283
A few years before the Battle of Agincourt, the Duke of Orléans challenged King Henry IV to meet him in Bordeaux for a winner-takes-all joust.
Picture: © Paul Fleury, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 3.0.. Source.
Posted November 24 2020
284
Months after promising England would help Holland escape the clutches of Catholic Europe, Charles II did a secret deal with France to sell out Holland and England together.
Picture: By Peter Lely (1618–1680), via the National Maritime Museum and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted November 14 2020
285
Grand Duke Dmitri of Moscow loosened the grip of the Tartar Horde on the people of Russia, but treachery robbed him of triumph.
Picture: By Ernst Lissner (1874-1941), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted November 8 2020
286
God alone can save civilisation, said Socrates, when clever campaign strategists teach aspiring politicians how to play on the public’s hopes and fears.
Picture: By Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (1802-1873), via the Yale Center for British Art and Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted November 6 2020
287
When columnist ‘Alpha of the Plough’ was asked to select his most memorable moment of the Great War, he told the story of HMS Formidable.
Picture: From the National Museum of the US Navy, via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted October 30 2020
288
The modern match is ignited by friction, a simple idea but one which had not occurred to anyone until 1826, when a Stockton pharmacist dropped a stick.
Picture: © lvm15, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
Posted October 25 2020