Manatees

 31 March is Manatee Appreciation Day. In 1493 Christopher Columbus reported seeing three mermaids. He complained they were 'not half as beautiful as they are painted'. It's thought he actually saw manatees.

Seward's Icebox

 On 30 March 1867, US Secretary of State William Henry Seward signed a treaty to buy Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million - less than 2 cents an acre. However, it took 6 months to persuade Congress to ratify the treaty. Some people called it Seward's Icebox.

Easter 2024

  Happy Easter to all my readers!  😊 

Scarborough

I wrote a history of the Yorkshire town of Scarborough 

Alaska Earthquake

 On 27 March 1964 (local time) Alaska was struck by an earthquake It measured 9.2 on the Richter Scale and killed 131 people. Earthquake Damage Pics from Earthquakes.usgs.gov

Whitby

 My friend wrote a history of Whitby 

The Slave Trade Ends

On 25 March 1807 Britain abolished the slave trade. (The first country to abolish it was Denmark in 1792).

Hungover

You sometimes read that we say 'hungover' because drunk people slept hung over ropes. It's not true. That is not the origin of the term hungover. 

Tea Bag

 According to legend Thomas Sullivan invented the tea bag in 1908. But it seems that tea bags gradually developed and it's difficult to say who first invented them.

Women's Olympiad

 The Women's Olympiad began on 24 March 1921. It was the first international women's sports event.

Cathcold Tower, Southampton

 During World War II an anti-aircraft gun was placed on Catchcold Tower in Southampton. It was the last time the Medieval walls played a part in the defence of the city.

Spring

 It's Spring again. People once called it Lenten, which means lengthen because the days are growing longer. But in the 14th century, people called it springing time because the leaves on trees are springing out. By the 16th century, it was just called Spring. It's so nice to see nature coming back to life. 😎

Tolpuddle Martyrs

 On 19 March 1834, the Tolpuddle Martyrs were sentenced to 7 years transportation. They were convicted of making an illegal oath. They tried to form a trade union and they swore an oath of secrecy, which was then illegal and gave the authorities an excuse to arrest them.

Pictures of Frome

 I took some pictures of Frome in Somerset 

Red Letter Days

Why do we say red-letter days? In the Middle Ages, saint's days were marked in red in calendars. People did not work on some saint's days, which were also called holy days. Our word holiday is derived from a holy day.

Diving Suit

 I found an interesting video about the world's oldest diving suit  

Uranus

On 13 March 1781, the famous astronomer William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus. The outer planets fascinated me when I was a boy because so little was known about them. Today we know far more about them but we have now discovered many mysterious heavenly bodies even further away.

Let The Cat Out of The Bag

 Why do we say let the cat out of the bag? This old saying is probably derived from the days when people who sold piglets in bags sometimes put a cat in the bag instead. If you let the cat out of the bag you exposed the trick. I have heard it said, on certain historical ships I could mention that it comes because a cat o'nine tails was kept in a bag. But the cat o'nine tails was not used by the English navy till the mid-17th century and the saying is certainly older than that.

Myths about witchcraft

 This is an interesting article about myths about witchcraft