Starting on 8 June 1783 and continuing on until until 7 February 1784, hell on earth came to Iceland. The Lakagígar (Craters of Laki), a a 25 km (15.5 mi) long volcanic fissure with 130 craters opened up on the side of Laki mountain, and over 8 months it spewed 14 km3 (3.4 cu mi)… Read more Síðueldur and Móðuharðindin – Hell Came to Iceland in 1783
On 4 June 1913 an ardent and militant suffragette by the name of Emily Davison was struck by King George V‘s horse Anmer at the Epsom Derby. The blow fractured her skull, and she died a few days later, having never regained consciousness. Eyewitnesses and historians dispute what she was trying to do on the… Read more Suffragette Suffering for Suffrage
On 3 June 1839 a Chinese patriot, moralist, and scholar-official of the Qing dynasty named Lin Tse-hsü (his name was also spelled Lin Zexu, and he additionally went by the courtesy name Yuanfu) ordered the destruction of approximately 1.2 million kg (2.6 million poiunds) of opium from British merchants in Guangdong Province. There was so… Read more The Beginning of the Opium Wars
Happy May Day Birthday to my darling middle daughter, Buttercup! I had heard all my life that “May babies were good babies” (they weren’t fussy and were healthy) and that babies born on Beltane were a particular blessing for their parents … and particularly blessed individuals. This belief may have come to America with the… Read more Beltane Babies Are Best!
On 26 April 1923, the Duke of York, Albert Frederick Arthur George (the second son of King George V and his queen Mary of Teck, known as Bertie to his family) wed Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon at Westminster Abbey, thereby gaining an admirable wife and even more admirable father-in-law. Lady Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was born… Read more Happy Anniversary to King George VI and the Queen Mum!!
I dislike Oliver Cromwell, who born on 25 April 1599, in much the same way oceans are “damp”. That is to say, I dislike him a LOT. In fact, I loathe and detest him with the fire of 1000 suns. Why? Because he committed an ethnic cleansing, that’s why. Moreover, the people he attempted to… Read more A Monster is Born
The Tea Act passed Parliament on 17 April 1773, giving the struggling and overstocked British East India Company the right to ship tea tax-free into Britain’s North American colonies. Although the Colonists would still have to pay Townshend duties on their end, the lack of tax on the exports meant that the tea would be… Read more The Tea Act of 1773
Today is Easter, and, as most people reading this know, it the Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus on the third day after his crucifixion. It is the holist day of the Christian liturgical calendar and a day when most Christians, even those who normally eschew church-going, attend a morning service. A lot of… Read more Some Bunny Loves You
James Mill, considered one of the best philosophical minds of the Regency era, was born on 6 April 1773. He was one of the founders and most ardent proponents of philosophic radicalism and was one of the key writers that helped steer Regency liberal politicians towards fighting to guarantee the freedom of the press and… Read more James Mill: Liberal Philosopher and Racist Asshat
When America began its war for independence, the Native Americas were as divided as those Americans descended from Europeans. The peoples known as the Delaware tribes (the Munsee– and Unami-speaking Lenni Lenape) were spilt almost 50/50 between supporting the British and supporting the Colonists. Some Lenape decided to take up arms against the American colonials… Read more Genocidal Acts on American Soil: The Gnadenhutten massacre