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)...

Casey Jones was born on the 14th of March, 1864. I used to love watching the TV series Casey Jones when I was young. IMDB tells me the series comprised 32 episodes and ran from 8th October 1957 to 5th May 1958 and starred Alan Hale Jr. as Casey. I must have watched...

On the 13th of March, 1826, Pope Leo XII published the apostolic constitution Quo Gravioria in which he renewed the prohibition on Catholics becoming Freemasons. My father was a Freemason so this caught my attention today. Quo Graviora (which is more serious?) was one...

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)...

Casey Jones was born on the 14th of March, 1864. I used to love watching the TV series Casey Jones when I was young. IMDB tells me the series comprised 32 episodes and ran from 8th October 1957 to 5th May 1958 and starred Alan Hale Jr. as Casey. I must have watched...

On the 13th of March, 1826, Pope Leo XII published the apostolic constitution Quo Gravioria in which he renewed the prohibition on Catholics becoming Freemasons. My father was a Freemason so this caught my attention today. Quo Graviora (which is more serious?) was one...