Bartolomé Carranza
On the 22nd of August 1558, Bartolomé Carranza was arrested and taken to Valladolid. Bartolomé Carranza was one of the most brilliant, influential, and tragic churchmen of sixteenth-century Spain. A Dominican friar, scholar, diplomat, and eventually Archbishop of...
Hawaii
On the 21st of August, 1959, US President Dwight D Eisenhower signed an executive order proclaiming Hawaii as the 50th state of the union. The first settlers of Hawaii were Polynesians, probably arriving between the fourth and eighth centuries AD, though exact dates...
Prague Spring
On the 20th of August, 1968, Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia and crushed the Prague Spring. The Prague Spring was one of the defining political crises of the Cold War: a bold attempt to create “socialism with a human face” inside the Soviet bloc, followed by...
Operation Ajax
Operation Ajax was the code name for the covert Anglo-American operation that overthrew the government of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in August 1953. Planned jointly by the Central Intelligence Agency and Britain’s MI6, it remains one of the most...
The Hardest Day
Sunday the 18th of August, 1940, is known as The Hardest Day of the Battle of Britain. Although Sunday the 15th of September is celebrated as Battle of Britain day, and the climax of the battle, the combined losses of allied and German aircraft on the 18th of August...
Azores
On the 17th of August, 1597, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex and Sir Walter Raleigh set sail on an expedition to the Azores. With Essex was Sir Anthony Standen, the elder brother of my 10th great-grandfather. The voyage is an episode in The Spy who Sank the Armada,...
Wagner
On the 16th of August, 1876, Richard Wagner’s Siegfried premiered at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus. It was the penultimate opera of his Ring cycle. I have written about a few composers including Mozart and Beethoven, so let’s have a look at Wagner. Richard Wagner was one...
Edith Nesbit
On the 15th of August, 1858, Edith Nesbit was born. She is most well known as the author of The Railway Children. However she was also a political activist and one of the nine founding members of the Fabian Society, a precursor of the Labour Party. Edith Nesbit,...
Battle of Yellow Ford
The Battle of Yellow Ford, fought on the 14th of August, 1598, was one of the most devastating defeats ever suffered by English forces in Ireland. Taking place near the River Blackwater in County Armagh, it marked the high point of the Irish resistance during the Nine...
Bartolomé Carranza
On the 22nd of August 1558, Bartolomé Carranza was arrested and taken to Valladolid. Bartolomé Carranza was one of the most brilliant, influential, and tragic churchmen of sixteenth-century Spain. A Dominican friar, scholar, diplomat, and eventually Archbishop of...
Hawaii
On the 21st of August, 1959, US President Dwight D Eisenhower signed an executive order proclaiming Hawaii as the 50th state of the union. The first settlers of Hawaii were Polynesians, probably arriving between the fourth and eighth centuries AD, though exact dates...
Prague Spring
On the 20th of August, 1968, Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia and crushed the Prague Spring. The Prague Spring was one of the defining political crises of the Cold War: a bold attempt to create “socialism with a human face” inside the Soviet bloc, followed by...
Operation Ajax
Operation Ajax was the code name for the covert Anglo-American operation that overthrew the government of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in August 1953. Planned jointly by the Central Intelligence Agency and Britain’s MI6, it remains one of the most...
The Hardest Day
Sunday the 18th of August, 1940, is known as The Hardest Day of the Battle of Britain. Although Sunday the 15th of September is celebrated as Battle of Britain day, and the climax of the battle, the combined losses of allied and German aircraft on the 18th of August...
Azores
On the 17th of August, 1597, Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex and Sir Walter Raleigh set sail on an expedition to the Azores. With Essex was Sir Anthony Standen, the elder brother of my 10th great-grandfather. The voyage is an episode in The Spy who Sank the Armada,...
Wagner
On the 16th of August, 1876, Richard Wagner’s Siegfried premiered at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus. It was the penultimate opera of his Ring cycle. I have written about a few composers including Mozart and Beethoven, so let’s have a look at Wagner. Richard Wagner was one...
Edith Nesbit
On the 15th of August, 1858, Edith Nesbit was born. She is most well known as the author of The Railway Children. However she was also a political activist and one of the nine founding members of the Fabian Society, a precursor of the Labour Party. Edith Nesbit,...
Battle of Yellow Ford
The Battle of Yellow Ford, fought on the 14th of August, 1598, was one of the most devastating defeats ever suffered by English forces in Ireland. Taking place near the River Blackwater in County Armagh, it marked the high point of the Irish resistance during the Nine...