Ronald Knox
Today I had the horrible feeling that in The Favourite Murder, my work in progress and the fifth book of the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures, I might have broken one of Ronald Knox’s famous Ten Commandments of Detective Fiction. I checked them, and I’m happy to say...
Henrietta Maria
The French state funeral for Henrietta Maria Princess of France took place on 16th November 1669. She is a child in my work in progress, The Favourite Murder, the fifth book in The Sir Anthony Standen Adventures. Her elder sister Elizabeth has just been married off to...
Cuzco
On 15th November 1533 Cuzco was captured. Francisco Pizarro, a Spanish conquistador, is best known for his conquest of the Inca Empire and the capture of its capital, Cuzco, in 1533. His journey was driven by ambitions of wealth, power, and spreading Christianity,...
Blood Transfusion
I’ve posted previously about donating blood, and on 14th November 1666 Samuel Pepys wrote in his diary about a blood transfusion between dogs, performed by the British physician Richard Lower. The first recorded blood transfusion to a human was performed in 1667 by...
Hypnotism
I attended an exhibition by a stage hypnotist at the Oxford Union when I was a student, and what he was able to do was astonishing. It made a great impression on me. I’ve even tried a hypnosis app to improve my golf. There’s still some way to go. James Braid...
Ben Hur
I noted in a recent post that I was born on Guy Fawkes Day. The Best Picture Academy Award, along with ten other Oscars, the year I was born went to Ben Hur. The book on which the film was based, Ben-Hur: A Tale of The Christ, was published on 12th November 1880. Lew...
The Einstein Refrigerator
I have posted about the invention of the ballpoint pen and the printing press recently. The Einstein refrigerator, invented by Albert Einstein and his former student Leo Szilard in 1926, on the 11th November I’m told, was an innovative cooling device that sought to...
The Day of the Dupes
The tenth of November 1630 was a critical day in an ambitious attempt to overthrow Cardinal Richelieu, France’s powerful chief minister, shook the political landscape of France. Known as the “Day of the Dupes,” this dramatic failed “palace revolution” revealed the...
Charles Neville
Charles Neville was one of the leaders of the Northern Rebellion of 1569 and also a character in The Spy who Sank the Armada,the story of Sir Anthony Standen my 10th great-grandfather’s elder brother. I chose Neville because he was in the right places at the...
Ronald Knox
Today I had the horrible feeling that in The Favourite Murder, my work in progress and the fifth book of the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures, I might have broken one of Ronald Knox’s famous Ten Commandments of Detective Fiction. I checked them, and I’m happy to say...
Henrietta Maria
The French state funeral for Henrietta Maria Princess of France took place on 16th November 1669. She is a child in my work in progress, The Favourite Murder, the fifth book in The Sir Anthony Standen Adventures. Her elder sister Elizabeth has just been married off to...
Cuzco
On 15th November 1533 Cuzco was captured. Francisco Pizarro, a Spanish conquistador, is best known for his conquest of the Inca Empire and the capture of its capital, Cuzco, in 1533. His journey was driven by ambitions of wealth, power, and spreading Christianity,...
Blood Transfusion
I’ve posted previously about donating blood, and on 14th November 1666 Samuel Pepys wrote in his diary about a blood transfusion between dogs, performed by the British physician Richard Lower. The first recorded blood transfusion to a human was performed in 1667 by...
Hypnotism
I attended an exhibition by a stage hypnotist at the Oxford Union when I was a student, and what he was able to do was astonishing. It made a great impression on me. I’ve even tried a hypnosis app to improve my golf. There’s still some way to go. James Braid...
Ben Hur
I noted in a recent post that I was born on Guy Fawkes Day. The Best Picture Academy Award, along with ten other Oscars, the year I was born went to Ben Hur. The book on which the film was based, Ben-Hur: A Tale of The Christ, was published on 12th November 1880. Lew...
The Einstein Refrigerator
I have posted about the invention of the ballpoint pen and the printing press recently. The Einstein refrigerator, invented by Albert Einstein and his former student Leo Szilard in 1926, on the 11th November I’m told, was an innovative cooling device that sought to...
The Day of the Dupes
The tenth of November 1630 was a critical day in an ambitious attempt to overthrow Cardinal Richelieu, France’s powerful chief minister, shook the political landscape of France. Known as the “Day of the Dupes,” this dramatic failed “palace revolution” revealed the...
Charles Neville
Charles Neville was one of the leaders of the Northern Rebellion of 1569 and also a character in The Spy who Sank the Armada,the story of Sir Anthony Standen my 10th great-grandfather’s elder brother. I chose Neville because he was in the right places at the...