Archive for the ‘History’ Category
New year … new diary … old eccentricity
January 1st, 2013 by Roger Darlington
I have managed to keep a diary for every day since I was 13. So I have now clocked up a total of 18,626 entries and I am just about to start my 52nd diary. As this article suggests: “to write a diary for any extended period is an exceptional and eccentric act”. The article […]
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Preparing for the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War One
December 16th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
This week, I visited the Imperial War Museum in central London to view an exhibition of photographs taken by Cecil Beaton during the Second World War. I found that most of this fascinating museum is closed for major redesign, starting with the opening in 2014 of a new section on the First World War to […]
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Ever heard of the all-black American fighter squadron?
December 8th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
Not many people have – but it is a remarkable story. The Tuskegee Airmen – named after their training base – were the first African-American military aviators in the United States armed forces and fought in the Second World War. Formally, they formed the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the United States Army Air Corps […]
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How the worldwide population of airworthy Spitfires might be about to be doubled
December 2nd, 2012 by Roger Darlington
A team led by Lincolnshire farmer David Cundall has strong grounds for believing that they are about to unearth dozens of Mark 14 Spitfires that were buried on the edge of a Burmese airport at the end of the Second World War. It’s a remarkable story which you can read here. I have a lifelong […]
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Is the United States becoming more aggressive?
November 12th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
I have just started reading: “The Next 100 Years” by George Friedman. He admits that: “The United States is, historically, a warlike country.” Consider these figures in the book: The US has been at war for about 10% of its existence. During the 20th century, the US was at war 15% of the time. In […]
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An introduction to Big History
November 3rd, 2012 by Roger Darlington
In this TED talk, David Christian gives us the history of the world in 18 minutes.
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The arrival of Big History
October 28th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
One of my many interests is history which is why this blog has a history section and why my book reviews have three sections on history. Some of the problems with history, however, are that it tends to start with Ancient Egypt or at least the arrival of humankind, that too much of it is […]
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Why does the statue of Gladstone have red hands?
October 19th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
As I explained in my previous posting, yesterday I was visiting London’s East End to view a participating location in this week’s Get Online Week events. While I was in the area, I noticed a rather fine statue of the Liberal statesman William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898) who managed to serve four terms as Chancellor of the […]
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Who are the 25 richest people ever?
October 17th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
The web site Celebrity Net Worth has done a calculation which takes account of inflation and come up with some fascinating results. You’ve probably never heard of the top guy – they’re all men – who was the King of Mali Mansa Musa (c.1280-c.1337). In fact, only three people alive today feature on the list.
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Two things happened half a century ago today
October 5th, 2012 by Roger Darlington
1) The Beatles released their first single “Love Me Do” and four lads from Liverpool changed the world – see more here. 2) As a 14 year old, i spent a day at school in Manchester where I did badly in a Physics test, did a bit better in a Latin test, and started on […]
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