I have written about the Battle of Marathon. So let’s have a look at a later Ancient Greek battle. The Battle of Mantinea was fought on the 4th of July in 362 BCE. The Battle of Mantinea, fought in 362 BC, was one of the most significant and decisive engagements of...

On the 3rd of July, 987, Hugh Capet was crowned King of France. Hugh Capet (c.939–996) was one of the most important, yet often understated figures in European history. As the founder of the Capetian dynasty, his accession to the throne in 987 marked the beginning of...

Fire and Earth, the second book in the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures, features Galileo Galilei. Today I shall write about his father. Vincenzo Galilei was an Italian composer, lutenist, and music theorist of the late Renaissance. Vincenzo’s contributions to music and...

On the 1st of July, 1523, Jan Van Hessen and Hendrik Voes were burnt at the stake in Brussels. They were the first Lutheran martyrs executed by the Council of Brabant. When Martin Luther heard the news he wrote what is believed to be his first hymn, “Ein neues Lied...

The Night of the Long Knives, which took place between the 30th of June and the 2nd of July, 1934, was a decisive and brutal purge carried out by Adolf Hitler to consolidate his power in Germany. Though often described as a single night, the violence extended over...

On the 29th of June, 2007, Apple released its first mobile phone, the iPhone. I have checked my CV and I was working for WSP on the new terminal for Delhi International Airport at that point. I probably had a company Nokia. I bought an iPad after being very impressed...

The two events which caught my eye for today’s post were Charles V being elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1519 (because there’s a connection with my ancestor the Elizabethan spy, Sir Anthony Standen), and the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. But I’ve already covered...

On the 27th of June, 1556, eleven men and two women, one of whom was pregnant, were burnt to death, the men tied to the stake, the women “allowed” to run freely in the flames. The Stratford Martyrs were a group of Protestant believers executed for heresy during the...

The first Grand Prix motor race was over the 26th and 27th of June 1906 on closed public roads outside the city of Les Mans. Officially known as the 1906 French Grand Prix, it marked a turning point in the development of motor racing, establishing many of the...

I have written about the Battle of Marathon. So let’s have a look at a later Ancient Greek battle. The Battle of Mantinea was fought on the 4th of July in 362 BCE. The Battle of Mantinea, fought in 362 BC, was one of the most significant and decisive engagements of...

On the 3rd of July, 987, Hugh Capet was crowned King of France. Hugh Capet (c.939–996) was one of the most important, yet often understated figures in European history. As the founder of the Capetian dynasty, his accession to the throne in 987 marked the beginning of...

Fire and Earth, the second book in the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures, features Galileo Galilei. Today I shall write about his father. Vincenzo Galilei was an Italian composer, lutenist, and music theorist of the late Renaissance. Vincenzo’s contributions to music and...

On the 1st of July, 1523, Jan Van Hessen and Hendrik Voes were burnt at the stake in Brussels. They were the first Lutheran martyrs executed by the Council of Brabant. When Martin Luther heard the news he wrote what is believed to be his first hymn, “Ein neues Lied...

The Night of the Long Knives, which took place between the 30th of June and the 2nd of July, 1934, was a decisive and brutal purge carried out by Adolf Hitler to consolidate his power in Germany. Though often described as a single night, the violence extended over...

On the 29th of June, 2007, Apple released its first mobile phone, the iPhone. I have checked my CV and I was working for WSP on the new terminal for Delhi International Airport at that point. I probably had a company Nokia. I bought an iPad after being very impressed...

The two events which caught my eye for today’s post were Charles V being elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1519 (because there’s a connection with my ancestor the Elizabethan spy, Sir Anthony Standen), and the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. But I’ve already covered...

On the 27th of June, 1556, eleven men and two women, one of whom was pregnant, were burnt to death, the men tied to the stake, the women “allowed” to run freely in the flames. The Stratford Martyrs were a group of Protestant believers executed for heresy during the...

The first Grand Prix motor race was over the 26th and 27th of June 1906 on closed public roads outside the city of Les Mans. Officially known as the 1906 French Grand Prix, it marked a turning point in the development of motor racing, establishing many of the...