1255
Preventing the German fleet from breaking out into the Atlantic in 1916 should have felt like victory, but it felt like defeat.
The Battle of Jutland in 1916 was the only major engagement between the German and British fleets during the Great War. That was partly a consequence of the damage inflicted on the German fleet, effectively neutralising it; but British losses were actually higher, and the victory felt like defeat.
Picture: From Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted November 2 2016
1256
In 1910, Constantine Zervakos, a young monk from the Greek island of Paros, found himself charged with espionage.
Until 1912, the city and port of Thessalonica was in the hands of the Muslim Turks, and any Greek, especially a Christian, took his life in his hands passing through. In 1910, a newly-minted monk of the Longovarda monastery on Paros got himself into very hot water.
Picture: © Leandro Neumann Ciuffo, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
Posted November 1 2016
1257
John Heathcoat’s lace-making machine created thousands of jobs, and gave ordinary people clothes they could never have dreamt of.
The industrial revolution improved the living standards of the poor not by robbing Peter to pay Paul, but by making Peter’s luxuries so cheap that Paul could afford them too. This win-win arrangement was made possible by the self-sacrifice and determination of inventors like John Heathcoat (1783-1861).
Picture: © Fanny Schertzer, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0.. Source.
Posted October 31 2016
1258
South African settlers of Dutch descent could not escape the march of the British Empire.
In 1881 and again in 1899, Britain was drawn into a conflict with settlers of Dutch descent in the South African Republic, also known as Transvaal, as her Empire continued to grow apace under the twin forces of colonial emigration and international trade - much to the chagrin of her colonial rival, Germany.
Picture: From Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted October 30 2016
1259
Shortly after Askold and Dir founded Kiev in 862, they launched a brazen but ill-fated assault on the capital of the Roman Empire.
In the 860s, just as the Great Army led by Vikings Ingwaer and Halfdan was swarming over England, Viking warlords Askold and Dir were establishing the great cities of Novgorod and Kiev as the foundations of Rus’. Almost at once the pagan settlers set their sights on the greatest prize of all, Constantinople, capital of the Roman Empire.
Picture: From Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted October 28 2016
1260
Sir Mulberry Hawk’s coarse conduct towards Kate Nickleby has awoken a spark of decency in Lord Frederick Verisopht.
Sir Mulberry Hawk has preyed upon the weak character of Lord Frederick Verisopht for years, but the young nobleman has finally stood up to his ‘friend’ over Hawk’s ungentlemanly conduct towards pretty Kate Nickleby. The breach is irreparable, and has come at last to a duel.
Picture: © Michael E. Cumpston, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.. Source.
Posted October 27 2016