Archive for the ‘History’ Category
All four copies of Magna Carta brought together for just three days
February 2nd, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Today the only remaining original copies of Magna Carta, one of the world’s most enduringly influential documents, are to be brought together for the first and probably only time. Two copies in the British Library’s collection will be joined by one from Lincoln Cathedral and one from Salisbury Cathedral to mark the 800th anniversary of […]
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Why the history of China is steeped in blood and death
January 31st, 2015 by Roger Darlington
For three weeks now, I’ve been attending a course at London’s City Lit adult college on the recent history of China. What is very apparent from our sessions is just how much blood has been shed and just how many lives have been lost throughout the long history of China. This is a powerful element […]
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Holocaust Memorial Day: 70 years since the liberation of Auschwitz
January 27th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
In the UK, today is Holocaust Memorial Day. I have visited Holocaust museums in London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Washington and Jerusalem and I have been to Terezin in the Czech Republic and Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland. One weekend some years ago, I attend a fascinating course on the Holocaust run by an impressive teacher called Ronnie […]
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When China ruled the waves
January 19th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Monday evenings now find me on a new course at London’s City Lit college. The course of six evening lectures by Dr Kevin Manton is entitled “China: Re-emergecne Of A Superpower”. The first lecture last week was on “The Ming dynasty and changes in East Asia”. In global terms, the most outstanding feature of the […]
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Remembering the earthquake in Haiti five years ago today
January 12th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
Exactly five years ago today, the people of Haiti suffered a terrible earthquake that registered a catastrophic 7.0 on the moment magnitude scale. What was the result and what has happened since? The death toll will never be known but estimates vary between 90,000-300,000. The number of people displaced was around 1.5 million. A cholera epidemic […]
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100 radical heroes who changed Britain
January 10th, 2015 by Roger Darlington
I was brought up and educated in Manchester which I left at the age of 23. I regularly return to the city where one of my favourite locations is the People’s History Museum. The museum has been hit by funding cuts and, as a way of raising new funds, it is inviting funders to sponsor […]
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Where did the great world religions come from?
December 29th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
Over Christmas, I bought “The Times Concise History Of The World” which is a wonderful book to browse, full of colour maps and fascinating facts. It is interesting – and no coincidence – that the great religions of humankind originated in the same part of the world and a number of them were either established […]
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Where did civilisation begin?
December 27th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
Over Christmas, I bought “The Times Concise History Of The World” which is a wonderful book to browse, full of colour maps and fascinating facts. One can see very clearly how civilisation emerged in the so-called “lucky latitudes”. The first civilisations arose in the alluvial basins of four major rivers which drain from the mountain […]
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A few facts about President Theodore Roosevelt
November 27th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
This autumn, I am doing a six week (five session) evening class at London’s City Lit on the subject of “American Political Institutions” and our lecturer is Malcolm Malcolmson. This week, the third of our lectures looked at the election, responsibilities and powers of the President. As a bit of homework, at the end of […]
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What is the origin of the Teddy Bear?
November 27th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
The name Teddy Bear comes from former United States President Theodore Roosevelt, who was commonly known as “Teddy” (though he loathed being referred to as such). The name originated from an incident on a bear hunting trip in Mississippi in November 1902, to which Roosevelt was invited by Mississippi Governor Andrew H. Longino. There were […]
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