Cruel Sports Banned

 On 9 September 1835, a new law in Britain outlawed 'sports' such as bull baiting. (A bull was chained to a post and dogs were trained to attack it. Some butchers would not sell bull meat unless the bull had been bitten by dogs. They said it made the meat more tender). The new law also banned cockfighting and dogfighting. Of course, making them illegal and actually stopping them were two different things but it was a step in the right direction.

The Nazis Banned Jazz

 In 1935, the Nazis banned broadcasting jazz music and swing music, claiming it was degenerate music created by Jews and black people (The Nazis despised both). The Nazis also banned the saxophone. In 1939, they made it illegal to listen to foreign radio stations. Yet, some brave young people known as 'swings' continued to listen to jazz.

The Nazis also strongly discouraged make-up. While not actually illegal lipstick, hair dye and painted nails were frowned upon. Girls in the Hitler Youth were forbidden to have them.

In contrast, in Britain using make-up was encouraged with slogans like ‘beauty is your duty’. Like most things, cosmetics were in short supply but women improvised, dying their legs brown to make it look as if they were wearing stockings and using boot polish as mascara.

Rule of Thumb

 I often hear this myth. This myth refuses to die. In the past, a man had a right to beat his wife provided he did not use a stick thicker than his thumb.

There has never been a rule or a law in England that a man is entitled to beat his wife provided he uses a stick no thicker than his thumb. William Blackstone (1723-80) wrote Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765-1769). He made no mention of a supposed rule that a stick could be used to hit your wife if it was not thicker than a thumb. So it was never a part of English common law.

We are not certain how the phrase ‘rule of thumb’ arose but it probably came from craftsmen using their thumbs to measure.

Escape from the Tower of London

 For centuries, the Tower of London was used to hold important prisoners. The first was Ranulf Flambard the Bishop of Durham. When King William Rufus was killed in 1100 his brother became Henry I. The new king promptly arrested the bishop for simony (selling church positions for money).

However, the bishop escaped. He was allowed certain privileges, such as buying his own food and wine. On 2 February 1101, the bishop generously invited his guards to a feast. When the guards became drunk, he managed to squeeze through a window and climb down a rope. However, the rope was not long enough and he had to drop the final distance. The bishop was met by friends who rowed him across the river and he then rode a horse to the coast, where he escaped on a ship.

Boiling

In England a law of 1531 allowed poisoners to be boiled alive. In 1532 a cook called Richard Roose was boiled alive and in 1542 a woman called Margaret Davy was boiled alive. However, the law was repealed in 1547.

Whipping

 In Britain whipping women was banned in 1820 but for men, it went on well into the 20th century. From 1862 the courts could order whipping with the cat o'nine tails or birching (which meant hitting a man on the bare backside with a bundle of birch rods). Birching gradually replaced whipping, although cases of the latter were recorded in Britain until 1947. In 1948 whipping or birching civilian men was abolished but it was legal in prisons until 1967.