First Encounter
I have posted recently about potatoes and Sir Walter Raleigh. Discoveries like potatoes and tobacco would probably not have been made without contact with native Americans. That’s where Myles Standish comes in. Myles Standish (c. 1584–1656) was an English military...
Charles Neville
On 15th December 1569 Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland (1542–1601) fled to Scotland after the failure of his rebellion against Queen Elizabeth I. He was an English nobleman whose life is remembered for his role in the northern rebellion against Queen Elizabeth...
Mary Queen of Scots
On 14th December 1542 Princess Mary Stuart became Queen Mary I of Scotland upon the death of her father King James V. She was just six days old. Her early reign was governed by regents due to her infancy. Mary was sent to France at the age of five, betrothed to the...
Sir Francis Drake
On 13th December 1577 Sir Francis Drake set sail from Plymouth on his three year circumnavigation of the globe. It was an extraordinary expedition that cemented his reputation as one of England’s greatest explorers and privateers. Commissioned by Queen Elizabeth I,...
Beethoven and Haydn
The On This Day website tells me that on the twelfth of December 1792, Beethoven had his first lesson in composition from Haydn. I’ve posted about being interviewed at the Dartmouth Book Festival by John Suchet. I doubt that anyone knows more about Beethoven than...
The Battle of Villaviciosa: A Decisive Clash in the War of the Spanish Succession
The Battle of Villaviciosa was fought on 10th and ended on 11th December, 1710. It was a pivotal moment in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714). This engagement, between the Bourbon forces led by Philip V of Spain and the Habsburg-allied forces under Austrian...
Nobel Prize
The 10th of December holds a special place in the calendar of global achievements—it marks the day the Nobel Prizes are awarded each year. This tradition began in 1901 and commemorates the death of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor and philanthropist who established...
The Charge of the Light Brigade
Tennyson’s poem The Charge of the Light Brigade was published on 9th December 1854 in The Examiner, a weekly intellectual journal. The military action had taken place on 25th October of the same year against the Russian army at the Battle Balaclava during the Crimean...
Pope Pius IX
On 8th December 1854 Pope Pius IX formally defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, stating that the Virgin Mary was conceived without original sin. Pope Pius IX (1792–1878) was the longest-serving pope in history, reigning from 1846 to 1878. His papacy is one...
First Encounter
I have posted recently about potatoes and Sir Walter Raleigh. Discoveries like potatoes and tobacco would probably not have been made without contact with native Americans. That’s where Myles Standish comes in. Myles Standish (c. 1584–1656) was an English military...
Charles Neville
On 15th December 1569 Charles Neville, 6th Earl of Westmorland (1542–1601) fled to Scotland after the failure of his rebellion against Queen Elizabeth I. He was an English nobleman whose life is remembered for his role in the northern rebellion against Queen Elizabeth...
Mary Queen of Scots
On 14th December 1542 Princess Mary Stuart became Queen Mary I of Scotland upon the death of her father King James V. She was just six days old. Her early reign was governed by regents due to her infancy. Mary was sent to France at the age of five, betrothed to the...
Sir Francis Drake
On 13th December 1577 Sir Francis Drake set sail from Plymouth on his three year circumnavigation of the globe. It was an extraordinary expedition that cemented his reputation as one of England’s greatest explorers and privateers. Commissioned by Queen Elizabeth I,...
Beethoven and Haydn
The On This Day website tells me that on the twelfth of December 1792, Beethoven had his first lesson in composition from Haydn. I’ve posted about being interviewed at the Dartmouth Book Festival by John Suchet. I doubt that anyone knows more about Beethoven than...
The Battle of Villaviciosa: A Decisive Clash in the War of the Spanish Succession
The Battle of Villaviciosa was fought on 10th and ended on 11th December, 1710. It was a pivotal moment in the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714). This engagement, between the Bourbon forces led by Philip V of Spain and the Habsburg-allied forces under Austrian...
Nobel Prize
The 10th of December holds a special place in the calendar of global achievements—it marks the day the Nobel Prizes are awarded each year. This tradition began in 1901 and commemorates the death of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor and philanthropist who established...
The Charge of the Light Brigade
Tennyson’s poem The Charge of the Light Brigade was published on 9th December 1854 in The Examiner, a weekly intellectual journal. The military action had taken place on 25th October of the same year against the Russian army at the Battle Balaclava during the Crimean...
Pope Pius IX
On 8th December 1854 Pope Pius IX formally defined the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, stating that the Virgin Mary was conceived without original sin. Pope Pius IX (1792–1878) was the longest-serving pope in history, reigning from 1846 to 1878. His papacy is one...