April 25 ns
April 12 os
We mark certain days of the year with ‘On This Day’ posts, recalling events associated with them.
Our events are grouped under two calendars. The Gregorian ‘New Style’ (NS) is the worldwide calendar first issued at Rome in 1582. On that calendar, today is April 25. The Julian ‘Old Style’ (OS), also issued at Rome but in 46 BC, was used in Roman Britain and then in England from Anglo-Saxon times until 1752. It is still used today by roughly 100 million Orthodox Christians worldwide. On that calendar, today is April 12.
Today
John Buchan was moved by the way the nations of the British Empire volunteered for service in the Great War.
John Buchan, novelist, Governor General of Canada, and leading historian of the Great War, reminds us that the countries of our Commonwealth and Empire played a decisive role in frustrating the ambitions of the German Empire – all without having to be asked.
Posted March 2 2018
Today
William Windham MP was appalled at the idea of levying a tax on man’s best friend.
In 1796, a proposal went before Parliament to tax dogs, partly as a rebuke to rich sportsmen, and partly because it was felt that the poor were frittering away their income support on dog-food. Windham was not much bothered about the rich sportsmen, but he leapt to the defence of the poor man and his lurcher.
Posted September 5 2017
Today
By 1915, the Allies were struggling to break through Germany’s Western Front, and so began looking for another line of attack.
In the Great War of 1914-1918, the German Empire’s bid for European domination was backed by the Ottoman Empire, now controlled by the infamous Ismail Enver and his ‘Young Turks’. The Allies desperately wanted to take the Turks out of the war, and open up a third front to release pressure on France and the Russian Empire.
Posted November 26 2019
Today
An obscure officer in the Roman Army gains a dizzying promotion after performing a simple act of kindness.
In the fifth century, about the time when St Patrick was preaching in Ireland, far away in the Roman Empire’s glorious capital of Constantinople an obscure Roman soldier performed a kindness for a blind man which brought the most rapid promotion one could ever imagine.
Posted April 9 2018
The Calendar below shows the year on the Roman (Gregorian or ‘New Style’) Calendar for 2025. Click on any date to see the events we have marked for it.
Roman Easter 2025: Sunday April 20
Old English Easter 2025: Sunday April 20
Christmas 2025: Thursday December 25
Old English Christmas 2025: Wednesday January 7, 2026
January
March
April
May
July
August
September
October
November