The Gordon Riots began on the 2nd of June 1780. The Gordon Riots were among the most destructive episodes of civil disorder in British history. Erupting in London, the riots began as a mass protest against Catholic emancipation but rapidly descended into days of...

Robert Cecil was born on the 1st of June 1563. Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury (1563–1612) was one of the most skilled and calculating statesmen of late Tudor and early Stuart England. The younger son of the formidable chief minister William Cecil, 1st Baron...

On the 31st of May, 455 CE, Emperor Petronius Maximus was stoned to death by an angry mob whilst trying to flee Rome. Petronius Maximus was Western Roman Emperor for a brief and ill-fated reign in the spring of 455 AD. Though he ruled for little more than two months,...

Claire and I both had our second shingles vaccinations this week. Both of us have felt as if we’ve been punched hard in the arm. Thankfully it is beginning to feel a little better. At least we shouldn’t get shingles, which I understand can be very unpleasant. Symptoms...

On the 30th of May, 1574, Henry III became King of France. Henry III of France (1551–1589) was one of the most enigmatic and controversial monarchs of the late Valois dynasty. His reign unfolded during the darkest years of the French Wars of Religion, a prolonged and...

On the 29th of May, 1453, Constantinople fell to the Ottoman army under Sultan Mehmed II after a 53 day siege. It was the end of over 2000 years of the Roman Empire. The history of Constantinople is one of the most remarkable urban stories in the world: a city founded...

On the 28th of May, 1936, Alan Turing submitted his paper On Computable Numbers for publication. Alan Turing was one of the most influential scientists of the twentieth century, a pioneer of computer science, artificial intelligence, and modern cryptography. His...

On the 27th of May, 1860, Giuseppe Garibaldi began the siege of Palermo during the war of Italian unification. Giuseppe Garibaldi was one of the central figures of the Italian Risorgimento, the 19th-century movement for the unification of Italy. A revolutionary,...

On the 26th of May, 1538, John Calvin and his followers were expelled from Geneva. Calvin lived in exile in Strasbourg for the next three years. John Calvin (1509–1564) was one of the most influential theologians of the Protestant Reformation, shaping a branch of...

The Gordon Riots began on the 2nd of June 1780. The Gordon Riots were among the most destructive episodes of civil disorder in British history. Erupting in London, the riots began as a mass protest against Catholic emancipation but rapidly descended into days of...

Robert Cecil was born on the 1st of June 1563. Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury (1563–1612) was one of the most skilled and calculating statesmen of late Tudor and early Stuart England. The younger son of the formidable chief minister William Cecil, 1st Baron...

On the 31st of May, 455 CE, Emperor Petronius Maximus was stoned to death by an angry mob whilst trying to flee Rome. Petronius Maximus was Western Roman Emperor for a brief and ill-fated reign in the spring of 455 AD. Though he ruled for little more than two months,...

Claire and I both had our second shingles vaccinations this week. Both of us have felt as if we’ve been punched hard in the arm. Thankfully it is beginning to feel a little better. At least we shouldn’t get shingles, which I understand can be very unpleasant. Symptoms...

On the 30th of May, 1574, Henry III became King of France. Henry III of France (1551–1589) was one of the most enigmatic and controversial monarchs of the late Valois dynasty. His reign unfolded during the darkest years of the French Wars of Religion, a prolonged and...

On the 29th of May, 1453, Constantinople fell to the Ottoman army under Sultan Mehmed II after a 53 day siege. It was the end of over 2000 years of the Roman Empire. The history of Constantinople is one of the most remarkable urban stories in the world: a city founded...

On the 28th of May, 1936, Alan Turing submitted his paper On Computable Numbers for publication. Alan Turing was one of the most influential scientists of the twentieth century, a pioneer of computer science, artificial intelligence, and modern cryptography. His...

On the 27th of May, 1860, Giuseppe Garibaldi began the siege of Palermo during the war of Italian unification. Giuseppe Garibaldi was one of the central figures of the Italian Risorgimento, the 19th-century movement for the unification of Italy. A revolutionary,...

On the 26th of May, 1538, John Calvin and his followers were expelled from Geneva. Calvin lived in exile in Strasbourg for the next three years. John Calvin (1509–1564) was one of the most influential theologians of the Protestant Reformation, shaping a branch of...