Archive for the ‘History’ Category
Who was Giordano Bruno and what did he believe?
March 17th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
This weekend, I watched the first episode in the new television series “Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey”. The programme mentioned an Italian called Giordano Bruno (1548-1600) who believed that the sun was merely one of many stars. I confess that I had never heard of Bruno. There has been some controversy over the selection and representation of […]
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The importance of the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC
March 12th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
After a morning conference on radio at which I spoke on digital radio switchover [see my posting here], I wanted to unwind. so I went to see a movie: “300: Rise Of An Empire”. I’ll review the film later but, at that this stage, I just wanted to comment on the centrepiece of the movie […]
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The amazing life of Alice Herz-Sommer
February 25th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
Yesterday I did a posting noting the death of Alice Herz-Sommer, the oldest Holocaust survivor, at the age of 110. She was a remarkable person and you can read her obituary here.
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Our Central America tour (13): the Salvadoran civil war
February 6th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
We are now about half way through our grand tour of Central America. At Perquin, Wednesday morning’s breakfast was eggs as you like them and brown beans puréed. Beans and/or rice seem to come with every meal in this part of the world which is fine but puréed brown beans have an appearance more suited […]
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The London street called Crutched Friars
January 15th, 2014 by Roger Darlington
I have lived in London now for over 40 years and one of the many reasons I love the city is because it is so old and so saturated in history. This week I visited a street in Central London that I have never even heard of before, the wonderfully named Crutched Friars. The explanation […]
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How close was Hitler to obtaining the atomic bomb?
December 28th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
There is some new speculation here.
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A good friend of mine on television
December 2nd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
A new series, called “Pilgrimage With Simon Reeve”, is being shown on BBC2 television at 9 pm on Tuesdays. My good friend Derek Bright, who runs the company Walk Awhile, will be appearing in the first programme tomorrow (Tuesday) evening. Check it out.
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The day Kennedy died
November 22nd, 2013 by Roger Darlington
The media is full of reflections on the assassination of President John F Kennedy exactly 50 years ago today. At the time, I was a teenager of 15 attending a Roman Catholic secondary school in Manchester. I reproduce below, without comment, what I wrote in my diary that day: “The Beatles were No 1 in […]
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150th anniversary of the Gettysburg Address
November 19th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
Abraham Lincoln’s famous address – made 150 years ago today – is a reminder than a brilliant speech does not have to be a long. You can read a fascinating piece on the Address here. And, if you fancy emulating Lincoln’s success, you might welcome some tips on “How To Make A Good Speech” which actually […]
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75 years later: how the world shrugged off Kristallnacht
November 10th, 2013 by Roger Darlington
“The pogroms in November 1938 lasted several days, although history books often refer to the event merely as one “Night of the Broken Glass” (Kristallnacht) because Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels announced on the radio on Nov. 10 that the excesses had ended. Experts estimate that up to 1,500 people died in the days surrounding […]
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