The Mosman Debating Society of Sydney, Australia flourished from its inception in 1917 until some time after 1985. Before 1957 (when television commenced in Australia) the Mosman Debating Society was a premier venue for the formation of public opinion and the dissemination of ideas, and its debates were regularly covered by the press. Originally only [more...]
Aquitaine is the most south-westerly region of France, with the Atlantic Ocean to its west, and Spain to its south. Aquitaine is famous for its history, with evidence of prehistoric human settlement such as the painted cave of Lascaux within Aquitaine’s Périgueux area (which is sometimes known as the cradle of mankind). The Romans ruled [more...]
The principality of Hessen-Homburg could have been the scene for a real life 19th century operetta, if there had been more romantic adventures in the castle. Yes, it had a very nice little castle, one nice enough for Kaiser Wilhelm II to use later as summer residence; and it had a casino before Monte Carlo [more...]
Krak des Chevaliers is a Crusader fortress in Syria and one of the premier preserved medieval military castles in the world. It is located west of the city of Homs and close to the border of Lebanon. It is administratively part of the Homs Governorate but is an excellent day-trip if headquartering in Hama or [more...]
Have you ever wanted to sleep in a castle, or perhaps a tower, or a folly? Or what about a grand mansion, a tower, or a lighthouse? Or a simple cottage far from the madding crowd? There are now plenty of opportunities to have such an experience. Many historic buildings have been adapted to take [more...]
On a visit to the seaside it is a child’s delight to build a sand castle, and it must be said, there are quite a few adults who also enjoy it. It is impossible to say when the first child played the game of trying to stop the tide coming in on a sandy beach [more...]
The laying of the telegraph cable under the Atlantic Ocean to connect America with Europe was beset with technological and mechanical problems. The first attempt was made in August 1857 by the Atlantic Telegraph Company. Both Ireland and Newfoundland had already been connected by cable from London and New York respectively, so the next step [more...]
Between 1350 and 1791 there were 28 Dauphin de France, the title of the heir apparent to the French throne, similar to the title Prince of Wales in England. But why should he be the “dolphin” of France? Strictly, the correct title was Dauphin de Viennois, the dolphin of Vienne, a town in Département Isère. [more...]
The next UK census is to be conducted on 27 March 2011. Already there are many people complaining of the intrusive nature of the questions and indicating they may refuse to provide the information. In the last census of 2001 there were 38 prosecutions for non-compliance, and there were at least 6,000 cases where some [more...]
A Mud-Lark (or Mudlark) was the name given in the 19th century to children and adults who scavenged the banks of the River Thames in London. There were river scavengers in other parts of the country, but it seems the term Mud-Lark was largely used in London. According to the OED, the first mention of [more...]
On October 8, 1871 the worst recorded fire in American history swept through Northeastern Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. It destroyed millions of dollars worth of property and took between 1,200 and 2,400 lives. It happened on the same day as the more famous Great Chicago, Illinois fire but is much less widely known. On that [more...]
The use of gas for light was first demonstrated by William Murdock who lit his home and workshop in Redruth, Cornwall, England, in 1792. Soon after he became the manager of Boulton and Watt’s steam engine works in Soho, Birmingham, where erected an apparatus which lit the building by gas. He later installed similar apparatus [more...]
This deadly bloom is one of the most common wildflowers in the late summer in U.S. Midwestern woods and is seldom noticed, since it is somewhat weedy. It is a notorious killer, and at one time ravaged whole communities with its poison. Small pioneer settlements were visited by a terrible affliction, which came to be [more...]
Is the Pyramid of Kufu (the Great Pyramid of today) really one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World? Actually, no. It was the Pyramid of Khafre, the second largest pyramid at Giza which was the Great Pyramid of the Seven Wonders, even though smaller in both height and volume than the Great Pyramid [more...]
When the modern Olympic Movement began, in 1894, the newly-formed International Olympic Committee (IOC) considered ice skating as a possible sport for the first modern Olympic Games, in 1896. Needless to say, that didn’t happen but figure skating was on the program for the 1908 Olympic Games in London. In 1911, it was suggested that [more...]
Hadrian’s Wall, the famous wall built by the Roman emperor Hadrian in the north of England as a border marker and customs post, is to be lit up by a line of flaming beacons along its entire 84 mile length from the coast of eastern England across to the western coast. The event is planned [more...]
Scissors are small cutting implements which are familiar for a lifetime and too frequently overlooked in the march of human progress. We know the history of the garden hoe and plow, both simple cutting surfaces. But scissors are a little more complex, yet little is available of their history. Do they date back one century, [more...]
The Iron Bridge Gorge in Shropshire, England, during the 18th and 19th centuries was at the very heart of the Industrial Revelation. Nowadays, looking at the Severn River valley with its woods on either side and Georgian houses it difficult to believe that here was the birth of iron smelting technology, extensive coal and tar [more...]
Anyone can research their ancestors going back a generation or two. Just ask grandma! But how about going back, say, six or seven centuries. A new genealogical database will let you do just that, particularly if your family has roots in England, and even more particularly, if one of your ancestors was a medieval soldier. A [more...]
Anatolia is the Asiatic portion of modern Turkey, extending from the Bosporus and Aegean coast eastward to the borders Russia, Iran, and Iraq. The Greeks and later the Romans referred to western Anatolia as “Asia.” While Anatolia is the home of Catalhuyuk, which may be the oldest city in the world, and later to colonies [more...]