On the 7th January 1618 Francis Bacon became Lord Chancellor of England. Francis Bacon (1561-1626) and his younger brother, Anthony Bacon (1558-1601), were prominent figures in the intellectual and political landscape of late Elizabethan and early Jacobean England....

On 6th December 1617 George Villiers was made Earl of Buckingham by King James I, replacing Robert Carr,  1st Duke of Buckingham (1592-1628). He was a prominent figure in the early 17th century English court, known for his close relationship with King James I, and his...

The On This Day website tells me that on 5th January 1895 Captain Dreyfus was convicted of treason by a French military court. Encyclopedia Britannica says that the conviction was in December 1894. Never mind, I’ll write about it anyway. The Dreyfus Affair concerned...

King Charles I's attack on Parliament on 4th January 1642 marked a pivotal moment in English history, leading to the English Civil War. The conflict arose from escalating tensions between the monarchy and Parliament over issues of governance, taxation, and the...

On 3rd January 1496 Leonardo da Vinci unsuccesfully tested his flying machine. Leonardo da Vinci, the quintessential Renaissance polymath, is renowned for his contributions to art, science, and engineering. Among his many visionary ideas, his fascination with flight...

On 2nd January 1492 Muhammad XII, the last Emir of Granada, surrendered the city to Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabel I of Castile, ending both the Reconquista and centuries of Muslim rule in the Iberian peninsula The Reconquista began in 711 AD when Muslim forces,...

I have posted about our trip this year to South America. Rio de Janeiro and the Amazon Rainforest were the highlights if Brazil. It was on the 1st of January 1502, that the area now known as Rio de Janeiro was discovered by a Portuguese expedition led by Gonçalo...

I have written about Romans  before, Cicero for example. But the story of Commodus needs telling. On 31st December 192 A.D. the Roman Emperor Commodus survived an attempted poisoning by his mistress only to be strangled in his bath. Emperor Commodus, born on August...

On 30th December 1460, during the War of the Roses, the Duke of York was killed and his army defeated by King Henry VI at the Battle of Wakefield. I’ve written about the final battle in the War of the Roses, Bosworth Field, so here is another. The Battle of Wakefield...

On the 7th January 1618 Francis Bacon became Lord Chancellor of England. Francis Bacon (1561-1626) and his younger brother, Anthony Bacon (1558-1601), were prominent figures in the intellectual and political landscape of late Elizabethan and early Jacobean England....

On 6th December 1617 George Villiers was made Earl of Buckingham by King James I, replacing Robert Carr,  1st Duke of Buckingham (1592-1628). He was a prominent figure in the early 17th century English court, known for his close relationship with King James I, and his...

The On This Day website tells me that on 5th January 1895 Captain Dreyfus was convicted of treason by a French military court. Encyclopedia Britannica says that the conviction was in December 1894. Never mind, I’ll write about it anyway. The Dreyfus Affair concerned...

King Charles I's attack on Parliament on 4th January 1642 marked a pivotal moment in English history, leading to the English Civil War. The conflict arose from escalating tensions between the monarchy and Parliament over issues of governance, taxation, and the...

On 3rd January 1496 Leonardo da Vinci unsuccesfully tested his flying machine. Leonardo da Vinci, the quintessential Renaissance polymath, is renowned for his contributions to art, science, and engineering. Among his many visionary ideas, his fascination with flight...

On 2nd January 1492 Muhammad XII, the last Emir of Granada, surrendered the city to Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabel I of Castile, ending both the Reconquista and centuries of Muslim rule in the Iberian peninsula The Reconquista began in 711 AD when Muslim forces,...

I have posted about our trip this year to South America. Rio de Janeiro and the Amazon Rainforest were the highlights if Brazil. It was on the 1st of January 1502, that the area now known as Rio de Janeiro was discovered by a Portuguese expedition led by Gonçalo...

I have written about Romans  before, Cicero for example. But the story of Commodus needs telling. On 31st December 192 A.D. the Roman Emperor Commodus survived an attempted poisoning by his mistress only to be strangled in his bath. Emperor Commodus, born on August...

On 30th December 1460, during the War of the Roses, the Duke of York was killed and his army defeated by King Henry VI at the Battle of Wakefield. I’ve written about the final battle in the War of the Roses, Bosworth Field, so here is another. The Battle of Wakefield...