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French travel writer Pierre-Jean Grosley toured Georgian London just in time to witness a culinary revolution: the sandwich.
In 1770, Frenchman Pierre-Jean Grosley delighted French readers with his account of a visit to London and of the habits of its citizens high and low. Two years later, Thomas Nugent translated it, and Grosley’s impressions found an equally delighted audience on this side of the Channel. It is to this work that we are indebted for an eyewitness account of the ‘sandwich’ and its ... spread.
Picture: © Marathon, Geograph. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
Posted April 11 2021
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A loyal dog shows his initiative in recovering his master’s property, though his timing might have been better.
In 1815, at a time when Sir Humphry Davy was popularising chemistry with his famous Royal Institution Lectures, a little handbook was published providing a light-hearted introduction to British zoology. Of course there was a lengthy section devoted to the Dog, and following some remarkable incidences of loyalty, devotion and even acting ability, the authors turned to examples of canine initiative.
Picture: © cartese, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: CC BY-SA 2.0.. Source.
Posted April 10 2021
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In 64, Nero watched on with fascination as Rome was consumed by fire — the Emperor’s idea of performance art.
The expression ‘fiddling while Rome burns’ is used today of those who are idle in a crisis. It derives from the Great Fire of Rome in 64, during the reign of Emperor Nero, though the Emperor did not ‘fiddle’ (play the violin) while a week-long fire consumed two-thirds of the imperial capital, nor was he exactly idle. No indeed: he dressed up and sang a musical melodrama he had composed himself.
Picture: By Hubert Robert (1733–1808), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted April 9 2021
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An angel appeared to Mary in her home in Nazareth, and offered her the chance to be part of nothing less than the reopening of the doors of Paradise.
Lady Day, or the Feast of the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, is kept on March 25th each year, and celebrates the conception of Jesus Christ in the womb of his mother, a young woman named Mary from Nazareth in northern Israel. After Jesus died St John took her into his home, but tradition says that fellow evangelist St Luke, who left us this account, was also a lifelong friend and painted her first likeness.
Picture: Via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted April 7 2021
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It was during the troubled reign of Charles I that the very first bananas seen in Britain went on display.
The runaway success of Alicia Amherst’s History of Gardening in England (1895) surprised nobody more than its modest author. Plenty of horticultural manuals offered practical advice but Amherst and her contemporary Gertrude Jekyll helped put gardening into its wider social context. In this passage, she records the first appearance of a much-loved fruit but also gives us a glimpse of a courageous man.
Picture: Photo by Tomwsulcer, Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.. Source.
Posted April 6 2021
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A year into his reign as Emperor of France, Napoleon Bonaparte had much of Europe under his government but the United Kingdom still eluded him.
Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned Emperor of the French on December 2nd, 1804. He dreamt of a European empire, and as Jawaharlal Nehru recalls here on land none could resist him. On the seas, however, it was another story. Barely a year into his imperial reign Napoleon was forced to accept two facts: he would never command the seas, and he would never conquer Britain.
Picture: By Louis-Philippe Crépin (1772–1851), via wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.. Source.
Posted April 4 2021