This is my latest YouTube video, a myth about hangover
Tuesday, 30 April 2024
York
I wrote a history of York. They say the history of York is the history of England.
International Day to End Corporal Punishment
30 April is International Day to End Corporal Punishment. Here is my history of corporal punishment.
Monday, 29 April 2024
Penzance
I wrote a history of the Cornish town of Penzance
Mary Timney
On 29 April 1862, Mary Timney became the last woman to be hanged in public in Scotland. She was hanged in Dumfries.
Saturday, 27 April 2024
Last woman to be guillotined
Today’s useless info: In 1949 Germaine Leloy-Godefroy became the last French woman to be guillotined. (She was having an affair and she killed her husband with an axe while he was asleep).
Friday, 26 April 2024
No Makeup Day
26 April is National No Makeup Day. This is my history of makeup.
Tuesday, 23 April 2024
Happy St George's Day
Happy St George's Day everyone!
Monday, 22 April 2024
John Paul Jones
On 22 April 1778 during the American War of Independence, a US ship captained by John Paul Jones attacked the port of Whitehaven in northwest England.
Sunday, 21 April 2024
Sunderland
I wrote a history of the city of Sunderland
Friday, 19 April 2024
Stockton on Tees
I wrote a history of the city of Stockton on Tees in Northeast England
The Lisbon Massacre
On 19 April 1506, the Lisbon Massacre began. Dominican friars incited churchgoers to massacre Jews. It's not known how many were killed but probably between 2,000 and 4,000 people died.
Thursday, 18 April 2024
Darlington
I wrote a history of Darlington, a town in Northeast England
Wednesday, 17 April 2024
History of corporal punishment of Scottish children
Paisley Museum posted about the shocking history of corporal punishment in Scotland
Beverley
I wrote a brief history of the historic town of Beverley in Yorkshire
Tuesday, 16 April 2024
Nuns in the Middle Ages
I found this very good video about nuns in the Middle Ages and how they were often powerful women. It was made in Switzerland so it has subtitles but in my opinion it its well worth a watch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS-LY6p3NWM
Monday, 15 April 2024
Wincanton
I wrote a history of the small town of Wincanton in Somerset
Sunday, 14 April 2024
Mary Rose Timeline
A timeline of events at the time of the Mary Rose
Tuesday, 9 April 2024
April 9 Tragedy
On 9 April 1991 Soviet troops crushed an independence demonstration in Georgia killing 21 people and injuring hundreds. It's known as the April 9 Tragedy.
Monday, 8 April 2024
Great Yarmouth
I wrote a history of the seaside town of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk
Sunday, 7 April 2024
Tamar the Great
Tamar the Great was ruler of Georgia from 1184 to 1213. She was a powerful ruler and during her reign, the kingdom flourished.
Museum of Women in the Arts
On 7 April 1987, the National Museum of Women in the Arts opened in Washington DC, USA.
Saturday, 6 April 2024
Life on the Moon
In 1835 a newspaper called the New York Sun claimed that, using a new powerful telescope people could see plants and animals on the Moon. They could also see 'people' who were half man and half bat. I always think it's a pity it was a hoax. It would be nice if there was life on the Moon.
Friday, 5 April 2024
Bermondsey
I wrote a history of Bermondsey. For centuries it was a village before it became a district of London.
Warnford
I wrote a history of the tiny village of Warnford in Hampshire
The last woman to be sentenced to death in Britain
Most people know that the last woman to be hanged in Britain was Ruth Ellis in 1955. However, the last woman to be sentenced to death in Britain was Mary Wilson in 1958.
Wilson was convicted of poisoning two of her husbands with phosphorous. She was sentenced to death but the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. The remains of two other husbands were exhumed and found to contain poison but it was felt there was no point in having another trial. Wilson died in prison in 1963.
Thursday, 4 April 2024
Did Brides Carry Bouquets to Hide Their BO?
You sometimes read that people got married in May because they only had a bath once a year - in May. The bridge carried bouquets to hide her BO. This is complete nonsense. People sometimes got married in May because they believed it was good luck to get married in that month. Brides did not carry bouquets to hide their smell. Flowers were once fertility symbols or charms. They were carried to ensure the fertility of the bride. Bouquets also often included certain herbs that people believed would drive away evil spirits or bad luck, in the way that garlic was supposed to repel vampires.
In the 1800s it became the custom for the bride to throw her bouquet into the air. Whoever caught it would have good luck. That soon changed into the idea that whoever caught it would be the next to get married. Today it’s a bit of fun but once people took these superstitions seriously.
Wednesday, 3 April 2024
Middlesbrough
I wrote a history of Middlesbrough, a town in Northeast England
Emmeline Pankhurst
On 3 April 1913 suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst was sentenced to 3 years in prison for 'inciting to malicious damage to property' ( she incited others to plant a bomb in the home of David Lloyd George the Chancellor of the Exchequer).
Tuesday, 2 April 2024
Portchester
Here are some pictures of Portchester I took. It's a very picturesque place.
Human cannonball
On 2 April 1877 14-year-old Rossa Matilda Richter known as Zazel became the first human cannonball when she was fired from a cannon.
Physical Punishment in Australia
A YouTube video about physical punishment in Australia
Monday, 1 April 2024
April
Welcome to April. They think its name comes from the Latin word aperire meaning to open because buds open at this time. ⚘