Domenico Cassini (1625–1712) was one of the most important astronomers of the seventeenth century, a pivotal figure in the transformation of astronomy...