On the 9th of October, 1967, Che Guevara was executed for attempting to incite revolution in Bolivia. It’s over forty years since I was a student at Oxford, but I remember that almost every student’s room had the iconic poster of Che Guevara on the wall, and the male...

My choice of historical event for the 8th of October is the Siege of Alkmaar, which began on the 21st of August 1573. It was as a pivotal event in the Eighty Years' War, marking the first decisive defeat of the Spanish forces by the Dutch rebels. This victory not only...

The Battle of Lepanto was fought on the 7th of October, 1571. What caught my attention about this battle is that it was the last major naval battle in the Western world to be fought, almost entirely, between galleys, that is to say, rowing vessels. This is only ...

There were several historical events that tempted me today. The 6th of October marked  the premier of The Jazz Singer, the first talking picture in 1927. I was tempted by the start of the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Instead I have opted for Eurydice, the earliest...

An attempted assassination of Paolo Sarpi, commissioned by Pope Paul V, was thwarted on the 5th of October, 1607. This was one of the inspirations for Fire and Earth, the second book in the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures. Paolo Sarpi (1552–1623) was a Venetian...

Wikipedia tells me that on the 4th of October, 1853, the Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia, thereby starting the Crimean War. It seems topical as it involves both Palestine and Russia. The war primarily pitted the Russian Empire against an alliance comprising the...

My pick for today’s historical event is the Siege of Leiden, which was a pivotal event in the Eighty Years' War. Sir Anthony Standen was an Elizabethan Spy and was spying for Sir Francis Walsingham in Flanders at the time. In The Spy who Sank the Armada, the first...

My choice of historical event of the day is quite unusual, and I confess that I had not heard of the Nottingham Cheese Riot until today. I usually look for something I can link to that I have previously posted, for SEO (search engine optimisation), but I can’t think...

On the 1st of October, 331 BC, Alexander the Great defeated King Darius III’s army at the Battle of Gaugamela. I’ve posted previously about an earlier clash between Persia and Greece, the Battle of Marathon. Alexander the Great, born in 356 BC in Pella, the ancient...

On the 9th of October, 1967, Che Guevara was executed for attempting to incite revolution in Bolivia. It’s over forty years since I was a student at Oxford, but I remember that almost every student’s room had the iconic poster of Che Guevara on the wall, and the male...

My choice of historical event for the 8th of October is the Siege of Alkmaar, which began on the 21st of August 1573. It was as a pivotal event in the Eighty Years' War, marking the first decisive defeat of the Spanish forces by the Dutch rebels. This victory not only...

The Battle of Lepanto was fought on the 7th of October, 1571. What caught my attention about this battle is that it was the last major naval battle in the Western world to be fought, almost entirely, between galleys, that is to say, rowing vessels. This is only ...

There were several historical events that tempted me today. The 6th of October marked  the premier of The Jazz Singer, the first talking picture in 1927. I was tempted by the start of the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Instead I have opted for Eurydice, the earliest...

An attempted assassination of Paolo Sarpi, commissioned by Pope Paul V, was thwarted on the 5th of October, 1607. This was one of the inspirations for Fire and Earth, the second book in the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures. Paolo Sarpi (1552–1623) was a Venetian...

Wikipedia tells me that on the 4th of October, 1853, the Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia, thereby starting the Crimean War. It seems topical as it involves both Palestine and Russia. The war primarily pitted the Russian Empire against an alliance comprising the...

My pick for today’s historical event is the Siege of Leiden, which was a pivotal event in the Eighty Years' War. Sir Anthony Standen was an Elizabethan Spy and was spying for Sir Francis Walsingham in Flanders at the time. In The Spy who Sank the Armada, the first...

My choice of historical event of the day is quite unusual, and I confess that I had not heard of the Nottingham Cheese Riot until today. I usually look for something I can link to that I have previously posted, for SEO (search engine optimisation), but I can’t think...

On the 1st of October, 331 BC, Alexander the Great defeated King Darius III’s army at the Battle of Gaugamela. I’ve posted previously about an earlier clash between Persia and Greece, the Battle of Marathon. Alexander the Great, born in 356 BC in Pella, the ancient...