Potatoes
I use the On This Day website for inspiration more than fact. It says that on 3rd December 1586 Sir Thomas Herriot introduced potatoes to England from Colombia. I can’t find a Sir Thomas Herriot, but there was a Sir Thomas Harriot. Harriot became a close associate of...
Elizabeth of Russia
On 25th November 1741 Elizabeth seized Russia from her cousin Anna Ivanovna. Elizabeth Petrovna, known as Elizabeth of Russia, was one of the most intriguing figures of the Russian imperial history. Born on December 29, 1709, she was the daughter of Peter the Great...
Venus
In Fire and Earth, the second book of the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures, Standen meets Galileo. In 1609 he was the first man to observe the phases of Venus through a telescope. Astronomy then advanced quite quickly. Jeremiah Horrocks (1618-1641) was a pioneering...
Charlemagne
Apparently Charlemagne never said “Let my armies be the rocks and the trees and the birds in the sky” as suggested by Sean Connery in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. But he was the first Holy Roman Emperor. Pope Leo III (reigned 795–816) is best known for his...
Beards and Circumcision
Are beards in? For most of my life I’ve been clean shaven. I grew a moustache for a few months in 1987, but it didn’t suit me. When I walked the Camino de Santiago in 2019 I was saving every ounce of weight in the backpack, so razor and shaving foam were out. The...
Hanukkah
The “On This Day” website tells me that on the 21st November 164 BCE, during the Maccabean Revolt, Judas Maccabeus recaptured Jerusalem and rededicated the Second Temple, commemorated since as Jewish festival Hanukkah. Other sources tell me that Hanukkah in 2024...
Inspiration
On the 20th November 1886 Arthur Conan Doyle sold A Study in Scarlet, the first Sherlock Holmes Story to the publisher Ward and Lock for £25. Doyle’s inspiration for the character of Sherlock Holmes came largely from his former university professor, Dr. Joseph Bell, a...
Tennyson
On the 19th November 1850 Tennyson became Poet Laureate. I’ve posted about Gutenberg and his printing press, and also William Caxton, but presses need writers as much as writers need presses. One of my favourite poets is Tennyson. Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892) was...
William Caxton
I posted a few days ago about Gutenberg and the invention of the printing press. Well, on the 18th of November 1477 William Caxton printed the first English dated printed book, "Dictes & Sayengis of the Phylosophers” in London. William Caxton (c. 1422–1491) was a...
Potatoes
I use the On This Day website for inspiration more than fact. It says that on 3rd December 1586 Sir Thomas Herriot introduced potatoes to England from Colombia. I can’t find a Sir Thomas Herriot, but there was a Sir Thomas Harriot. Harriot became a close associate of...
Elizabeth of Russia
On 25th November 1741 Elizabeth seized Russia from her cousin Anna Ivanovna. Elizabeth Petrovna, known as Elizabeth of Russia, was one of the most intriguing figures of the Russian imperial history. Born on December 29, 1709, she was the daughter of Peter the Great...
Venus
In Fire and Earth, the second book of the Sir Anthony Standen Adventures, Standen meets Galileo. In 1609 he was the first man to observe the phases of Venus through a telescope. Astronomy then advanced quite quickly. Jeremiah Horrocks (1618-1641) was a pioneering...
Charlemagne
Apparently Charlemagne never said “Let my armies be the rocks and the trees and the birds in the sky” as suggested by Sean Connery in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. But he was the first Holy Roman Emperor. Pope Leo III (reigned 795–816) is best known for his...
Beards and Circumcision
Are beards in? For most of my life I’ve been clean shaven. I grew a moustache for a few months in 1987, but it didn’t suit me. When I walked the Camino de Santiago in 2019 I was saving every ounce of weight in the backpack, so razor and shaving foam were out. The...
Hanukkah
The “On This Day” website tells me that on the 21st November 164 BCE, during the Maccabean Revolt, Judas Maccabeus recaptured Jerusalem and rededicated the Second Temple, commemorated since as Jewish festival Hanukkah. Other sources tell me that Hanukkah in 2024...
Inspiration
On the 20th November 1886 Arthur Conan Doyle sold A Study in Scarlet, the first Sherlock Holmes Story to the publisher Ward and Lock for £25. Doyle’s inspiration for the character of Sherlock Holmes came largely from his former university professor, Dr. Joseph Bell, a...
Tennyson
On the 19th November 1850 Tennyson became Poet Laureate. I’ve posted about Gutenberg and his printing press, and also William Caxton, but presses need writers as much as writers need presses. One of my favourite poets is Tennyson. Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892) was...
William Caxton
I posted a few days ago about Gutenberg and the invention of the printing press. Well, on the 18th of November 1477 William Caxton printed the first English dated printed book, "Dictes & Sayengis of the Phylosophers” in London. William Caxton (c. 1422–1491) was a...