The Three Hundred- and Thirty-Five-Years War!
It is incredible because, yes, there was a war that lasted 335 years, in which no one died, and everyone forgot about. Even more amazing was that this 335 years’ war was fought between the…
What is the shield wall?
What is the shield wall? Today when a demonstration goes nasty, we see the police build a shield wall to defend themselves and then slowly move it forward, but when checking our musical 1066 –…
John Law and the Mississippi Company
This is a cautionary tale of what can happen to an entire economy when a speculative bubble bursts. It all started with John Law a Scottish economist and gambler, who it was claimed was…
The man who sold the Eiffel Tower twice!
How could anyone do this even once, but one man actually did it twice, his name was Victor Lustig He was a great conman, what was his skill? It was that he was one of…
All for love and it failed!
How much have you spent to win someone’s heart? Robert Dudley spent £10m Would you believe that Robert Dudley really did spend more than £10M in today’s money to win the heart of Queen Elizabeth…
Have we misunderstood Henry VIII?
Henry is remembered for his six wives, we are taught that this was the reason he created the Church of England, what we aren’t told is that he achieved so much more than this. A…
The events leading up to the Spanish Armada?
The armada was the brainchild of Spain’s King Philip II. His reasons This meant that from Philip’s point of view, it was a no brainer, he had to invade England, solving all his problems in…
Letter of marque – legal pirates
A letter of marque was given by governments in the 16,17 & 18th Centuries as a licence for a private person to attack and capture ships of a nation with which that government was at…
The history of Glasses
The picture above shows the first depiction of someone wearing glasses. That was in 1352, however well before this the Romans were using a glass tube of water as a magnifier to read books. Then…
Do you know the story of Ignatius Sancho?
Ignatius was born on slave ship crossing the Atlantic Ocean, his mother died not long after in the Spanish colony of New Granada, while his father took his own life rather than live as a slave. His…