Why do we hang stockings at Christmas?
Did you know: That we hang them up because of Saint Nicholas, the Christian Bishop of Myra? So, who was this man whose actions we celebrate every year? Well, first of all where is Myra? It was, it is no more, on the south Mediterranean coast of Turkey, near the modern town of Demre. At […]
Would you use this defence today?
This story is about a lady called Phryne, history tells us that she was an ancient Greek courtesan, who ended up as one of the wealthiest women in Greece. Where was she from? She was born in Thespiae in Boeotia at around 370BC. Legend tells us that they called her Phryne because she had […]
What was the Silk Road?
What was the Silk Road? The Silk Road was a network of trade routes from China to Europe that ran from the second century BC until the mid-15th century. It went for more than 4,000 miles becoming the major route for economic, cultural, political, and religious interaction between the East and West. Why was it […]
What was the biggest company in the world between 1600 and 1750?
It was the East India Company. What was it? It was a company that was so powerful that it effected the global balance of trade, moving between the east and the west. This was because by the mid-1700s it appeared to have become involved in half the world’s trade. This British company, was part owned […]
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 Isles of Scilly, yes, those little islands off the end of Cornwall, and the Republic of the Netherlands! It lasted […]
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 – The Battle of Hastings I realised that the shield wall has been a policy used by armies for hundreds of […]
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 able to win card games by mentally calculating the odds. Furthermore, he believed that the creation of money led to […]
The man who sold the Eiffel Tower twice!
The man who sold the Eiffel Tower, twice! This is the story of Victor Lustig, who went down in history as the man who sold the Eiffel Tower not once, but twice. This isn’t just about how he sold the Eiffel Tower twice, but the story of his life, his techniques, and his broader legacy. […]
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 the First. He was one of the Queen’s closest advisors, then Queen Elizabeth gifted him Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire, and, […]
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 few of his achievements: He also: His Problem Was that although his marriage to Catherine of Aragon had yielded a […]