889
In 1928, a train service linking London and Edinburgh became the world’s longest non-stop run.
LNER A3 No. 4472 ‘Flying Scotsman’ won a place in the history books and in the hearts of millions worldwide when in 1934 she clocked 100 mph and set a world speed record for steam. But history had already been made when in 1928, the train service from which she took her name completed the world’s longest non-stop run.
Picture: © Geof Sheppard, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.. Source.
Posted June 21 2018
890
The guardian of a lonely signalbox recounts a truly haunting experience.
While exploring the branch lines radiating out from Mugby Junction, a man has stumbled on a remote signal box near the mouth of a tunnel. ‘Halloa! Below there!’ he called to the signalman, waving his arms. The signalman’s distress was so remarkable that it required an explanation, and next day he gave it.
Picture: © David Ingham, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
Posted June 18 2018
891
David Livingstone relives the historic moment when he became the first European to see the Victoria Falls.
In 1852-56, David Livingstone mapped the course of the Zambesi, hoping that agricultural trade along the river would crush the horrible trade in slaves (recently outlawed in the British Empire). On November 16, 1855, he was transported by canoe to a magnificent cataract named Mosi-oa-Tunya, ‘the smoke that thunders’, so becoming the first European to see the Victoria Falls.
Picture: © Joachim Huber, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
Posted June 17 2018
892
Four years before the bloody American civil war, Dr David Livingstone proposed a peaceful way to rid the world of slavery.
In 1861-65, America went to bloody civil war over (among other things) the issue of slavery in the South’s cotton and sugar plantations, and upwards of a million people died. A few years earlier, Scotsman David Livingstone proposed a far less destructive answer: establish cotton and sugar farms in Africa, employ local labourers on good wages, and strangle slavery by the cords of the free market.
Picture: © HigorCosta, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.. Source.
Posted June 16 2018
893
David Balfour hopes his crusty uncle Ebenezer is beginning to soften towards him.
David Balfour’s father has died, leaving him only a letter of introduction to take to his uncle Ebenezer in the grand-sounding House of Shaws in Scotland. Uncle Ebenezer proves to be miserly, and his house cold comfort, but David is willing to make himself useful, and after an unpromising start the old man seems to be coming round.
Picture: © Derek Harper, Geograph. Licence: CC-BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
Posted June 12 2018
894
Three highly decorated officers in the Roman Army fall victim to a campaign to discredit them.
From 331, the Praetorian Prefect of the East was Ablabius, making him the most important man in the eastern Roman Empire after the Emperor himself. Originally a pagan from Crete, he became a Christian and was a close confidant of Emperor Constantine. Later, under Constantius, he lost his place and his life for supporting the Orthodox party in the Arian crisis.
Picture: © Țetcu Mircea Rareș, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0.. Source.
Posted June 12 2018