The Great Fire of London, with Ludgate and Old St. Paul’s by Anonymous. The Great Fire of London began this day in 1666, in a bakery in Pudding Lane, near the Tower of London. It burned for three more days, destroying over 13,000 houses. Interestingly, only three lives were lost to the fire, which burnt […]
Air Quality in 1666 London Takes a Dive Read More »
And a happy July 4th to everyone below the 48th and north of Mexico! I know the actual day is today, but the US had yesterday off, too. Hope it was a good day for everyone, and that the rest of your weekend is just as good. ______________________
On this day in 1937, Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor and the former King of England, married Wallis Simpson, a twice-divorced American. They lived in France for the next forty years, until the Duke died of cancer in 1977. As King of England, Edward was the head of the Church of England, so when he
Today marks the 560th anniversary of the beginning of the Wars of the Roses, which began at the First Battle of St. Albans, when Richard, the Duke of York, defeated and captured Henry VI, who was King of England at the time. I’ve always thought the name of this civil war was such a pretty
The Wars of the Roses Begins Read More »
Today is Victoria Day, a public holiday here in Canada. Queen Victoria, until now, was the longest reigning monarch in the British Empire. Queen Elizabeth is set to blitz that record. When? You’d think that would be a fairly simple answer, but it turns out that it isn’t. Just to begin, Queen Elizabeth’s reign includes
Long Live the Queen…but which one? Read More »
I’ve been writing about Vikings in one form or another for quite a few years now. (If you’re curious, there’s a list of Viking related stories I’ve written here.) One of the things that interests me the most is the achievements of the Vikings. They reached as far as America in their open long ships,
Pulse Pause Moments: Vikings Read More »
The Eiffel Tower is probably the most famous French feature in the world. It’s instantly recognizable, it’s the tallest structure in Paris and it makes millions each year from tourists who pay to travel to the top. But the tower actually started off life 126 years ago today as the gateway to the 1889 World’s
The Eiffel Tower Started Life As A Gate Read More »
Star Wars is the reason I’m writing. Han Solo’s infamous “I know” is the reason I’m writing romance. (For the full story, click here and also here.). So it would be almost criminal for me to ignore Star Wars day. I’m so looking forward to the new movie! Han Solo is back! And I tripped
May the Fourth Be With You… Read More »
226 years ago, eight mutineers aboard The Bounty tossed their captain, Lieutenant William Bligh, and 18 loyal crewmen into a lifeboat and set them adrift. As they made off with the ship, the mutineers, led by Fletcher Christian, dumped boxes of food into the water for the abandoned crew. No one is completely sure why
Fletcher Christian’s Heritage Read More »
The Chernobyl Nuclear Plant in 1986 was part of the Soviet Union, but is now in the Ukraine. On April 26, 1986 the power plant suffered a catastrophic nuclear accident, when a reactor exploded and spilled radiation across most of western Russia and into Europe. Wikipedia says this much better than I can, because I
The Worst Nuclear Accident, Ever. Read More »