China

 I wrote a history of China. It's a fascinating civilisation that has survived for thousands of years. 

Unemployment

 I wrote a history of unemployment in the Western World. It's a harrowing subject but an interesting one. 

Christmas Carols

 A carol was originally a dance with an accompanying song. Carols were once sung all year not just at Christmas. However, Christmas carols were first mentioned in English in 1426. But most of the carols we sing today were written in the 18th century and 19th century.

At first, people sang carols in pubs, not in churches. The first carol service was created in 1880 by the Bishop of Truro, Edward White Benson. He wrote a service called the Nine Lessons with Carols. (He hoped he could draw people away from pubs to church!)

Crawley

 I wrote about the town of Crawley in Sussex. Although it became a 'new town' after the Second World War it was a market town long before it. 

Droxford

 I wrote a history of the small but charming village of Droxford in Hampshire 

Happy Birthday

 Today is localhistories.org Day. On 11 December 2001 my website was switched on. At first, it contained the history of 6 places, Portsmouth, Winchester, Chichester, Petersfield Dublin, and London. It now has a history of about 130 towns and cities. I went on to write histories of countries and articles about life in the past. And I wrote some brief biographies. I remember when I was pleased when it got over 1,000 hits in a month. It now gets more than 100,000 hits each month.

Santa's Reindeer

 Santa’s reindeer were first mentioned in writing in 1821. Their names were first recorded in 1823 - except for one. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was created in 1939 by Robert L. May. He wrote a story about the famous reindeer. 😊