Around the 16th Century, the salutation “god be with ye” was shortened to “godbwye” which became goodbye.
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Nazi Gold – Still Loads Missing
During the Second World War the Nazis acquired vast amounts of gold to fund their regime and military aims. From countries they invaded/annexed they took: Approximately $71 million from Austria and Czechoslovakia prior to the outbreak of war $223 million from Belgium $193 million from the Netherlands £131 million from Continue Reading
VJ Day – 14 August 1945
On 14 August 1945, Japan unconditionally surrendered ending WWII in the Pacific. This followed the dropping of atomic weapons by the United States. “Little Boy”, a 15 kiloton of TNT, uranium based bomb destroyed Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 and was deployed by the B29 Superfortress “Enola Gay”. “Fat Man”, Continue Reading
Longest Time in Space
The astronaut who has spent the longest continuous time in space is Valeri Vladimirovich Polyakov who was aboard the Mir space station for 437 days 18 hours from 9 Jan 1994 to 22 March 1995. Gennady Ivanovich Padalka holds the record for the most time spent in space overall at 879 days Continue Reading
Winston Churchill: The Few
On August 20, 1940, during the Battle of Britain, Winston Churchill made a speech to the House of Commons, honouring the bravery of and expressing gratitude to the airmen who prevailed. The most famous part of the speech is in the extract below: The gratitude of every home in our Island, in Continue Reading
Myth: George Washington’s Teeth
The first President of an independent United States, George Washington’s teeth were made from gold, ivory, lead and teeth extracted from animals and slaves. They were not wooden.
Myth: Napoleon’s height
There is a common misconception that Napoleon Bonaparte was small. He was measured as five feet two inches using the French system of measurement which in the English system is five feet seven inches. He employed particularly tall bodyguards which may have contributed to the perception that he was small. Continue Reading
Socialists didn’t want women to have the vote
The Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU) lead by Emmeline Pankhurst (labelled the Suffragettes as a term of derision by The Daily Mail newspaper) campaigned for property-owning women to have the vote from 1903 to 1917. The nascent Labour Party and other Socialists didn’t want more votes for the bourgeoisie and Continue Reading
Historical UK General Election Results and Suffrage
With the upcoming General Election in the UK, it might be interesting to look at the Elections and changes in suffrage in UK history. 2017 Not yet known (as of 7 June 2017) 2015 Victory: Conservative Prime Minister(s): David Cameron Theresa May Majority: 16 Image: By Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Continue Reading
Tunguska: The Largest Impact Event in Recorded History
On the morning of 30 June 1908, a large explosion flattened 2,000 km2 of forest near the Stony Tunguska River in Eastern Siberia. There were no recorded human casualties. Fallen trees at Tunguska, 1927 In 1930, a scientific expedition, lead by Leonid Kulik, recorded the testimony of S Semenov: At breakfast time Continue Reading